THE     UNITED     STATES 
IN     OUR     OWN     TIME 


Drawn  by  B.   West  Clinedinst 

THE   CROWD  IN   FRONT  OF  THE   NEW  YORK  TIMES  OFFICE   ON  THE   NIGHT  OF  THE 
TILDEN-H4TES  ELECTION,  iS^b 


THE    UNITED    STATES 
IN    OUR    OWN    TIME 

A  HISTORY 
FROM    RECONSTRUCTION   TO    EXPANSION 


Bei?ig  an   Extension  of 

"THE     HISTORY     OF     THE 
LAST  QUARTER  CENTURY" 

I 

BY 

E.    BENJAMIN    ANDREWS 

CHANCELLOR      OF      THE      UNIVERSITY       OF      NEBRASKA 
AND     SOMETIME     PRESIDENT     OF     BROWN      UNIVERSITY 


or  THE 
UNIVERSITY 

OF 


NEW    YORK 

CHARLES    SCRIBNER'S    SONS 
MDCCGQIII 


Copyright,  1895,  1896,  1903, 
By  CHARLES  SCRIBNER'S  SONS 


CONTENTS 


I   The    United    States   at  the  Close    of  Recon 
struction  .....         i 

Land  and  people  in  1870. — Territories. — Railroads  in  the  West. — Fenian 
Movements. — -Boston's  Peace  Jubilees. — The  Great  Cities. — The  Chicago 
Fire. — The  Boston  Fire. — The  Tweed  Ring. — Tweed's  Escape  and  Cap 
ture. — Financial  Condition  of  the  Nation. — Ships. — Army  and  Navy. — 
Reconstruction,  the  Problem. — The  Presidential  and  the  Congressional 
Plan. — Iron  Law  of  March  2,  1867. — The  Process  of  Reconstruction. 
— Situation  in  1870. — Debate  on  the  Coercion  of  States. — Outcome. — 
The  Test. — All  States  at  Last  Again  Represented  in  Both  Houses  of 
Congress. 

II   General  Grant  as  a  Civil  Chief    .          .  23 

The  Republican  Party  in  1870. — Its  Defects. — President  Grant's  Short 
comings. — His  First  Cabinet. — The  Party's  Attitude  Toward  the  Tariff. 
— Toward  the  Democracy. — Toward  Re-enfranchisement  at  the  South. — 
The  Liberal  Movement. — The  Democrats. — The  "New  Departure" 
Among  Them. — Vallandigham. — John  Quincy  Adams. — Reconstruction. 
— Errors  Committed  Therein. — The  Fifteenth  -Amendment. — The  Ku- 
Klux  Klan. — The  Force  Bill — Re-enfranchisement  at  the  South. — Grant 
and  the  Nation's  Finances. — Gould  and  Fisk. — Black  Friday. — The  Treaty 
of  Washington.  —  Relations  with  C'nha, — proposed  "  Annexion  "  of  Santo 
Domingo. — Sumner  and  the  Administration. 

Ill   The  Greeley  Campaign         .          .          •         •      57 

The  Rise  of  Horace  Greeley. — The  Tribune. — Greeley  and  Grant. — The 
Liberal-Republican  Movement. — The  Spoils  System. — Shepherd  at  Wash-  . 
ington. — Scandals  Connected  With  the  Collection  of  the  Revenues. — 
Reversal  of  Hepburn  *vs.  Griswold. — Grant  and  Greeley  Nominated. — 
Mixed  Politics. — Both  Candidates  Severely  Criticised. — A  Choice  of  Evils. 
— A  Bitter  Campaign — Difficulties  Confronting  Greeley. — Grant  Elected. 
— Greeley's  Death. — His  Character. — Continuation  of  Republican  Policy 
at  the  South. — Force  and  Anarchy  in  Louisiana. 

vii 


142 6 50 


CONTENTS 
IV  The    Geneva   Award   and    the    Credit    Mo- 

bilier 87 

Outcome  of  the  Washington  Treaty. — The  "  Alabama  Claims." — Vain 
Efforts  at  Settlement. — The  Geneva  Tribunal. — Rules  for  its  Guidance. — 
Questions  Answered  by  It. — Its  Decision. — The  Northwestern  Boundary 
Settlement. — The  Credit  Mobilier  Story. — Enthusiasm  for  the  West. — 
Vastness  of  that  Section. — The  Rush  Thither. — The  Pioneers. — Land 
Grabbing. — Grants  for  Transcontinental  Railways. — Inception  of  the 
Union  Pacific  Company. — The  Credit  Mobilier  Company. — Oakes  Ames 
and  His  Contract. — Stock  Sold  to  Congressmen. — The  "Sun's"  Publica 
tion. — The  Facts. — Ames's  Defense. — Censure  of  Him  by  the  House  of 
Representatives. — His  Death. — Reasons  for  the  Sentiment  Against  Him. 


V  "Carpet-Bagger"  and   "Scalawag"  in  Dixie    ill 

Grant's  Re-election  and  the  South. — Court  Decisions  Confirming  State 
Sovereignty. — The  Louisiana  "Slaughter  House  Cases." — Osborn  vs. 
Nicholson. — White  <vs.  Hart. — Desolation  at  the  South  After  the  War. — 
Discouragement,  Intemperance,  Ignorance. — Slow  Revival  of  Industry. — 
Social  and  Political  Conflict. — The  "  Scalawag." — The  "Carpet-Bagger." 
Good  Carpet-Baggers. — Their  Failings. — Resistance. — Northern  Sympathy 
With  This. — The  Freedmen. — Their  Vices. — Their  Ignorance.— 
Foolish  and  Corrupt  Legislation. — Extravagant  Expenditures  in  Various 
States — In  Mississippi. — In  Georgia. — In  South  Carolina. — Overthrow  of 
Many  Carpet-Bag  Governments. — Violence  Still,  But  Often  Exaggerated. 


VI  Decline  of  the  Transitional  Governments  in 
South  Carolina,  Mississippi,  Arkansas 
and  Louisiana  .  .  .  .  .  1 3 1 

Gen.  Sherman  on  the  Southern  Problem. — Reckless  Legislation  in  South 
Carolina. — Appeal  of  the  Taxpayers'  Union. — Gov.  Chamberlain's  Re 
forms. — The  Conflict  in  Arkansas. — Factions. — The  Stake  Fought  For. — 
A  New  Constitution. — Gov.  Garland  Elected. — -Report  of  the  Poland 
Committee. — The  Vicksburg  "War." — Mayor  vs.  Governor. — Pres 
ident  Grant  Will  Not  Interfere. — Senator  Revels  on  the  Situation. — The 
Mississippi  Reconstructionists. — The  Kellogg-McEnery  Imbroglio  in 
Louisiana. — Metropolitans  and  White  Leaguers  Fight. — The  Kellogg 
Government  Overthrown  but  Re-established  by  Federal  Arms. — Protests. 
— The  Election  of  November  2,  1874. — Methods  of  the  Returning  Board. 
— Gen.  Sheridan  in  Command. — Legislature  Organized  Amid  Bayonets. — 
Members  Removed  by  Federal  Soldiers. — Sheridan's  Views. — Allegations 
Contra. — Public  Opinion  at  the  North. — The  "Wheeler  Adjustment." 


VII   Indian  Wars  and  the  Custer  Death       .  .169 

Civilized  Indians  in  1874. — Grant's  Policy  for  the  Wild  Tribes. — Diffi 
culties  of  the  Indian  Commissioners. — Indians'  Wrongs  and  Discontent. — 
Troubles  in  Arizona. — Gov.  Safford's  Declaration. — Massacre  of  Apaches 
in  1871. — Report  of  Federal  Grand  Jury. — The  Apaches  Subdued. — 
Grievences  of  the  Sioux. — The  Modoc  War  and  Gen.  Canby's  Death. — 
Troubles  in  1874. — The  Mill  River  Disaster  in  Massachusetts. — The 
Sioux  Rebellion. — The  Army's  Plan  of  Campaign. — Custer's  Party. — 
His  Death. — How  the  Battle  Went.  —  "Revenge"  of  Rain-in-the-Face. 
— Custer  Criticised. — And  Defended. 


CONTENTS 

VIII  "The  Year  of  a  Hundred  Years  "—The 
Centennial  Exposition  and  the  Hayes- 
Tilden  Imbroglio  .  .  .  •  195 

Origin  of  the  Centennial  Exposition. — Philadelphia  Landmarks. — The  Ex 
position  Buildings. — The  Opening. — The  Various  Exhibits. — Attendance. 
— A  Political  Crisis. — Grant  and  Jewell. — The  Belknap  Disgrace. — An 
other  Reform  Movement. — Fear  of  a  Third  Term  for  Grant. — Issues  Be 
tween  the  Parties. — Hayes  and  Tilden  Nominated. — Their  Letters  of 
Acceptance. — The  Campaign. — Prophecy  of  Trouble  Over  the  Presidential 
Count. — The  Twenty-second  Joint  Rule. — Result  of  the  Election  in 
Doubt. — Cipher  Dispatches. — Qiieer  Ways  of  Returning  Boards. — Fears 
and  Hopes. — The  Electoral  Commission. — The  Case  of  Florida,  of  Louisi 
ana,  of  Oregon,  of  South  Carolina. — Hayes  Declared  Elected. — An  Elec 
toral  Count  Law. 

IX   Hayes  and  the  Civil  Service       .          .          -223 

Hayes's  Character. — His  Cabinet. — End  of  Bayonet  Rule  at  the  South. — 
This  the  Result  of  a  ''Deal." — "Visiting  Statesmen"  at  the  Louisiana 
Count. — Hayes  Favors  Honesty. — His  Record. — Hayes  and  Garfield  Com 
pared. — The  Spoils  System. — Early  Protests. — A  Civil  Service  Commis 
sion. — Its  Rules. — Retrogression  Under  Grant. — Jewell's  Exit  from  the 
Cabinet. — Hoar's. — Butler's  "Pull"  on  Grant. — Collector  Simmons. — 
The  Sanborn  Contracts. — Bristow  a  Reformer. — The  Whiskey  Ring. — 
Myron  Colony's  Work. — Plot  and  Counter-Plot. — "  Let  no  Guilty  Man 
Escape." — Reformers  Ousted. — Good  Work  by  the  Press. — The  "Press- 
gag." — First  Democratic  House  Since  the  War. — Hayes  Renews  Reform. 
— Opposed  byConkling. — Fight  Over  the  New  York  Collectorship. — The 
President  Firm  and  Victorious. 


X   "The  United  States  Will  Pay  '  .          .    249 

Back  to  Hard  Money. — Act  to  Strengthen  the  Public  Credit. — Difficulty 
of  Contraction. — Ignorance  of  Finance. — Debtors  Pinched. — The  Panic 
of  1873. — Causes. — Failure  of  Jay  Cooke  &  Co.,  and  of  Fiske  &  Hatch. 
— Black  Friday  No.  ^. — On  Change  and  on  the  Street. — Bulls,  Bears 
and  Banks. — Criticism  of  Secretary  Richardson. — First  Use  of  Clearing- 
House  Certificates. — Effects  and  Duration  of  the  Panic. — An  Important 
Good  Result. — Resumption  and  Politics. — The  Resumption  Act. — Sher 
man's  Qualifications  for  Executing  It. — His  Firmness. — Resumption  Act 
ually  Begun. — Magnitude  and  Meaning  of  This  Policy. — Our  Bonded 
Debt  Rapidly  Reduced. — Legal  Tender  Questions  and  Decisions. — Juilliard 
*vs.  Greenman. — The  "Fiat-Greenback"  Heresy. — "Dollar  of  the 
Fathers"  Demonetized. — Not  By  Fraud  But  Without  Due  Reflection. — 
The  Bland  Bill  and  the  "  Allison  Tip."— The  Amended  Bill  Vetoed,  But 
Passed. — Subsequent  Silver  Legislation. 

XI   Agrarian    and    Labor    Movements    in    the 

Seventies    .  .  .  .  .  .281 

The  "Grangers." — Their  Aims. — Origin  of  the  Inter-State  Commerce 
Act. — Demand  for  Cheap  Transportation. — Illinois's  "  Three-Cent  War." 
— Court  Decisions. — Land-Grant  Colleges. — Their  Significance. — Various 
Labor  Congresses  and  Platforms. — Rise  of  Labor  Bureaus. — The  National 
Department  of  Labor. — Its  Work,  Methods,  and  Influence. — Value  of 
the  State  Bureaus. — Contract-Labor  Law. — The  Greenback  Partv. — Peter 


CONTENTS 

Cooper  and  Gen.  Butler. — Violence  in  the  Labor  Conflict. — Causes. — 
Combinations  of  Capital.— Of  Laborers. — Black  List  and  Boycott. — Labor 
War  in  Pennsylvania. — Methods  of  Intimidation. — The  "  Mollie  Ma- 
euHTSr-" — Murder  of  Alexander  Rea. — Power  and  Immunity~~onTJe 
Mollies. — Plan  for  Exposing  Them. — Gowen  and  McParlan. — Assassina 
tion  of  Thomas  Sanger. — Gowen' s  Triumph  and  the  Collapse  of  the  Con 
spiracy. — Great  Railway  Strike  in  1877. — Riot  at  Pittsburg. — Death  and 
Destruction. — Scenes  at  Reading  and  Other  Places. — Strikes  Common 
From  This  Time  On. 


XII   "Anything  to  Beat  Grant"        .  .  .    307 

Presidential  Possibilities  in  1880. — Grant  the  Lion. — Republican  Conven 
tion. — A  Political  Battle  of  the  Wilderness. — Garfield  the  Dark  Horse. — 
Grant's  Old  Guard  Defeated  But  Defiant. — Democrats  Nominate  Han 
cock. — "The  Ins  and  the  Outs." — Party  Declarations. — The  Morey 
Forgery. — Elaine  Can't  Save  Maine. — Conkling's  Strike  Off. — Garfield 
Elected. — "Soap"  vs.  Intimidation  and  Fraud. — From  Mule  Boy  to 
President. — Hancock's  Brilliant  Career. — The  First  Presidential  Appoint 
ments. — Conkling's  Frenzy  and  His  Fall. — The  Cabinet. — Garfield  Assas 
sinated. — Guiteau  Tried  and  Hanged. — Star  Route  Frauds. — Pendleton 
Civil  Service  Act. 


XIII   Domestic     Events     During     Mr.    Arthur's 

Administration  ....    343 

Mr.  Arthur's  Dilemma. — His  Accession. — Responsibility  Evokes  His 
Best. — The  Presidential  Succession  Question. — Succession  Act  Passed. — 
Electoral  Count  Act  Passed. — Arthur's  Cabinet. — Condition  of  the  Coun 
try  in  1881. — Decadence  of  Our  Ocean  Carrying. — Tariff  Commission 
of  1882  and  the  Tariff  of  1883. — Mahone  and  the  Virginia  "  Readjust- 
ers." — Mahone's  Record. — His  Entry  Into  the  Senate. — President  Arthur 
and  the  Chinese. — Origin  of  the  Chinese  Question. — Anson  Burlingame. 
— The  1878  Embassy. — Chinese  Throng  Hither. — Early  California. — 
The  Strike  of  1877  Affects  California. — Rise  and  Character  of  Denis 
Kearney. — His  Program. — The  "Sand-Lot"  Campaign. — Kearney's 
Moderation. — He  Is  Courted. — And  Opposed. — His  Constitutional  Con 
vention. — Its  Work. — Kearneyism  to  the  Rear. — The  James  Desperadoes. 
— Their  Capture. — The  Yorktown  Celebration. — Mementoes  of  Old 
Yorktown. — The  Pageant. — "Surrender"  Day. — The  Other  Days. — 
Close  of  the  Fete. — Flood  and  Riot  in  Cincinnati. 

XIV   Monroe's  Doctrine  and  Arthur's  Practice  .    391 

Uncle  Sam  in  Africa. — The  Brussels  Conference  of  1876. — Congress  of 
1877. — The  United  States  Represented. — Henry  M.  Stanley.  —  His  Career. 
— His  Fame. — Darkest  Africa. — The  Congo  Free  State. — The  United 
States  Helps  in  Its  Formation. — Scramble  for  "A  Piece  of  Africa.  "- 
Arthur's  Policy  Criticised. — Berlin  Conference  of  1884. — Its  Objects. — 
Its  Results. — De  Lesseps  at  Panama.- — Origin  of  the  Clayton-Bulwer 
Treaty. — Its  Provisions. — Its  Resurrection  in  1880. — President  Hayes's 
Attitude. — Elaine's  Controversy  with  Lord  Granyille. — Frelinghuysen's 
Contentions.  —  Great  Britain's  Position. — Blaine  Criticised  at  Home. — De 
Lessep's  Failure  at  Panama. — Early  Plans  for  Piercing  the  Isthmus. — The 
Nicaragua  Canal  Scheme.  — jJo^sjuKJ/Troubles  in  Nicaragua. — Congressmen 
Favor  United  States  Aid  for  the  Enterprise. — Description  of  the  Proposed 
Canal. — Difficulties  and  Cost. — Feasibility  and  Profitableness. — Opposition. 
— Growing  Intimacy  Between  the  United  States  and  Spanish  America. — 


CONTENTS 

"The  Commission  of  1884. — Panama  Congress  of  1825. — John  Qumcy 
Adams  and  Clay. — Later  Efforts  at  a  Pan-American  Union. — TVej>idatioji 
a^J^lkeiisJllibiisterin^Expedkuins. — Union  Movements  in  1864,  1877, 
1880,  1881  and  1888.  — David  Davis  Proposes  a  Central  and  South  Amer 
ican  Railway. — Frelinghuysen's  Suggestions. — The  Congress  of  1889-90. 
— Scope  of  Its  Possible  Deliberations. — The  Delegates  "Junket"  Across 
the  Continent.  —  Difficulties  and  Misunderstandings. — The^JReciprocity 
Idea^^Outcome  Meagre. 

XV  "Farthest  North"  .          .          .          .417 

The  Jeannette  Expedition. — Its  Officers. — Its  Plans. — The  Start. — Sus 
pense  and  Search. — Rumors. — Tidings  at  Last. — Course  and  Fate  of  the 
Expedition. — Melville  Finds  Nindeman  and  Noros. — DeLong's  End. — His 
Journal. — New  Polar  Research. — The  Greely  Expedition. — The  Pro 
teus  s  Passage  Out. — The  Neptune's  Efforts  at  Relief. — The  Garlington 
Cruise  of  1883. — Wreck  of  the  Proteus. — Greely  Meantime. — Expedition 
of  1884. — Schley's  Enterprise. — "  News  from  Greely." — His  Discoveries. 
— "  Farthest  North." — Experiences  of  His  Band  in  the  Arctic  Regions. — 
Their  Course  Southward. — Could  Any  of  Them  Be  Alive  r — The  Thetis 
to  the  Rescue. — Seven  Starving  Survivors. — Life  at  Starvation  Camp. — 
Efforts  for  the  English  Meat. — Rice's  Death. and  Frederick's  Heroism. — 
The  Death-Roll. — Rescue  of  the  Seven. — Their  Condition.  —  Homeward 
Bound. — Arrival. — No  Official  Praise. — The  Survivors  Subsequently. — 
Peary  on  Greenland's  Icy  Mountains. — He  Crosses  Greenland  in  1892. — 
Geographical  Discoveries. — Peary's  1894-95  Tour. — Value  of  These  Ex 
plorations. 

XVI  The  Plumed  Knight  and  His  Joust  .   447 

The  New  Orleans  Cotton  Centennial.  —  Buildings,  Exhibits  and  Influence. 
— Political  Situation  in  1884.  —  Presidential  Candidates. — Rise  of  James  G. 
Elaine. — Charges  Against  Him. — His  Prospects  in  1876. — Investigation 
of  His  Record. — The  Mulligan  Letters. — Dramatic  Self-Vindication  Before 
the  House.— Elaine  and  Knott. — Elaine  in  Garneld's  Cabinet.— Peru  and 
Chile. — Elaine  in  Advance  of  His  Party. — Republican  Convention  of  1884. 
Lynch  Made  Temporary  Chairman.— Effort  to  Unite  upon  Arthur.— 
Scenes  in  the  Convention  upon  Elaine's  Nomination. — The  Mugwumps 
Bolt. — Grover  Cleveland. — His  Youth,  Education  and  Early  Official  Life. 
— Governor  of  New  York. — Nominated  by  the  Democratic  National 
Convention. — The  Mugwumps  Declare  for  Cleveland. — Charges  Against 
Elaine. — How  Far  True. — "Rum,  Romanism  and  Rebellion." — Hen- 
dricks  Pacifies  Tammany. — Cleveland  Victorious. 

XVII  A  Democrat  at  the  Helm          .          .          .481 

Forebodings  After  Cleveland's  Election. — The  Democracy  Jubilant. — Gen 
eral  Excellence  of  the  Administration. — The  President's  Manners.  — His 
Marriage. — A  White  House  Wedding. — Good  Laws  Passed  by  the  Forty- 
ninth  Congress. — The  Inter-State  Commerce  Act. — Provisions  and  De 
fects.— The  New  Navy.— A  Naval  Advisory  Board. — Its  Recommenda 
tions.— Naval  Progress  Under  Cleveland. — The  Atlanta  Compared  with 
the  Constitution. — Frigates  and  Battle-Ships. — Our  War  Vessels  at  the 

Kiel  Fete. Utterances  of  La  Patrie. — The  Columbia  s  Swift  Race  Home. 

—Her  Welcome.— The  Charleston  Earthquake.— Hellgate  Reefs  Blown 
Up.— Jacob  Sharp's  Operations  in  New  York  City.— The  Duskin  Suspen 
sion  Case.— Repeal  of  the  Tenure  of  Office  Act. — Cleveland  and  the  Civil 
Service. — Success  and  Failure  as  a  Reformer. — Unpopularity. — The  Pan- 


CONTENTS 

^  Electric  Scandal. — Pension _  V_etoes.— Bad  Pension  Legislation. — Veto  of 
the  Dependent  P.ension__Bill . — The  Rebel  Thrg- Order— Attitude  of  the 
Grand' Army  of  the  Republic. — How  the  Republicans  Became  a  High- 
Tariff  Party. — The  Tariff  Questioning  84. — Brought  Up  by  the  Ple 
thoric  State  of  the  Treasury"— Message  of  December,  1885. — Of  1887. 
— "A  Condition,  Not  a  Theory." — The  Mills  Bill  Passes  the  House  but 
Dies  in  the  Senate. — The  Fisheries  Dispute. — Of  Long  Standing.  —  Strained 
Relations  with  Canada  in  1886. — Retaliation  Proposed. — Joint  Commis 
sion  of  1887. — Failure  of  Proposed  Treaty. — Modus  Vivendi. — Subsidence 
of  the  Trouble. — The^NQrthw£Stern ._Fisheries.J[rnhraglio. — Treaty  of  i  892. 
— -Arbitration. — Points^  Deterrnined, — Provisions  for  a  Joint  Police  of 
Behring  Sea. 

\XVIII  General   Grant's   Funeral — Anarchism   in 
Chicago — State  Constitutions       .  .    5  1 7 

Cleveland's  Letter  to  Mrs.  Grant. — Grant's  End. — The  Private  Funeral. 
The  Body  in  State  at  Albany. — In  New  York  City. — Crowds  at  City 
Hall. — Catafalque  and  Guard  of  Honor. — Distinguished  Men  in  Procession. 
— "Let  Us  Have  Peace." — At  and  "Near  the  Tomb. — The  Procession 
Arrives. — The  Hero  at  Rest. — The  Statue  of  Liberty  Enlightening  the 
World. — Origin  and  Development  of  the  Scheme. — The  Site  Provided. — 
Arrival  of  the  Statue  in  New  York  Harbor. — The  Procession. — Reception 
at  City  Hall.— The  Statue  in  Situ. — The  Unveiling. — The  Great  South 
western  Railway  Strike. — Origin. — Violence. — Effects. — Martin  Irons.-  - 
The  Old  Story. — Anarchists  in  Chicago. — Meeting  in  Haymarket  Square. 
— Fielden's  Speech. — His  Arrest. — Bombs. — Their  Deadly  Work. — 
Bravery  of  the  Police. — Seven  Men  Indicted.  —  The  Alarm. — The  Trial 
and  the  Sentences. — Were  the  Condemned  Guilty  r — Governor  Altgeld's 
Pardon. — His  Argument  Therefor. — H.  George  Runs  for  Mayor  of  New 
York. — Revision  of  State  Constitution. — Geography  of  This. — Character 
istics  of  the  New  Instruments.- — Legislature  Bridled  and  the  Executive 
Given  Increased  Power.' — Corporations. — The  Jury  System. — Tendency 
Toward  Government  by  Administration. — The  Australian  Ballot. — Spirit 
of  Suffrage  Laws.  —  Disfranchisement  of  Blacks  at  the  South. — Alabama 
Democracy  Wins  by  Aid  of  Negroes. — The  Mississippi  Constitution  of  - 
L-  1890. — Its  Suffrage  Provisions. — Upheld  in 'Court. — Inr.rpase  of  Negroes^ 
Qualified  to  Vote. — The  Struggle  in  South  Carolina. — Wade  Hampton. — 
Registranorr:Aa  uf  188:1.  Judgd  "Gaff's  Injunction. — Dissolved. — The 
Convention. — The  New  Constitution. 

XIX  The  Neo-Republican  Ascendancy    .  .    547 

Presidential  Candidates  in  1888. — Benjamin  Harrison. — Nominated  on  the 
Eighth  Ballot. — The  Campaign  Little  Personal. — -Clubs  Republican  and 
Democratic. — Causes  of  Cleveland's  Defeat. — Federal  Patronage. — Civil 
'Service  Reformers  Desert  Cleveland. — Democratic  Blunders. — The  Mur- 
chison  Letter. — Sackville-West's  Reply. — "  See  Lament  at  Once." — The 
British  Minister  Given  His  Passports. — Cleveland's  Action  Criticised. — , 

^X^OJuo-Ballot-Bo*- Forgery. — The  Tariff  Issue. — Elaine. — Democratic  Atti 
tude. — "  British  Free  Trade." — Harrison  and  Hill  in  New  York  State. — 

I/  Corrupt  Practices  in  Indiana. — Floaters  .in  "Blocks  of  Five."  The  Re 
publicans  Victorious. —  Harrison''s  Inaugural. — Restriction  of  Emigration. — 
Consular  Reports  on  This. — Centennial  Anniversary  of  Washington's  In 
auguration. — McKinley, _Lpdge  and  Reed  the  Republican  Leaders. — Three 
Great  Republican  Measures. — "Czar"  Reed  in  the  House. — A  Force""Bfll^_ 
Passes  The  House. — But  Dies  in  the  Senate. — Dependent  Pensrons-ATFT^ 
Evolution  of  the  Pension  System. — The  Bonded  Debt. — What  to  do  with 


CONTENTS 

-. — — — 

Surplus  Revenue. — The  McKinley  Bill.— The  New  Orleans  Mafia. Chief 

Heiinessy  Murdered. — Mass  Meeting. — "  WhoTCTlIade  Chief?  " — -Massa- 
cre-TrfThVPflsoners. — Complications  with  Italy. — The  Settlement  — Thfe 
United  States  and  Chile. — The  Barrundia  Case. — Democratic  "  Landslide  " 
of  1890. — Causes. — International  Copyright  Bill. 

XX  Important    Events    Mainly    Non-Political 

During  Harrison's  Term     .  .  -579 

Signs  of  a  New  Time. — Henry  W.  Grady. — Bad  Temper  Over  Jeff.  Davis 
— Zachariah  Chandler  Arraigns  Davis. — Gen.  Sherman  does  the  Same. 
— Oklahoma. — The  "Boomers/' — Growth  of  the  Territory. — The 
"Messiah  Craze"  Among  the  Indians. — Its  Alleged  Origin. — Another 
Account. — End  of  Sitting  Bull. — Related  Manifestations  of  the  Delusion. 
— The  Johnstown  Flood.  —  Devastation  and  Death. — Relief  Work. — The 
Seattle  Fire. — Fatal  Conflagration  in  Secretary  Tracy's  Washington  Home. 
— The  Louisiana  Lottery. — Its  Fight  for  Life. — Its  Defeat  and  Banish 
ment. — Mormonism. — Anti-Polygamy  Laws. — The  Mountain  Meadows 
Massacre. — Execution  of  John  D.  Lee. — The  Edmunds  Law. — Its  Rigor. 
— The  Highest  Court:  Sustains  It. — A  "Revelation"  Against  Polygamy. 
— Amnesty  and  Pardon. — Utah  a  State. — Geary  Anti-Chinese  Law. — 
The  United  States  in  Samoa, — Hurricane  There. — Escape  of  the  Calliope. 
— Admiral  Kimberley  to  Captain  Kane. — Russian  Famine  of  1892. — 
Thought  of  Relief  from  America. — Minneapolis  in  the  Lead. — Desperate 
Situation  in  Russia. — Russians'  Own  Generosity. — The  Supplies  from 
America. — Wisdom  Shown  in  Distributing  Them. — Philadelphia  Contri 
butes. — Good  Effects  of  the  Relief  Movement.  —  Political  "Tidal  Waves" 
of  1892  and  a 894. 

XXI  Columbus's  Deed  After  Four  Centuries      .   617 

World's  Expositions. — Ideas  of  a  World's  Columbian  Exposition. — Assur 
ance  Thereof. — Chicago  Made  Its  Site. — Rise  and  Growth  of  Chicago. 
—Jackson  Park.— The  Work  of  Preparing  It.— Building  Begun.— The 
Hive  Stilled,  Oct.  21,  1892,  Columbus  Day. — Both  Harrison  and  Cleve 
land  Absent. — Vice-President  Morton  Does  the  Honors. — The  Festivities. 
— Columbus  Anniversary  in  New  York  City.  —  Presidential  Election  of 
1892. — Reasons  for  Harrison's  Defeat. — The  Homestead  Strike. — Pink- 
erton  Police  Mobbed. — Attempted  Assassination  of  H.  C.  Frick. — Ar 
rests,  Trials  and  Comments. — Senator  Palmer's  Views. — Destructive  Fire 
at  Titusville  and  Oil  Creek. — Mining  Riots  in  Tennessee. — Issues  Dis 
cussed  in  the  Campaign. — Populism  Gains. — Sweeping  Nature  of  the 
Democratic  Victory.  —  President  Cleveland  Opens  the  World's  Columbian 
Exposition. — The  Scene.  —  Opening  Exercises  at  the  Woman's  Building. 
— Various  State  Days. — -Chicago  Day. — Size  and  Splendor  of  the  Grounds 
and  Buildings. — John  W.  Root.  —  Richard  M.  Hunt. — General  Arrange 
ment  of  Grounds. — State  Buildings. — The  Wooded  Island. — Intramural 
Railway. — The  Architecture  of  the  Exposition. — Various  Buildings  and 
Works  of  Art.— Fire  in  the  Cold  Storage  Building.— The  Fisheries  Build 
ing. — Specially  Interesting  Exhibits. — The  Midway. — The  Ferris  Wheel. 
— Transportation  to  and  from  the  Exposition. — Attendance.  —  Order. — 
Assassination  of  Mayor  Carter  Harrison. — The  "White  City"  Goes  up 
in  Flame. 

XXII  World's  Exposition  Hints  Upon  the  Prog 
ress  of  Civilization  in  the  United  States   663 

Data  from  the  Eleventh  Census. — Progress  in  Bridge  Construction. — The1 
Brooklyn  Bridge. — The  Cantilever  Model. — Elevated  Railways. — Steel 


/ 


t> 


CONTENTS 


Structure  in  Buildings. ---Advance  in  Telegraphy. — The  Earth  Twice 
Circled  in  Fifty  Minutes. — Time  and  the  Telegraph. — Th^  Weather 
Bureau. — The  Telephone. — Electric  Lighting. — Transmission  of  Elec 
trical  Power. — Electrical  Railways. — Edison. — His  Career.  —  His  Inven 
tions. — The  Phonograph  at  a  Funeral. — Tesla. — Compared  with  Edison. 
— Tesla' s  A'm. — Astounding  Performances  with  Electricity. — Niagara's 
Power  Turned  into  Electricity. — Electric  Transmission  at  Laufen. — At 
Folsom,  Cal. — The  Original  Bicycle.—  The  "  Safety."—  The  Bicycle 
"  Craze." — New  Methods  for  the  Culture  and  the  Capture  of  Fish. — The 
Rose  Trap. — The  Fyke  Net.— The  Purse  Seine.  — Steam  in  Menhaden 
Fishing. — The  World's  Congress  Auxiliary. — Parliament  of  Religions. — 
The  Woman's  Building  at  the  Exposition. — Woman's  Influence  in  Amer 
ican  Life. — The  Women's  Christian  Temperance  Union. — The  Crusade 
of  1873-74. — Victory  at  Washington  Court  House. — Ludicrous  Side  of 
the  Crusade. — Its  Spread. — The  Temperance  Union  Grows  out  of  the 
Crusade.  —  Woman  in  the  Salvation  Army. — Rise  of  the  Army. — It  In 
vades  America. — Good  Work. — The  Army's  Discipline. — Women  Made 
"  Captains,"  etc.,  the  Same  as  Men. 


XXIII  The  Democracy  Supreme 


.   691 


Panic  o£_j-&95, — Extra  Session  of  Congress. — Democracy  Controls  All 
Branches  of  the  Government. — Result.— Cleveland's  Second  Adminis 
tration. — His  Civil  Service  Record. — Repeal  of  the  Silver  Purchase  Act. 
— Gold  Outflow. — The  Tariff"  to  be  Revised. — The  Wilson  Bill. — 
Democratic  Protectionists. — The  Sugar  Schedule. — Senate  Amendments. 
— "Party  Perfidy. "—The  Bill  in  Conference.— Senate  Will  Not  Re 
cede. — The  Bill  Passed. — Cleveland's  Dilemma. — No  One  Satisfied. — 
Opposition  to  the  Income  Tax  Provision. — Declared  Unconstitutional. — 
Uncle  Sam  Forced  to  Borrow. — Treasury  Methods  Criticised. — Trusts. — 
Anti-Lottery  Bill  Passed. — A_  Tame  Fore^n  Policy.—  -Hawaii. — The 
Missionary  Party. — Liliuokalani's  Coup  d"  Etat. — U.  S.  Troopsjn  Hono- 
_Julu. — A  Revolutionary  Government.  —  Desires  Annexation  to  U.  S. — 
Treaty  of  Annexation  Sent  to  Senate. — Cleveland's  Reactionary  Policy. 
— "Paramount"  Blount. — Stars  and  Stripes  Hauled  Down. — Effort  to 
Restore  the  Queen. — Unpopularity  of  This. — The  Dole  Government 
Safe. — Olney  Succeeds  Gresham  in  the  Department  of  State. — Firm  Stand 
Against  Great  Britain  in  Venezuela  Matter. — Startling  Message  of  De 
cember,  1895. — The  Venezuela  Boundary  Commission. — Panic  in  Wall 
Street. — Savage  Attacks  on  the  President. — The  Lexow  Investigation. — 
Charles  H.  Parkhurst. — The  Public  and  the  "  Force." — Investigating 
Committee. — John  W.  Goff. — Facts  Elicited. — "Reform"  Victorious 
in  the  Municipal  Election.- — The  "A.  P.  A." — Its  Origin. —  Its  Raisons 
</' '  Etre. — Circumstances  Occasioning  the  Movement. — Members  and  In 
fluence. — Unpopularity. — The  Secret  Oath. — "  Perjurer  and  Traitor." 


XXIV  The     Chicago     Strike— The     California 

"  Octopus"-  —Indians'  Land  in  Severalty   7 1 7 

/  Cleveland  J»Jo_£apuli&t. — "Industrials"  and  "General"  Coxey. — Their 
March  — Arrival  in  Washington. — Arrests  and  Prosecutions. — The  Rem 
nant  Disband. — The  Town  of  Pullman. — The  Pullman  Company. — 
Wealth  and  Business. — The  American  Railway  Union. — The  General 
Managers'  Association. — A.  R.  U.  Fight  with  the  Great  Northern  Rail 
way. — The  Pullman  Strike. — "Nothing  to  Arbitrate." — Pullman  Cars 
Boycotted. — Eugene  V.  Debs. — Strikers  and  Hoodlums.  —  Property  Looted. 
— Workmen  "  Persuaded"  Not  to  Replace  Strikers. — Blood  Drawn  at 
Hammond. — Partial  Sympathetic  Strike  of  the  Knights  of  Labor. — Debs 


CONTENTS 


and  Other  Officers  Arrested.  —  Collapse  of  a  Strike.  —  The  Costs.  __  Alt- 
geld  -vs.  Cleveland  on  the  Presence  of  Federal  Soldiers  in  Chicago.  _  A 
Snub  to  the  National  Guard.  —  This  a  Powerful  Force.  —  Improvements  in 
It  after  1877.  —  New  and  Dangerous  Applications  of  Court  Injunctions. 

—  Could  There  Be  a  Legal  Strike  ?  —  The  Strike  Commission.  —  Findings 
and  Recommendations.—  Strike  of  1894  in  California.  —  Railway  Monop 
oly.  —  Consequences.  —  Arguments    in    Extenuation.-  —  Per   Contra.  —  The 
Reilly  Bill.—  Efforts  for  Relief.  —  The  Projected  San  Joaquin  Valley  Road. 

—  Indians'  Lands  in  Severalty.  —  Breaking  Up  the  Tribal  System.  —  His 
tory  of  the  Rise  and  March  of  the   Severalty  Idea  in  the   United   States 
from  the  Earliest  Times.  —  Commissioners  E.  P.  Smith,  J.  Q.  Smith,  E. 
A.  Hayt.  —  The  Enactment  of  1887.  —  Amended  in  1891. 


XXV  The   South  and  the  Negro  in  the  Light 
of  the  Eleventh  Census      .          .  . 

The  "  New  South."  —  Events  Denoting  Good  Feeling  Between  South  and 
North.  —  Dedication  of  The  Chlckamauga  Military  Park.  _  The  Gen. 
Lytle  Button  Incident.  —  The  Parade.  —  The  Cotton  States  and  Interna 
tional  Exposition.  —  Opening.  —  The  Addresses.  —  Booker  T.  Washington's 
Speech.  —  Proceedings  Telegraphed  to  President  Cleveland.  —  His  Reply. 

—  The  Machinery  Set  in  Motion  from  Gray  Gables.  —  Atlanta's  Effort  in 
Originating    the    Exposition.  —  Grounds    and    Buildings  __  Success.  —  The 
Negro  Building.  —  The  Exposition's  Revelations  of  Southern  Prosperity.  — 
Backwardness  in  Sections.  —  Three  Black  Belts.  —  Ill-success  of  the  Negro 
as  a  Farmer.  —  Jews  and    Negroes.  —  Progress   of  the   South  at  Large.-  — 
Compared  with  the  West.  —  The  South  in  1860,  1870  and  1880.  —  Mate 
rial  Progress   Between  1880  and  1890.  —  In  Agriculture.  —  In   Manufac 
tures.  —  In    Mining.  —  Vast    Undeveloped    Resources.-  —  The    New   South 
Created  by  Southern  Men.  —  Character  of  the  Southern  Whites.  —  Their 
Resolution  —  Their    Patriotism.  —  Treatment  of   the    Drink  Question.  — 
South    Carolina    Dispensary    System.  —  Effectual     Prohibition.  —  Reaction 
Against  Lynching.  —  Dreadful   Difficulty  of  the   Race   Question.  —  JWh'te 
Supremacy  at  the  Polls  Attained.  —  Acquiescence.  —  Coddling  of  the  Negro 
Deprecated.  —  Undoubted  Brightness  of  the  African  Race.  —  The   Defects 
of  That  Race.  —  Immorality.  —  Lack  of  Originality.  —  Little  Persistence.  — 
Good    Work    Under   Overseers.  —  Whites    Multiply   More   Rapidly  than 
Blacks.  —  Certain  Districts  Offer  an  Exception.  —  Negro  Mortality.  —  Black 
Migration  from  the  Highlands  to  the  Lowlands.  —  From  Country  to  City. 

—  Future  of  the  Race.  —  Intensified  Competition  from  White  Immigrants. 

—  Dying  Off  of  the  Last  Slaveholder  Generation.  —  Significance  of  This  to 
the  Black  Man. 


XXVI   The    Battle    of    the    Standards    and    the 

Republican  Restoration      .          .          .   773 

Bolt  from  Republican  Convention.  —  The  Democratic  Convention.  — 
Populists  and  Democrats.  —  The  Controversy  over  Silver.  —  McKinley's 
Cabinet.  —  The>£iyil  Service.—  Gold  in  Alaska.  —  The  Alaska  Boundary. 
—  Pelagic  Sealing.  —  Hawaii  Annexed. 


XXVII   The  War  with  Spain 


Weyler  and  Blanco.— Destruction  of  the  "  Maine." — Not  Ready  for  War. 
— The  "  Bottling-up  "  of  Cervera. — The  Land  Campaign. — The  Oregon 
to  the  Fore. — Waiting  Worse  than  Fighting. — Sampson  and  Schley. — 


799 


CONTENTS 


Army  Reform, — Ratification  of  the  Paris  Treaty. — Porto  Rico  and_  the 
United  States. — Development^  of  Porto  Rico. — Cuba  and  the  United 
States. — Cuban  Independence. — Future  of  Cuba. 


XXVIII   The    United 
Power     . 


States    a    Pacific     Ocean 


Native  Tribes  of  the  Philippines.  —  The  Moros  and  Visayans.  —  Chinese 
in  the  Philippines.  —  The  Religious  Question.  —  Aguinaldo.  —  The  Philip 
pine  Republic.  —  The  Philippine  Congress.  —  Affairs  in  Samar.  —  General 
Miles's  Report.  —  The  Schurman  Commission's  Report.  —  The  "  Insular 
.Casejs-.-'  —  The  Anti-Imperialist  Discussion.  —  Inauguration  of  Governor 
Taft.  —  The  Pacific  Cable. 


XXIX   Politics   and    Progress    at   the   Turn    of 

the   Century     .....    863 

Issues  of  the  Campaign. — The  Pcrto  Rico  Tariff. — The  Trusts. — The 
Causes  of  Democratic  Defeat. — The  Financial  Issue. — The  Census  of 
1900. — The  Pan-American  Exposition. — The  St.  Louis  Exposition. 


XXX    McKinley's     End     and     the     Rise     of 

Roosevelt  .          .  .  .  .    897 

Assassination  of  President  McKinley. — Directions  to  the  Taft  Commis 
sion. — The  American  Army  in  China. — McKinley's  Private  Character. 
— Czolgosz  and  the  Anarchists. — The  New  President. — Our  Policy  in 
the  East. — Vices  of  Corporations. — The  Northern  Securities  Merger. — 
Carnegie  and  the  Steel  Corporation. — Confederate  Industry  Efficient. — The 
Grosscup  Injunction. — The  Coal  Strike  of  1902. — The  Elkins  Act. — 
Efforts  for  Reform  in  Cities. 


xvl 


LIST  OF  ILLUSTRATIONS 


SCENES    AND    VIEWS 

Crowd  in  Front  of  the  New  York  Times  Office  on  the  Night  of  the  Tilden-Hayes  Election, 

1876          .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  Frontispiece 

Drawn  by  B.  West  Clinedimt 

Driving  the  Last  Spike  of  the  Union  Pacific.     Scene  at  Promontory  Point,  May  10,  1869   .         3 

Drawn  by  B.  West  Clinedimt  from  photographs  loaned  by  General  G.  M.  Dodge 

The  Court  House  at  Chicago  before  the  Fire ;   The  Chicago  Court  House  after  the  Fire        .        6 

From  photographs 

The  Chicago  Court  House  in  1895    ..........        7 

From  a  photograph 

The  Reconstruction  Committee  ..........      25 

Drawn  by  W.  R.  Leigh  from  photographs 

The  High  Commissioners  in  Session  at  Washington       .          .          .  .  .          .  -33 

Drawn  by  E.  B.  Child  from  photographs 

Fisk  and  Gould's  Opera  House  in  a  State  of  Siege          .  .  .  .  .  .  41 

Drawn  by  B.  West  Clinedinst 

Scene  in  the  New  York  Gold  Room  on  Black  Friday  .......      49 

Drawn  by  C.  S.  Reinhart  from  photographs  and  descriptions  by  eye-witnesses 

Horace  Greeley  Signing  the  Bail  Bond  of  Jefferson  Davis         .  .  .  .  .  -63 

Painted  by  W.  R.  Leigh  from  photographs,  and  sketches  made  at  the  time  by  W.  L.  Sheppard 

Mr.  Greeley  Receiving  the  Democratic  Committee  which*  Notified  him  of  his  Nomination   .      65 

Painted  by  W.  R.  Leigh  from  photographs  and  descriptions 

Dispersal  of  the  McEnery  Legislature  at  Odd  Fellow's  Hall,  New  Orleans  .  .  .81 

Drawn  by  C.  K.  Linson  from  photographs  and  descriptions 

Three  Famous  Confederate  Cruisers  :  The  Florida,  the  Shenandoah  and  the  Alabama  .          .89 

Drawn  by  M,  J.  Burns  from  photographs 

Count  Sclopis  Announcing  the  Decision  of  the  Geneva  Tribunal      .  .  .  .  -93 

Painted  by  W.  R.  Leigh  from  photographs  and  diagrams  loaned  by  J.  C.  Bancroft  Davis,  Esq. 

The  South  Carolina  Legislature  of  1873  Passing  an  Appropriation  Bill      .  .  .  •    J-3 

Painted  by  W,  R.  Leigh  from  photographs,  plans,  and  a  description  by  an  eye-witness 

Beginning  of  the  Conflict  in  Front  of  the  Anthony  House,  Little  Rock,  Arkansas     .  .133 

Painted  by  W.  R.  Leigh  from  photographs  and  descriptions 

The  Brooks  Forces  Evacuating  the  State  House  at  Little  Rock         .  .  .  .  .    137 

Painted  by  Howard  Pyle  from  photographs  and  descriptions 

The  Scene  of  the  Conflict  at  the   Pemberton   Monument,   near  Vicksburg,    December   7, 
1874 -143 

From  a  photograph  made  for  this  work 

The  Mississippi  Legislature  Passing  a  Resolution  Asking  for  Federal  Aid  after  the  Attack  on 
Vicksburg 146 

Drawn  by  B.  West  Clinedinst  from  photographs  and  descriptions 


LIST  OF  ILLUSTRATIONS 

General  Badger  in  Front  of  the  Gem  Saloon,  New  Orleans     .  .  .  .  .  .149 

Drawn  by  C.  K.  Linson  from  photographs 

The  Mass  Meeting  of  September  14,   1874,  at  the  Clay  Statue,  New  Orleans    .  .  .    154 

Drawn  by  C.  K.  Linson  from  photographs 

L.  A.  Wiltz  Taking  Possession  of  the  Speaker's  Chair  in  the  Louisiana  State  House,  Janu 
ary  4,  1875 163 

Drawn  by  W.  R.  Leigh  from  photographs  and  plans 

The  Lava  Beds 178 

From  a  photograph  by  Taker 

Scene  of  the  Canby  Massacre    .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .1-9 

From  a  photograph  by  Taker 

Indian  Trader's  Store  at  Standing  Rock,  North  Dakota  .  .  .  .  .  .185 

Drawn  by  W.  A.  C.  Pape  from  a  photograph  by  Barry 

The  Custer  Monument   .          .          .  .          .          .          .          .          .          .          .  .190 

Drawn  by  Harry  Fenn  from  a  photograph  by  Barry 

Old  Swedes'  Church,  Philadelphia,  Built  in  1700  .  .  .  .  .  .  .195 

Drawn  by  Harry  Fenn  from  a  photograph  by  Rau 

State  House  Row,  Philadelphia          ......... 

Drawn  by  Harry  Fenn  from  a  photograph  by  Rau 

Centennial  Opening  Ceremonies  on  May  10,  1876 
Drawn  by  Harry  Fenn  from  a  photograph 

View  From  Photographic  Hall  Looking  Toward  Machinery  Hall    .  .  .  .  .203 

Drawn  by  C.  K.  Linson  from  a  photograph 

Fountain  Hall ;   Exterior  of  Horticultural  Hall     ........    206 

Interior  of  Horticultural  Hall  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .207 

The  Main  Building  at  Philadelphia 209 

After  a  photograph 

The  Republican  Caucus  Committee  which  Formulated   the  Resumption   Act  in   December, 
1874 251 

Drawn  by  W,  R,  Leigh  from  photographs 

The  Rush  from  the  New  York  Stock  Exchange  on  September  18,  1873  •  •  •    -55 

Drawn  by  Howard  Pyle 

Chief  Justice    Chase    announcing  the  decison  of  the  Supreme  Court  in  the  first   "Legal 
Tender"  Trial:   Hepburn  vs.  Griswold  ........    2-1 

Drawn  by  W.  R.  Leigh  from  photographs 

The  Trial  of  Thomas  Munley,  the  "  Mollie  Maguire,"  at  Pottsville,  Pa.  ...    29- 

Painted  by  W.  R.  Leigh  from  photographs  and  diagrams  by  George  A.  Bretx 

The  Attempt  to  Fire  the  P.  R.R.  Roundhouse  in   Pittsburg,    at  daybreak  of  Sunday,  July 

22,    1877 3OI 

Painted  by  ff^.  R.  Leigh  from  photographs  by  Robinson 

Burnt  Freight  Cars  at  Pittsburg          .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .    303 

From  a  photograph  by  Robinson 

Union  Station  and  Interior  of  Roundhouse  after  the  Riot  of  1877   .  .  .  ...    304 

From  photographs  by  Robinson 

The  Interview  at  the  Riggs  House  Between  Conkling  and   Garheld  ....    322 

Drawn  by  B.  West  Clinedinst  from  photographs  and  descriptions 

Conkling' s  Speech  Before  the  "Committee  of  Conciliation  "  .....    325 

Drawn  by  C.  K.  Linson  from  photographs,  and  a  diagram  and  description  furnished  by  Mr.  H.  L. 
Dawes 

The  Anti-Chinese  Riot  of  1880,  in  Denver,  Col 328 

Drawn  by  C.  K.  Linson  from  a  photograph  and  a  sketch  made  by  an  eye-witness 


LIST  OF  ILLUSTRATIONS 

President  Garfield's  Remains  Lying  in  State  at  the  Capitol       .  .  .  .  .  -335 

Drawn  by  W>\  R.  Leigh  from  photographs 

Scene  at  a  Station  on  the   P.  R.R.  as  the  Garfield  Ambulance  Train  Passed  on  its  Way  to 
Elberon      .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  -337 

Drawn  by  C.  K.  Linson 

The  Garfield  Funeral  Car  About  to  Start  from  the  Public  Square,   Cleveland,   Ohio,  for  the 
Cemetery  ...  .........    339 

Drawn  by  T.  de  Thulstrup  from  a  photograph  by  Ryder 

President  Arthur  Taking  the  Inaugural  Oath  at  his  Lexington  Avenue  Residence         .  .    345 

Drawn  by  W.    R.   Leigh 

President  Hayes  and  his  Cabinet  Receiving  Chen  Lan   Pin   and  the   First  Resident  Chinese 
Embassy  to  the  United  States,  September  28,  1878    .......    358 

Drawn  by  W.  R.  Leigh  from  photographs 

The  Chinese  Consulate  in  San  Francisco      .........    360 

Drawn  by  A.  F.  Jaccaci  from  a  photograph  by  "Taker 

A  "Mixed  Family"  in  the  Highbinders'  Quarter,  "Chinatown"  ....    361 

From  a  photograph  by  Taker 

God  in  Joss  Temple,  "Chinatown,"  San  Francisco        .......    362, 

Drawn  by  Harry  Fenn  from  a  photograph  by  Taker 

Chinese  Accountants        ............    363 

Drawn  by  E.  B.  Child  from  a  photograph  by  Taker 

Alley  in  "Chinatown"  ...........    365 

'   Drawn  by  F.  H.   Lungren  from  photographs  by  Taker 

Dining  Room  of  a  Chinese  Restaurant  in  Washington  Street,  San  Francisco        .  .  .366 

Drawn  by  Harry  Fenn  from  photographs  by  Taker 

A  "Sand  Lot"  Meeting  in  San  Francisco  ........    368 

Composition  of  B.  finest  Clinedinst  with  the  assistance  of  photographs  by  Taker 

Denis  Kearney  Addressing  the  Workingmen  on  the  Night  of  October  29,  on  Nob  Hill,  San 
Francisco  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  •    372 

Drawn  by  G.  H^.  Peters  from  photographs,  and  diagrams  and  descriptions  by  eye-witnesses 

Denis   Kearney   Being  Drawn  Through  the  Streets  of  San   Francisco  After  his  Release  from 
the  House  of  Correction         ...........    375 

Painted  by  Howard  Pyle  from  photographs  by  Taker  and  a  description  by  Kearney  himself 

The  Old  Chronicle  Building  in  San  Francisco         .          .  .  .  .  *       .  .  .    377 

Drawn  by  Otto  H.  Backer  from  a  photograph  by  Taker 

Procession  Wong  Fong  in  San  Francisco      .........    379 

Drawn  by  T.  de  Thulstrup  from  a  photograph  by  Taker 

The  Nelson  House  in  1881 383 

The  West  House  at  Yorktown -3^4 

The  Yorktown  Memorial  Monument  .          .  .  .  .  .  •  •  -3^5 

Lawrenceburg,  Indiana,  During  the  Floods  of  1884        .  .          .  .  •          •  -3^7 

From  a  copyrighted  photograph  by  Rombach  &  Groene 

Second  Street,  Cincinnati,  Looking  East       .  .  .  .  .  .  •  .388 

Gas  Tanks  in  Second  Street,  Cincinnati       .          .          .          .          .          .          •          •          .388 

Cincinnati  Riots  of  1884 — Barricade  in  South  Sycamore  Street          .  3^9 

From  a  photograph  by  Rombach  &  Groene 

A  Pigmy  Family  in  Front  of  Stanley's  Tent  ......••    39^ 

Drawn  by  H.  Den  man 


LIST    OF    ILLUSTRATIONS 

A  Pigmy  Village  Discovered  by  Stanley  in  the  Great  African  Forest.  .  .  .  -397 

Drawn  by  C.  Brougljton 

One  of  Stanley's  Stockaded  Camps     .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .398 

Drawn  by  W.  L.  Metcalf 

Machine  Shop  and  Railroad  Camp  Number  I,  Showing  One  of  the  Dredges  at  work  on  the 
Nicaragua  Canal  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .   40^ 

Clearing  for  the  Nicaragua  Canal         ..........   406 

Giant  Silk  Cotton-Tree  in  the  Line  of  the  Canal  Clearing        .  .  .  .  .  .407 

Engineer  Camp  of  the  Nicaragua  Railway  on  the  West  Side    ......  408 

Spanish-American  Delegates  to  the  Pan-American  Conference  .  .  .  .  .  413 

From  a  photograph  bv  Rvder  at  Cleveland,  Ohio 

House  in  Washington  where  the  Pan-American  Conference  held  its  Meetings     .           .           .  41  S 
The  Greely  Relief  Fleet  at  Godhavn 42- 

Drawn  by  Harry  Fenn  from  a  photograph  by  Rice 

Fort  Conger  .............  428 

Drawn  by  Harry  Fenn  from  a  photograph  by  Rice 

Lieutenant  Lockwood  and  His  Exploring  Party  .  .  .  .  .  .  -433 

From  a  photograph  by  Rice 

The  Greely  Survivors  and  the  Rescuing  Party        .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .43" 

From  a  photograph  by  Rice  on  board  the  u  Bear"  at  Godhavn 

First  Sight  of  Peary's  Party — The  Approach  to  McCormick's  Bay,  July  23,  1892       .  .  443 

Drawn  by  F.  If.  Stoke] 

South  Portal  of  Main  Building  at  New  Orleans  Exposition       ......  449 

Drawn  by  F..  B.  Child  from  a  photograph 

Mexican  Pavilion  and  Main  Building  at  New  Orleans  Exposition       .  .  .  ,  4:51 

Drawn  by  A.  W.   Van  Deusen  from  a  photograph 

"Mulligan  Letters"  Scene  in  the  House  of  Representatives,  June  5,  1876         .  .  45- 

Drawn  by  W.  R.  Leigh  from  photographs 

The  Reception  Given  by  Ministers  to  Mr.  Elaine  at  the  Fifth  Avenue  Hotel,  October  29, 
1884,  at  which  the  "  Burchard  Incident"  Took  Place      ......   4-6 

Drawn  by  T.  de  Thulstrup  from  photographs 

Inauguration  of  President  Cleveland     .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  48  3 

Drawn  by  Childe  Hassam  from  photographs 

The  U.  S.  Steamship  Columbia  on  her  Government  Speed  Trial       .  .  .  .  -4^9 

Scenes  in  Charleston  after  the  Earthquake  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  -492. 

Drawn  by  C.  K.  Linson  from  photographs 

The  "  Fortune  Bay  Affair  "      ...........   508 

Drawn  by  M.  J.  Burns  from  photographs  and  descriptions 

Second  Seizure  of  the  Schooner  David  J.  Adams          .......  509 

Drawn  by  M.  J.  Burns  from  photagraphs  by  Parker  and  descriptions 

Scenes  in  Quidi  Vidi,  a  Typical  Newfoundland  Fishing  Town  .  .  .  .  .510 

Drawn  by  C.  K.  Linson  from  photographs 

Fish  Sheds  at  Quidi  Vidi 514 

Drawn  by  C.  K.  Linson  from  a  photograph 
The  Grant  Funeral — Arrival  at  the  Tomb  .  .  .  ,  ,          „          .          .  .520 

Drawn  by  0.  H.  Backer  from  a  photograph 


LIST    OF    ILLUSTRATIONS 

The  Temporary  Tomb,  Decorated  in  1890  ........    521 

Drawn  by  W.  N.  Smith  from  a  photograph 

The  Grant  Tomb  Just  Previous  to  Completion,  1896    .......     c^x 

Drawn  by  0.  H.  Backer  from  nature 

The  Bartholdi  Statue  of  Liberty  seen  from  Communipaw,  N.  J.  .  .  .  .     r^r 

Drawn  by  0.  II.  Backer  from  nature 


The  Tragedy  in  Haymarket  Square,  Chicago         .  .  .  .  .          .          .  .530 

Drawn  by  Orson  Lowell 

Haymarket  Square,  Looking  East,  1896,    (showing  the  Statue  Erected  in  Memory  of  the 
Murdered  Police)          .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .531 

Drawn  by  Orson  Lowell  from  nature 

President  Harrison  being  Rowed  Ashore  at  Wall  Street  during  the  Inauguration  Centennial   .    561 

Drawn  by  W.  St.  John  Harper  from  a  photograph 

The  Clay  Statue  in  New  Orleans        .......  569 

Citizens  Breaking  Down  the  Door  of  the  Parish  Prison  .  .  .  .  .  -571 

Drawn  by  W.  R.  Leigh  from  photographs  and  descriptions 

The  Itata  in  San  Diego  Harbor          .  .  .          .  .          .          .          .          .  -574 

From  a  photograph  by  Slocum 

The  Charleston  in  San  Diego  Harbor  .  .  .  .          .          .          .          .  -575 

From  a  photograph  by  Slocum 

Statue  of  Thomas  J.  Jackson  at  Lexington,  Va.    .  .  .          .          .  .          .  .58° 

From  a  photograph  loaned  by  C.  H.  Sumwalt,  Esq. 

Equestrian  Statue  of  Robert  E.  Lee.    .  .  .  .  .  .          .          .  .  .    581 

The  Beecher  Statue  in  the  City  Hall  Park,  Brooklyn,  N.  Y 583 

From  a  photograph  made  for  this  work 

"Boomers"  in  Camp  Just  Outside  the  Oklahoma  Line  ......    586 

From  a  photograph  by  C.  P.  Rich 

Guthrie,  Oklahoma,  on  the  Second  Day  after  the  Opening     .  .  .  .  .  .    ^86 

From  a  photograph  by  C.  P.  Rich 

Oklahoma  Avenue  on  May  10,  1889  .........    587 

From  a  photograph  by  C.  P.  Rich 

Oklahoma  Avenue  on  May  10,  1893  ......-••    587 

From  a  photograph  by  C.  P.  Rich 

The   Crook  Commission  Holding  a  Conference  with  Sioux  Indians  at  Lower  Brule  Agency, 
South  Dakota,  July  3,  1889 

Settlers  Passing  Through  Chamberlain,  South  Dakota,  on  their  way  to  the  Sioux  Lands         .    589 

Drawn  by  C.  K.  Linson  from  a  photograph 

A  Disbeliever  in  "The  Messiah" 59° 

From  a  photograph  by  H.  F.  Denton 

Sioux  Indians  About  to  Take  Part  in  a  Ghost  Dance     .  .          .          .          .          •  •   591 

From  a  photograph  in  the  possession  of  H.  F.  Denton 

Main  Street,  Johnstown,  after  the  Flood      .  .  .  .  .  .  •  •  -593 

From  a  photograph  by  Ran 

View  Across  the  Great  Drift  after  the  Johnstown  Flood  .          .          .          •          •          -594 

From  a  photograph  by  Rau 

Beginning  of  the  Seattle  Fire      .  .  .          .          . 

Ruins,  after  the  Seattle  Fire 596 


LIST    OF    ILLUSTRATIONS 

Mormon  Temple  at  Salt  Lake  City    .  .          .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .601 

From  a  photograph  by  Rau 

Main  Street,  Salt  Lake  City 60 1 

From  a  f  holograph  by  Rau 
Stern  of  the  U.  S.  S.  Nipsic,  after  the  Samoan  Hurricane 606 

From  a  photograph  loaned  by  Commander  F.  E.  Chadwick,  U.S.N. 

The  German  Gunboat  Adler  on  Her  Beam  Ends  .......   606 

From  a  photograph  loaned  by  Commander  F.  F..  Chad-wick,  U.S.N. 

Harbor  of  Upolu,  after  the  Hurricane  .........  608 

From  a  photograph  loaned  by  Commander  F.  E.  Chadwick,  U.S.N. 

A  Russian  Peasant  in  the  Famine  District    .  .  .  .  .  .  ,  .  .610 

From  a  photograph  loaned  by  "  The  Northwestern  Miller  " 

"  Hunger  Bread  "  ............  ^10 

From  a  photograph  loaned  by  "  The  Northwestern  Miller  " 

The  Steamship  Missouri,  after  Unloading  Her  Relief  Cargo     .  .  .  .  „  .611 

From  a  photograph  loaned  by  "  The  Northwestern  Miller  " 

First  Train  Load  of  American  Food  about  to  Start  from  Libau  for  the  Interior    .  .  .613 

From  a  photograph  loaned  by  "  The  Northwestern  Miller  " 

The  Homestead  Strikers  Burning  the   Barges    from    which    the  Pinkerton  Men  had  been 
Taken 624 

Drawn  by   Orson  Lowell  from  photographs  taken  during  and  just  after  the  trouble 

The  Carnegie  Steel  Works 626 

Drawn  by  G.  W.  Peters  from  photographs  made  after  the  militia  had  taken  possession  of  the  works 

Militia  Behind  the  Barricade  inside  the  Carnegie  Works  .... 

The  Titusville  Flood  and  Fire — looking  south  from  Cornell's  Building 

From  a  photograph  by  Mather 

The  Titusville  Flood  and  Fire — Looking  south  from  foot  of  Monroe  Street,  at  II  A.  M., 
Sunday,  June  5,  1892  ...........  629 

From  a  photograph  by  Mather 

Non-Combatants — A  Typical  Tennessee  Mountain  Home       .  .  .  .  .  .  630 

From  a  photograph  by  Singleton 

Convict  Stockade  and  Military  Encampment  at  Oliver  Springs         '  .  .  .  .  .630 

From  a  photograph  by  Singleton 

Dr.  Betts,  "The  Cowboy  Preacher,"  Inciting  the  Miners  to  Attack  Fort  Anderson   .  -631 

From  a  photograph  by  Singleton 
WORLD'S  FAIR  VIEWS  (  Unless  otherwise  stated,  from  photographs  by  Mrs.  T.  S.  Johnson). 

Statue  of  Buffalo,  northeast  of  Machinery  Hall       .......  634 

Drawn  by  C.  K.  Linson  from  a  photograph 

Entrance  to  the  German  Building         .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .631; 

Drawn  by  A.  F.  Jaccaci  from  a  photograph 

Administration  Building,  seen  from  the  Agricultural  Building    .... 

General  View  of  the  Fair  Grounds        .  .  .  .  .  .  . 

Drawn  by  Orson  Lowell  from  a  copyrighted  photograph 

Totem  Poles  ............ 

Drawn  by  A.  F.  Jaccaci  from  a  photograph 

Feeding  the  Water  Fowls  ......... 

Drawn  by  Orson  Lowell  from  a  photograph 

From  the  Art  Building  Steps — West    ......... 

Drawn  by  A.  F.  Jaccaci  from  a  photograph 


LIST    OF    ILLUSTRATIONS 

The  Choral  Building 643 

Drawn  by  A.  F.  Jaccaci  from  a  photograph 

Horticultural  and  Transportation  Buildings,  viewed  from  the  Lagoon  .          .          .    645 

From  a  photograph 

Transportation  Building,  from  Electricity  Building  .......    648 

Drawn  by  A.  F.  Jaccaci  from  a  photograph 

Detail  of  the  Golden  Doorway  at  the  entrance  to  the  Transportation  Building       .  .    649 

Drawn  by  G.  H^.  Peters  from  a  photograph 

Manufacturers'  and  Liberal  Arts  Building,  seen  from  the  southwest    .          .          .          •    6ci 

Caravels  in  front  of  the  Casino  Building         ........    653 

Drawn  by  F.  C.  Ransom  from  a  photograph 

Statue  on  west  side  of  Agricultural  Building  ........    654 

Drawn  by  A.  F.  Jaccaci  from  a  photograph 

German  Wrought  Iron  Gates  at  south  end  of  Transportation  Building         .          .          .    655 
Drawn  by  Gustav  Verbeek  from  a  photograph   by  Rau 

Detail,  Main  Entrance  of  Horticultural  Building     .......    656 

Drawn  by  Gustav  Verbeek  from  a  photograph 

View  towards  the  Peristyle  from  Machinery  Hall   .......    658 

The  French  Building 659 

Drawn  by  Gustav  Verbeek  from  a  photograph 

Burning  of  the  White  City 662 

The  Brooklyn  Bridge 666 

Drawn  from  nature  by  Otto  If.  Bacher 

A  Typical  High  Building — Monadnock  Building,  Chicago      ......    668 

Drawn  by  E.  C.  Peixotto 

Steel  Frame  of  the  Carnegie  Building,  Pittsburg,  Pa.  ....   669 

Switchboard  of  a  Telephone  Exchange          .........   672 

From  a  photograph  loaned  by  the  Metropolitan  Telephone  and  Telegraph  Co. 

Exterior  of  the  Power  House  at  Niagara  Falls        ........  676 

From  a  photograph  by  Curtis 

Under  the  Switchboard  of  the  Niagara  Power  House      .          .          .          .          .          .          .  676 

From  a  photograph  by  Curtis 

Interior  of  Power  House  at  Niagara  Falls     .........  677 

From  a  photograph  by  Curtis 

Bicyclists  in  Central  Park,  New  York         .......-•  679 

Hatchery  of  the  Fish  Commission  Building  at  Washington,  D.  C.,  showing  Hatchery  Jars 
in  Operation        .  .  .  .  .  .  .          .          .  .  .          .          .681 

A  Salvation  Army  Open  Air  Meeting          ........  687 

From  a  photograph  made  for  this  work 

The  (Queen's  Bungalo  at  Honolulu     ...•.-....   701 

Drawn  by  Otto  H.  Bacher  from  a  photograph 

The  Government  Building  at  Honolulu        .  .  .          .  .          .          •  7°4 

Drawn  by  Otto  H.  Bacher  from  a  photoprafh 

Lexow  Investigation  Scene — Captain  Creeden  Leaving  the  Witness  Stand  .          .          .    709 

Drawn  by  If.  R.  Leigh  from  photographs  and  sketches 

Statue  of  Marquette  in  Statuary  Hall,  Washington,  D.  C 7l8 


LIST    OF    ILLUSTRATIONS 

The  Kelly  "  Army"  at  Council  Bluffs,  Iowa — 

Kelly  Addressing  the  Men  at  the  Transfer  .  .  .  .  .  .  .720 

Drawn  by  A.  B.  Doggett  from  a  photograph 

Head  of  the  Column  Crossing  the  Northwestern  Railroad  Tracks       ....    720 

Drawn  by  A.  B.  Doggett  from  a  photograph 

Company  H — Men  who  Joined  at  the  Bluffs  on  the  March      .  .  .  .  .721 

Drawn  by  A.  B.  Doggett  from  a  photograph 

The  Town  of  Pullman — looking  east  from  the  Depot  along  the  Boulevard          .  .  .    "22 

Drawn  by  V.  S.  Perard  from  a  photograph  by  J.  W.  Taylor 

Freight  Cars  Overturned  by  the  Strikers       .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  •   "~n 

From  a  photograph  by  R.  D.  Cleveland 

Camp  of  the  U.  S.  Troops  on  the  Lake  Front,  Chicago  ......    728 

From  a  photograph  by  R.  D.  Cleveland 

Burned  Cars  in  the  C.  B.  &  Q^  Yards  at  Hawthorne,  Chicago         .....   729 
From  a  photograph  by  R.  D.  Cleveland 

The  Town  of  Hinckley  before  the  Fire        .........    732 

From  a  photograph  by  W.  G.  Hopps 

Hinckley  after  the  Fire    .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .733 

From  a  photograph  by  W '.  G.  Hopps 

Indians  Killing  Cattle  at  Standing  Rock,  North  Dakota 74° 

From  a  photograph  by  Barry 

A  Typical  Indian  Camp  .          .          .          .          .          .          .          .          .          .          .743 

The  Chickamauga  National  Military  Park — 

Looking  East  from  the  Widow  Glenn  House          .......   74X 

From  a  photograph  by  Schmedling 

Near  Widow  Glenn  House — looking  north  towards  Bloody  Pond       ....  749 

From  a  photograph  by  Schmedling 

Group  of  Monuments  on  Knoll  southwest  of  Snodgrass  Hill     .....  750 

From  a  photograph  by  Schmedling 

Night  View  of  the  Atlanta  Exposition          .          .          .          .          .          ,          .          .          .753 

From  a  photograph  by  Howe 

The  Woman's  Building  at  Atlanta     ......... 

From  a  photograph  by  Howe 

The  Art  Building 

From  a  photograph  by  Howe 

A  Grove  of  Oranges  and  Cocoanuts  near  Ormond,  Fla.  ..... 

From  a  photograph  by  W,  H.  Jackson 

A  Louisiana  Sugar-cane  Plantation     ......... 

From  a  photograph  by  W.  H.  Jackson 

A  South  Carolina  Cotton  Field  .          .          .          .          .          .          .          .          .          •  ^63 

From  a  photograph  by  tf^.  H.  Jackson 

Carving  the  Decorations  for  the  Negro  Building  at  the  Atlanta  Exposition  .          .          .769 

From  a  photograph  by  Howe 

Decorations  for  the  Negro  Building  at  Atlanta — 

From  photographs  by  Howe 

Head  of  Slave 770 

Head  of  Fred.  Douglass       .          . 771 


LIST    OF    ILLUSTRATIONS 

The  Grant  Monument,  Riverside  Drive,  New  York     .......    -88 

Copyright,  JQOf,  fa  Detroit  Photographic  Co. 

The  First  Passenger  Train  descending  from  the  Summit  of  White  Pass,  Alaska  .  .    -91 

Flat  Cars  used  on  the  First  Passenger  Train   to  Leave  Lake  Bennett.      It   carried  a  Quarter 
of  a  Million  in  Gold  Dust,  July  6,  1899          .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .    792, 

Thousands  of  Seals  on  the  Beach,  St.  Paul  Island,  Bering  Sea,  Alaska      ....    794 
Raising  the  American  Flag,  at  Honolulu,  August   12,   1898  .....    796 

United  States  Battleship  Maine  entering  Havana  Harbor,  January,  1898  ....    802 

Copyright,  iSqS,  fa  J.  C.  Hemment. 

The  Wrecked  Maine,  Havana,  Cuba.     Decorated  May  30,  1902,  by  Order  of  President  Palma.    803 

Copyright,  IQOJ,  fa  Underwood  Sf  Underwood. 

Protected  Cruiser  Olympia,  Commodore  Dewey's  Flagship       ......    805 

United  States  Battleship  Oregon  ..........    808 

Water  Front  of  the  Union  Iron  Works,  San  Francisco,  Cal.,  Where  the  Oregon  was  Built  .    809 

The  United  States  Steamship  Brooklyn          .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .816 

Copyright,  iSqS,  fa  C.  L.  Langill. 

Cuba's  First  Senate  in  Session,  Senate  Chamber,  Havana         ......    822 

Copyright,  IQO2,  by   Underwood  Ssf  Underwood. 

The  First  House  of  Representatives  of  the  Cuban  Republic,  Havana          ....    826 
Copyright,  I()O2,  by  Under-wood  &  Underwood. 

The  Cruiser  Brooklyn  Passing  Morro  Castle  carrying  General  Wood  from  Havana,  May  20, 

1902          ..............    829 

Copyright,  IQ02,  by  Underwood  &""   Underwood. 

Lowering  the  Stars  and  Stripes  on    the   Palace,  May  20,  1902,  for  the  Flag  of  the  Cuban 
Republic    .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .831 

Copyright,  IQO2,  by  Underwood  &•  Underwood. 

Igorrotes  of  Benguet  eating  Figs  at  a  Religious  Festival  .......    836 

Two  Igorrote  Sages  sunning  Themselves  on  the  Plaza  at  Mid-day,  Lepanto         .  .          -837 

The  Malocon  Drive,  Manila 838 

Ilocano  Seaoritas,  Santa  Cotatina,  Ilocos      .  .  .  .          .  .  .  .  .    840 

Custom  House,  Manila    ............    842 

Aguinaldo's  Headquarters,  Malolos     ..........    845 

Adoption   of  Constitution    by   the    Philippine    "Republic,"    September    15,    1898.      Parade 
Starting  from  Aguinaldo's  Headquarters  .........    847 

About  Three  Thousand  Insurrectos  taking  the  Oath  of  Allegiance  to  the   United  States  on 
the  Plaza  at  Benguet,  Abia,  Early  in  April,  1901      .......    849 

Philippine  Commissioners  delivering  the  Written   Surrender  of  Pasig  to  Brigadier-Gen.  King 
and  Staff 851 

An  American  Teacher  and  Some  of  His  Native  Assistants,  Narvacan,  Ilocos       .  .  -854 

Filipino  Singers.      These   Boys  sing  a  Score  of  American  Songs   and  carry  Soprano,  Tenor 
and  Alto.      Narvacan,  Ilocos          .  .  .  .  .  .          •  •          •  .856 

Company   of  the    Native    Constabulary   organized    by   the   Taft    Commission,    La  Trinidad, 

Benguet     ..........••••    860 


LIST    OF    ILLUSTRATIONS 

Superintendent  of  Schools  Giving  an  Address,  Washington's  Birthday,  1902,  Vigan,  Ilocos.    861 
The  Laying  of  the  Trans-Pacific  Cable — 

Bringing  the  Cable  Ashore  at  San  Francisco,  Cal.  .          .  .  .          .  .863 

Hauling  the  Rope  Ashore  from  Cable  Ship  at  Honolulu  .  .  .  .  .    863 

Photograph  by  Charles  Weidner,  San  Francisco,  Cal. 

Entrance  to  the  Republican  National  Convention  Held  at  Philadelphia,  1900      .  .  .874 

Delegates  Arriving  at  the  Convention  .          .  .  .          .  .  .  .  .875 

The  Census  Office,  Washington,  D.  C 884 

Pan-American  Exposition,  Buffalo,  New  York — 

Group  af  Buffalos ,  .  .  .885 

The  Electric  Tower  and  Fountains  886 

Triumphal  Bridge  and  Entrance  to  the  Exposition  .  .  .  .  .  .  .    T88 

The  Temple  of  Music  Lighted  by  Electricity  889 

Sunken  Garden  behind  Electric  Towar  .  .  .  .  .  .  .890 

The  Electricity  Building      .  .          .          .          .          .  .          .  .  .  .891 

Louisiana  Purchase  Exposition — 

The  Varied  Industries  Building   ..........    892 

Educational  Building  .          .  .  .  .  .          .          .  .  .  .    894 

Electricity  Building  .  .  .  .  .  .          .          .  .  .  .89^ 

Old  Home  of  William  McKinley  at  Canton,  Ohio         .......    899 

Funeral  of  the  Late  President  McKinley  at  Washington,  D.  C.      Carrying   the   Casket   up 
the  Capitol  Steps  Where  It  Lay  in  State  in  the  Rotunda      .  .  .  .  .  .901 

Room  in   the    House  of  Ansley  Wilcox  at  Buffalo  Where  Theodore  Roosevelt   Took   the 
Oath  of  Office     .............    904 

Fourteenth  United  States  Infantry  Leaving  Peking  after   Heroic  Rescue  in  Ha-ta-men  (now 
Kettler)  Street,  China  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .905 

Copyright,  rqoi,  by  Underwood  &  Underwood. 

American   Flag   Raised   over   Battered   Remnants   of  South   Gate  Immediately  after  City's 
Capture.      Battle  of  Tien-tsin,  China        .........    906 

Copyright,  iqor,  by  Underwood  &  Underwood. 

The  Launching  of  the  Maine,  July  27,   1901         ........    908 

The  New  Battleship  Maine         ...........    909 

Copyright,  H)OJ,  by  William  H.  Rau. 

Tuskegee  Institute — 

Alabama  Hall,  Teachers'  Home  and  Girls'  Dormitory    .           .           .           .           .           .  911 

Huntington  Hall.      A  Girls'  Dormitory         .           .           .           .           .          .          .           .  911 

Dorothy  H  all,  Girls'  Trades  Building 911 

Marconi  Trans- Atlantic  Station  at  South  Wellfleet,  Cape  Cod,  Mass.        .          .          .          .  914 

xxvi 


LIST    OF    ILLUSTRATIONS 

Carnegie  Free  Public  Libraries — 

At  Pittsburgh,  Pa.    ............  920 

At  Washington,   D.  C.      .          .           .          .          .          .          .          .          .          .  920 

At  Atlanta,  Ga.        ............  920 

Machine  Which  Reaps,  Threshes,  and  Bags  Grain  at  the  Same  Time       ....  923 

Parade  of  the  Strikers  at  Shenandoah,  Pa.,  during  the  Coal  Strike  of  1902        .          .          .  924 

One  of  the  Miners  Arguing  His  Side  of  the  Strike          .......  924 

East  St.  Louis  during  the  Floods  of  1903 — 

Venice  and  East  Madison  Streets          .  .          .          .          .          .  .  .928 

Showing  Flooded  Street  and  Boat  with  Occupants             .                              .                    .  929 


PORTRAITS 


William  M.  Tweed .          .  .      12 

Drawn  by  Alfred  Brennan  from  a  photograph 

Hiram  R.  Revels,  of  Mississippi          ..........      ao 

Joseph  F.  Rainey,  of  South  Carolina  .........      20 

George  E.  Harris,  of  Mississippi          .  .  .  .  .  .  .  „  .  .21 

Drawn  by  Alfred  Brennan  from  a  photograph 

John  F.  Lewis,  of  Virginia        .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .21 

Drawn  by  Alfred  Brennan  from  a  photograph 

James  Fisk,  Jr.        .............      28 

Drawn  by  Alfred  Brennan  from  a  photograph  by  Rockwood 

Jay  Gould 28 

President  Grant       .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  29 

From  a  photograph  by  Hoyt  in  iSbg 

Fred.  Douglass         .............      30 

Buenaventura  Baez,  President  of  Santo  Domingo  ........      30 

From  a  photograph  in  the  collection  of  James  E.  Taylor 

President  Grant's  First  Cabinet — Borie,    Creswell,   Hoar,    Washburne,    Cox,    Schofield  and 
Boutwell    .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  -35 

Drawn  by  Alfred  Brennan  from  photographs 

Alexander  T.  Stewart       .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  36 

After  the  portrait  by  Thomas  Le  Clear 

Stanley  Matthews  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  -37 

Oliver  P.  Morton  AT 


Clement  L.  Vallandigham          .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  ,  .  -53 

From  a  photograph  in  the  collection  of  James  E.  Taylor 

Horace  Greeley       .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  -59 

From  a  photograph  by  Sarony 

William  Henry  Fry  ............      60 

After  a  daguerreotype  in  the  possession  of  Horace  B.  Fry 

Count  Adam  Gurowski  ...........      60 

After  a  daguerreotype  in  the  possession  of  Charles  A.  Dana 

George  Ripley         .............      60 

After  a  daguerreotype  in  the  possession  of  Charles  A.  Dana 

Margaret  Fuller       .............      60 

After  a  daguerreotype  in  the  possession  of  H.  //-'.  Fay 

Bayard  Taylor          .............      60 

From  a  photograph  by  Sarony 


LIST  OF  ILLUSTRATIONS 


i 


Thomas  Hicks 

Charles  A.  Dana     .  6 1 


George  William  Curtis 

From  a  daguerreotype  'by  Brady,  f8j>2,  in  the  possession  of  Charles  A.  Dane 

Zebulon  B.  Vance  ..........  .69 

Drawn  by  Alfred  Brennan  from  a  photograph 

Lyman  Trumbull    .............      70 

Drawn  by  Alfred  Brennan  from  a  photograph 

Henry  Wilson         .  .  .  .  .  .  .          .  .  .  .          .  .72 

Drawn  by  Alfred  Brennan  from  a  photograph 

B.  Gratz  Brown      .............      72 

Drawn  by  Alfred  Brennan  from  a  photograph 

Charles  O'Conor 76 

Drawn  by  Alfred  Brennan  from  a  photograph 

John  Quincy  Adams,  in  1870  .  .  .  .          .          .  .  .          .  -77 

Drawn  by  Alfred  Brennan  from  a  photograph 

Henry  Clay  Warmoth      ............      79 

Drawn  by  Alfred  Brennan  from  a  photograph 

P.  B.  S.  Pinchback          ............      79 

Drawn  by  Alfred  Brennan  from  a  photograph 

Charles  Sumner      .............      90 

The  English  Representatives  at  Geneva — Tenterden,  Bernard,  Cockburn  and  Palmer  .  .      96 

Drawn  by  Orson  Lowell  from  photographs 

The  American  Representatives  at  Geneva — Gushing,  Evarts,  Adams,  Davis  and  Waite          .      97 

Drawn  by  Orson  Lowell  from  photographs 

U.  S.  Grant  .............      99 

From  a  very  rare  photograph  by  Walker,  June  2,  1875 

George  Bancroft      ..........*...    101 

Drawn  by  Alfred  Brennan  from  a  photograph  in  the  historical  collection  of  H.  W,  Fay 

Emperor  William  I.  of  Germany        ..........    105 

Oakes  Ames  .          .          .  .          .          .          .          .          .          .          .          .          .107 

Drawn  by  Alfred  Brennan  from  a  photograph 
Daniel  H.  Chamberlain    .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .          .          .  .  .    113 

W.  Beverley  Nash  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .121 

Charles  Hayes,  of  Alabama        .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .128 

Elisha  Baxter 135 

Drawn  b\  J.  Brittain  from  a  photograph 

Joseph  Brooks          .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .    135 

Drawn  by  J.  Brittain  from  a  photograph 

Chief  Justice  John  McClure      .  .  .  .          .          .          .  .  .          .  .    135 

Drawn  "by  J.  Brittain  from  a  photograph 

Augustus  H.  Garland       .  .  .  .  .          .          .          .          .          .  .  •I39 

Adelbert  Ames 142 

Richard  O'Leary,  Mayor  of  Vicksburg  in  1874    ........    144 

William  Pitt  Kellogg 156 

Drawn  by  Alfred  Brennan  from  a  photograph 


LIST  OF  ILLUSTRATIONS 

John  McEnery        .............    157- 

General  de  Trobriand        .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  •I57 

Philip  H.  Sheridan 159 

From  a  photograph  in  the  historical  collection  of  H.  Hr.  Fay 

"Committee  Which  Formulated  the  Wheeler  Adjustment " — Marshall,  Hoar,  Wheeler  and 
Frye 166 

Red  Cloud 171 

From  a  photograph  by  Bell 

E.  R.  S.  Canby ' 177 

George  A.  Custer  .          .          .          .          .          .          .          .          .          .          .          .180 

Sitting  Bull 181 

From  a  photograph  by  Notman 

Gall 181 

From  a  photograph  by  Barry 
George  A.  Custer  on  Horseback         .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .182 

From  a  photograph  by  Gardner  at  Falmouth,  Va.^  s86j 

Rain-in-the-Face     .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .184 

From  a  photograph  by  Barry 

Captain  E.  S.  Godfrey 187 

From  a  photograph  by  Barry 

"Comanche,"  Captain  Keogh's  Horse 188 

From  a  photograph  by  Barry 

Curley,  the  Scout  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .189 

From  a  photograph  by  Barry 

General  Joseph  R.  Hawley        ...........    200 

W.  W.  Belknap 210 

Marshall  Jewell       .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .211 

Samuel  J.  Tilden 213 

Rutherford  B.  Hayes        .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .219 

Wade  Hampton      .............    224 

Francis  T.  Nicholls 226 

S.  B.  Packard 227 

From  a  photograph  by  Van  Dyke  loaned  by  Charles  lf\  Boothby 

President  Hayes's  Cabinet — Evarts,  Schurz,  Thompson,  Key,  McCrary,  Sherman,  Devens      233 
Benjamin  F.  Butler          .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  -235 

Orville  E.  Babcock 238 

A.  B.  Cornell .241 

Theodore  Roosevelt          ............    243 

Justin  S.  Morrill     .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .    245 

The  Secretaries  of  the  Treasury  During  the  Last  Quarter-Century — W.  A.  Richardson,  B. 
H.  Bristow,  L.  M.  Morrill,  John  Sherman,  William  Windom,  C.  J.  Folger,  W.  Q^ 
Gresham,  Hugh  McCulloch,  Daniel  Manning,  C.  S.  Fairchild,  Charles  Foster,  John  G. 
Carlisle .261 


LIST  OF  ILLUSTRATIONS 

Elbridge  G.  Spaulding      ............  269 

Richard  P.  Bland 276 

William  B.  Allison 276. 

G.  W.  McCrary 282 

Wendell  Phillips 286 

Samuel  F.  Carey     .............  290 

Peter  Cooper           .............  290. 

Newton  Booth        .............  290 

James  McParlan,  the  Detective          ..........  299, 

From  a  photograph  by  Bretx, 

Thomas  Munley,  a  Convicted  "  Mollie  "               ........  299. 

From  a  photograph  by  Bretx 

"Jimmy"  Kerrigan,  the  "Squealer"        .           .           .           .           .           .          .           .           .  299. 

From  a  photograph  by  Bretx, 

Franklin  B.  Gowen         ............  299 

From  a  photograph  by  Gutekunst 

Roscoe  Conkling  .           .                      .           .           .           .           .           .           .           .           .           .  ^oS 

James  A.  Garfield,  Before  Entering  College  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .310. 

After  a  daguerreotype  by  Ryder 

Winfield  S.  Hancock 312 

Harris  M.  Plaisted  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .317 

President  Garfield's  Cabinet — Blaine,    Windom,   Lincoln,    Hunt,    Kirkwood,  James,    Mac- 

Veagh  ..          .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  -33* 

James  A.  Garfield  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  -333 

From  a  photograph  by  Bell — The  last  picture  before  the  assassination 

George  H.  Pendleton       ............  340 

Dorman  B.  Eaton             ............  341 

John  M.  Gregory  .............  341 

Leroy  D.  Thoman            .............  341 

Chester  A.  Arthur           ............  349 

William  Mahone    .............  355 

Denis  Kearney         .............  369 

From  a  photograph  by  Taker 

Isaac  Kalloch 378" 

From  a  photograph  by  Taber 

M.  Glennan 386 

R.  C.  Winthrop 386 

Henry  M.  Stanley             ............  392 

Mr.  Stanley  and    His  Officers :    Captain  Nelson,  Lieutenant  W.  G.  Stairs,  Surgeon  T.  M. 
Parke  and  A.  J.  Mounteney-Jephson      .  .  .          .          .  .  .  .  -393 

John  A.  Kasson  (Representative  of  U.  S.  at  Berlin  Conference)       .....  395, 


LIST    OF    ILLUSTRATIONS 

Ferdinand  de  Lesseps        .          .  .          .          .          .          .          .  .          .          .          .403 

David  Davis  .  .          „  .          .          .          .          .          .  .          .          .          .411 

Eskimo  Boy  .          .          .  .          .          .          .          .          .  .          .          .          .419 

Mek-to-sha  :    Great  Bear  Huntei  A  Typical  Eskimo  with   Harpoon  ....   420 

Lieutenant  A.  W.  Greely         ...........    424 

From  a  photograph  by  Rice 

An  Eskimo  Belle  ............   434 

Lieutenant  Robert  E.  Peary     .           .           .           .           .           .           .           .           .           .           -441 

Mrs.  Peary             .  .           .           .           .           .           .           .           .           .           .           .           -441 

John  A.  Logan      .  .           .           .           .           .           .           .           .           .           .           .           -452, 

James  G.  Blaine  (at  the  age  of  seventeen)  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  -453 

From  a  daguerreotype,  first  published  in  this  work,  loaned  by  Miss  Kate  M.  Hopkins 

].  Proctor  Knott  ............    460 

George  F.  Edmunds        ............    462 

Stephen  B.  Elkins  ............    463 

George  William  Curtis    .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  -465 

From  a  photograph  by  Sarony 

James  G.  Blaine     .          .          .          .          .          .          .          .          .          .          .          .          .468 

Grover  Cleveland  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  •    4"i 

From  a  copyrighted  photograph  by  C.  M.  Bell 

Thomas  A.  Hendricks    ............    478 

William  E.  Chandler 488 

General  John  Newton      .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  -495 

President  Cleveland's  First  Cabinet  :    Bayard,  Endicott,  Whitney,  Vilas,  Manning,  Garland 
and  Lamar          .............    499 

Roger  Q^  Mills 507 

The    Fisheries   Commission   of  1888  :    Moore,    Angell,    Tupper,    Bergne,    Sackville-West, 

Putnam,  Bayard,  Chamberlain  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .512 

From  a  photograph  loaned  by  John  B,  Moore,  Esq.  • 

Frederic  Auguste  Bartholdi        .          .          .          .          .          .          .  .          .          .          .524 

Terence  V.  Powderly      .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .527 

from  a  photograph  by  Kuebler 

Joseph  E.  Gary       .  .          .  .  .  .          .          .  .  .  .          .  -532 

Gov.  John  P.  Altgeld,  of  Illinois  .          .  .          .  .  .  .          .  •   ^33 

Henry  George         .  .           .  .  .  .           .           .  .  .  ...  •   •>  34 

Abram  S.  Hewitt  .          .  .  .  .          .          .  .  .  .          .  -534 

Benjamin  R.  Tillman  .           .  ,  .  .           .           .  .  .  .           .  .   542 

Allen  G.  Thurman  .  .  .  . 548 

Levi  P.  Morton      .  .          .  .  .  .          .          .  .  .  .          •  •   549 

Lord  Sackville-West .  .  .          .  .   s  5  3 


LIST    OF    ILLUSTRATIONS 

J-  B-  Foraker  ......    5S5 

Benjamin  Harrison  .  .  .  .  .  .  .          .          .  •     cc8 

Thomas  B.  Reed  ............    563 

William  McKinley  .  .  .  .  .  .          .  .  .  .  .  -566 

David  C.  Hennessy  (the  New  Orleans  Chief  of  Police)  ......    568 

President  Balmaceda,  of  Chile  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .eye 

From  a  fhotografh  loaned  by  Captain  IT.  S.  Scbley,  U.S.N. 

Robert  E.  Pattison  ............    576 

From  a  fbotografh  by  Gutekunst 

Matthew  Quay        .          .          .          .          .          .          .          .          .          .          .          .          -577 

Henry  W.  Grady  ............     582, 

From  a  fbotografh  by  Motes 

Zachariah  Chandler  .  .  .  .          .  .          .  .  .  .584 

L.  Q^C.  Lamar     .............     585 

Murphy  J.  Foster  .  .  .  .  .  .  .          .  .          .          .          .          -599 

Brigham  Young       .  .  ..........    600 

From  a  fhotografh  by  Ran 

Tamasese  .  ............    604 

Malietoa  Laupepe    .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .          .  .          .  .  .60;; 

Admiral  Kimberly  ............    607 

From  a  fhotografh  in  the  collection  of  H.  W.  Fay 

D.  H.  Burnham  (Director  of  Works  at  World's  Fair)  ......    621 

Richard  M.  Hunt  (Architect  of  Administration  Building)       .  .  .  .  .  -639 

From  a  fhotografh  loaned  by  Mrs.  Hunt 

W.  L.  B.  Jenney  (Architect  of  Horticultural  Building)  ......  644 

Louis  H.  Sullivan  (Architect  of  Transportation  Building)         ......  649 

George  B.  Post  (Architect  of  Manufactures  and  Liberal  Arts  Building)      .  .  .  .  6qo 

Charles  F.  McKim  (of  McKim,  Mead  &  White,  Architects  of  the  Agricultural  Building)  .  655 

Solon  S.  Beaman  (Architect  of  Mines  and  Mining  Building)  .....  660 

Henry  Ives  Cobb  (Architect  of  Fisheries  Building)          .......  660 

Carter  H.  Harrison  .  .  .  .  .          .          .  .  .          .  .          .661 

By  fermission  of  Place  &  Coover 


Thomas  A.  Edison  in  his  Laboratory  at  Orange,  N.  J.  .          .          .          .          .          .6-; 

From  a  fhotografh  taken  for  this  work 

Mrs.  Anna  Wittenmeyer  ...........   684 

From  a  fhotografh  by  Gutekunst 

Miss  Frances  E.  Willard  ...........   685 

William  Booth        .............    686 

Drawn  by  Irving  R.  ff^iles  from  a  fhotografh 

William  L.  Wilson  ........  ...   694 

A.  P.  Gorman       .          .          .          .          .          .          .          .          .          .          .          .          .695 


LIST    OF    ILLUSTRATIONS 


David  B.  Hill 


Princess  (afterwards  Queen)  Liliuokalani     ........ 

From  a  photograph  loaned  by  Mrs.  Isabel  Strong 

James  H.  Blount    .          .          .          .          .          ,          .          .          .          .          .          .          -70? 

Albert  S.  Willis .    706 

Richard  Olney         .  .  .  .  .  .          .          .          .  .          .          .  -707 

Charles  H.  Parkhurst .  .        .  .708 

From  a  copyrighted  photograph  by  C.  C.  Langill 

John  W.  Goff 712 

William  L.  Strong  .          .          .          .          .          .          .          .          .          .          .          -714 

Cardinal  Satolli        .          .          .          .          .          .          .          .          .          .          .          .          .716 

George  M.  Pullman        .          .          .          .          .          .          „          .          .          .          .          -723 

Hazen  S.  Pingree  .............    725 

James  R.  Sovereign          ............    725 

Eugene  V.  Debs 726 

Nicholas  E.  Worthington  ..........    734 

J.  D.  Kernan          .          .          .          .          .          .          .          .          .          .          .          .          -735 

James  Flood  .          .          .          .          .          .          .          .          .          .          .          .          -738 

Booker  T.  Washington  .          .          .          .          .          .          .          .          .          .          -75- 

President  William  McKinley  on  the  Porch  of  His  Home,  Canton,  Ohio,  Where  He  received 
the  Delegates  During  the  Campaign  of  1896.  .  .  .  .  .  .  -775 

Garret  A.  Hobart,  Vice- President 778 

Copy  right,  1899^  by  Pack  Bros.,  N.   T. 

William  Jennings  Bryan  in  His  Library,  Lincoln,  Neb.  ......    780 

Copyright,  fQOO,  by  Underwood  &  Underwood 

Arthur  Sevvall         .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .781 

President  McKinley  and   Cabinet,    1896  :    Gage,    Griggs,    Long,    Wilson,    Bliss,    Sherman, 
Alger,  Gary .785 

Nelson  Dingley,  Jr.,  Member  of  Congress  from  Maine  .  .  .  .  .  -793 

Thomas  B.  Reed,  Speaker  of  the  House  of  Representatives    ......    797 

Copyright,  fSqS,  by  Underwood  Ssf  Underwood 

President  McKinley  and  Admiral  Dewey  Reviewing  the  Soldiers  and  Sailors  from  the  United 
States  Capitol  Steps       ............    807 

Copyright,  1899,  by  J.  F.  Jarvis 

Maj.-Gen.  William  R.  Shaffer 809 

Gen.  Joseph  Wheeler       .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .810 

Copyright,  iSqS,  by  A.  Dupont 

Robert  W.  Milligan,  Chief  Engineer  of  the  Oregon        .          .  .  .  .  .  .811 

Gen.  Nelson  A.  Miles 812 

President  McKinley,  Admiral  Sampson  and  Other  Distinguished  Guests  at  Admiral  Dewey's 
Reception,  Washington         .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .814 

Copyright,  iSgq,  by  If'illiam  H.  Ruu 


LIST   OF    ILLUSTRATIONS 

Rear-Admdiral  Winfield  S.  Schley 815 

Copyright,  IQOI ,  by  Underwood  &  Underwood 

Jules  Cambon,  Judge  Day,  and  President  McKinley  at  the  Signing  of  the  Peace  Protocol  on 
Behalf  of  the  United  States,  in  the  Cabinet  Room  of  the  White  House,  Washington, 
August  12,  1898 819 

The  Final  Session  of  the  Spanish  American  Peace  Commission  :  Moore,  Frye,  Davis,  Gray, 
Day,  Reid,  Cerero,  Villa-Uritta,  Garnicia,  Rios,  Abaruzza,  Ferguson  and  DeOjeda  .  821 

President  Palma  and  His  Cabinet :  Secretaries  Zaldo,  Tamayo,  Terry,  Montes,  Diaz,  and 
Yero,  in  the  Palace,  Havana,  Cuba  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .824 

Copyright,  JQO2,  by  Under-wood  &  Underwood 

Tomaso  Estrada  y  Palma,  the  First  President  of  Cuba  in  the  Palace,  Havana       .  .          .    830 

Copyright,  rQ02,  by  Underwood  &  Underwood 

Don  Emilio  Aguinaldo  and  His  Advisers       .........    843 

Dato  Mandji  of  Zamboanga,  the  Ruler  of  Mindanoa       .......    848 

First  Philippine  Commission,  1899:    Schurman,  Dewey,  Denby,  Worcester        .          .          .    852 
Copyright,  iSQQ,  by  Frances  B.  Johnston 

Second  Philippine  Commission,  1900:    Wright,  Worcester,  Ide,  Taft,  Moses     .          .          .    858 
William  H.  Taft      .          .    - 859 

President  McKinley  and  Cabinet,  1901  t  Gage,  Griggs,  Long,  Wilson,  Hitchcock,  Hay, 
Root,  Smith  .............  867 

Copyright,  iqoi,  by  Pach  Bros.,  N.  T. 

President  McKinley  at  ^uincy,  111 869 

Governor  Roosevelt  Speaking  during  the  Campaign  of  1900    .          .          .          .          .          .871 

Senator  Depew  Waiting  for  Governor  Roosevelt    .          .          .          .          .          .          .          .872 

Bryan  during  the  Campaign  of  1900   .  .  .  .          .          .          .          .          .          .876 

Senator  Spooner  and  H.  C.  Payne  of  Wisconsin  going  into  the  Convention          .          .          .    878 
Senator  Platt  and  Governor  Roosevelt  on  Their  Way  to  the  Republican  Convention    .  .880 

Notification  Committee  at  Oyster  Bay  :  Governor  Roosevelt,  Senator  Walcott  and  General 
F.  V.  Greene 

Vice-President  Theodore  Roosevelt      ......••••    9°3 

Copyright,  iqoi,  by  Pach  Bros.,  N,   T. 

Ma]. -Gen.  Chaffee,  Rescuer  of  the  Legation  at  Peking,  China        .  .  .    9°7 

Copyright,  iqor,  by  Underwood  Sf  Underwood 

President  McKinley,  Governor  Joseph  E.  Johnston  and  Booker  T.  Washington  at  Tuskegee, 
Alabama •  •  •  912 

Guglielmo  Marconi  ."-"'.          .          •          • 

].  Pierpont  Morgan  .  .          .  .          .          .          .  •          •          •          •          •   9X7 

Copyright,  IQOI,  by  Pach  Bros.,  N.   T. 

James  J.  Hill 9'7 

Copyright,  iqoi ,  by  Pach  Bros.,  N.   T. 

Four  Circuit  Judges  Who  Tried  the  Northern  Securities  Case  :  Caldwell,  Sanborn,  Van 
Devanter,  Thayer 9l8 


LIST    OF    ILLUSTRATIONS 

Andrew  Carnegie  in  His  Library  dictating  to  His  Secretary 

Ctfjrtght  by  Vander  It'eyde,  N.    >'. 

Judge  Peter  S.  Grosscup    .  . 

John  Mitchell,  President  United  Mine  Workers 

Arbitrators    in    Session  :     Wright,    Watkins,    Gray,    Parker,    Clark,    Spalding, 
Copyright,  iqos,  by  George  Grantham  Bain  '  ^ 


PLANS,    MAPS,    FACSIMILES,   ETC. 

TITLE  PAGE 

Railroads  of  the  United  States  in  1870         .........        4 

Railroads  of  the  United  States  in  1894         .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .5 

Chicago  in  1869,  Showing  the  Burned  District     ........        8 

Chicago  in  1894'  .............        9 

Autograph  Telegram  from  General  Sheridan  to  the  Secretary  of  War,  Announcing  the  Great 
Fire  at  Chicago  ............      10 

In  the  collection  of  C.  F.  Gunther 

Nast  Caricature  :      "The   Brains  that  Achieved  the   Tammany    Victory    at    the   Rochester 
Convention "  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  i  3 

Nast  Caricature  :      "  Who  Stole  the  People's  Money  ?"         .  .  .  .  .  15 

fragment  from  the  Original  Engrossed  Text  of  the  Fourteenth  Amendment  at  the  State  De 
partment,  Washington  ...........      24 

A  Ku-Klux  Warning  in  Mississippi,  put  in  Evidence  Before  the  Congressional  Committee      .      27 
A  Newspaper  Cutting  put  in  Evidence  Before  the  Congressional  Committee         .  .  27 

Signatures  to  the  Treaty  of  Washington       .  .  .  .  .  .          .          .  .    ,  32 

From  the  original  at  the  State  Department,  Washington 

Grant  and  Wilson  Campaign  Medal   .  .          .  .  .  .          .  .  -74 

Greeley  Campaign  Medals  and  Badge  .  .  .  .  .          .  .          .  -75 

Map  of  the  Northwest  Water  Boundary       .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .102 

Summary  of  the  Amounts  Paid  to  One  Firm  for  Furniture  by  the  South  Carolina  Legislature 
of  1872-74         .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .          .  .  .  -ii? 

From  the  Report  of  the  Investigating  Committee 

41  Gratuity  "  Voted  to  Governor  Moses  by  the  South  Carolina  Legislature  of  1871        .  .116 

From  the  original  at  the  State  House,  Columbia 

A  Bill  for  Furnishing  the  State  House  at  Columbia,  South  Carolina,  in  1872      .  .  .    119 

From  the  original  at  the  State  House,  Columbia 

Map  of  the  Region  Occupied  by  the  Modocs,  Showing  the  "Lava  Beds"  .  .  .    174 

Ku-Klux  Notice  Posted  up  in  Mississippi  During  the  Election  of  1876       ....    214 

One  of  the  Cipher  Dispatches  Sent  During  the  Election  Deadlock  with  Translation      .  .217 

From  the  original  put  in  evidence  before  the  Congressional  Committee 

Two  Chamberlain-Hampton  Letters  After  the  State  Election  of  1876  in  South  Carolina         .    229 
From  the  originals  at  the  State  House,  Columbia 

The   Telegram    announcing   the  result  of  the  First   Day's  Resumption  at  the  New   York 
Sub-Treasury       .............    266 

A  "Mollie  Maguire"  Notice.          ..........  293 

A  Notice  put  in  Evidence  During  the  "Mollie  Maguire1'  Prosecutions     ....  294 

A  "  Mollie  Maguire  "  Notice.          ...  .......  295 

Front  Page  of  the  Issue  of  Truth  Containing  the  Morey  Letter          .          .          .  .          •  3 '  5 

xxxvii 


LIST    OF    ILLUSTRATIONS 

Map  of  the  Arctic  Regions,  showing  location  of  Circumpolar  Stations,  1881-1883  .  -4-3 

Plan  of  the  New  Orleans  Exposition  Grounds       .          .          .          .          .          .  .  .    4-8 

Plan  of  the  Operations  at  Flood  Rock        .........  494 

By  permission  of  the  "  Scientific  American  " 

Plan  of  the  World's  Fair  Grounds  at  Jackson  Park       .          .          .          .          .  .  .619 

Map  Showing  the  Distribution  of  the  Negroes  in  the  United  States           .          .  .  -   7>5 


THE     UNITED     STATES 
IN     OUR     OWN     TIME 


CHAPTER  I 

THE   UNITED    STATES    AT   THE    CLOSE 
OF    RECONSTRUCTION 

LAND  AND    PEOPLE    IN     1870. TERRITORIES. RAILROADS    IN    THE 

WEST. FENIAN     MOVEMENTS. BOSTON'S     PEACE    JUBILEES. THE 

GREAT    CITIES. THE     CHICAGO     FIRE. THE    BOSTON     FIRE. THE 

TWEED  RING. TWEED'S  ESCAPE  AND  CAPTURE. — FINANCIAL  CON 
DITION  OF  THE  NATION. SHIPS. ARMY  AND  NAVY. RECON 
STRUCTION,  THE  PROBLEM. THE  PRESIDENTIAL  AND  THE  CON 
GRESSIONAL  PLAN. IRON  LAW  OF  MARCH  2,  1867. THE  PROCESS 

OF     RECONSTRUCTION. — SITUATION     IN      1870. DEBATE     ON     THE 

COERCION  OF  STATES. — OUTCOME. THE  TEST  OATH. ALL  STATES 

AT  LAST  AGAIN   REPRESENTED  IN  BOTH   HOUSES  OF  CONGRESS. 

IN  1870  the  United  States  covered  the  same  tract  of 
the  globe's  surface  as  now,  amounting  to  four  million 
square  miles.  Hardly  more  than  a  fifth  of  this  represented 
the  United  States  of  1789.  About  a  third  of  the  vast  do 
main  was  settled,  the  western  frontier  running  irregularly 
parallel  with  the  Mississippi,  but  nearer  to  that  stream  than 
to  the  Rocky  Mountains.  The  centre  of  population  was 
forty-eight  miles  east  by  north  of  Cincinnati,  having  moved 
westward  forty-two  miles  since  1860.  Except  certain  well- 
peopled  sections  on  the  Pacific  slope,  and  small  civilized  strips 
in  Utah,  Colorado,  and  New  Mexico,  the  Great  West  had 
but  a  tenuous  white  population.  Over  immense  regions  it 
was  still  an  Indian  fastness,  rejoicing  in  a  reputation,  which 
few  could  verify,  for  rare  scenery,  fertile  valleys,  rich  mines, 
and  a  delightful  climate. 

The  American  people  numbered  38,558,371  souls.  Not 
quite  one  in  seven  had  colored  blood,  while  a  little  more  than 
that  proportion  were  of  foreign  birth,  most  of  these  Irish 


THE  UNITED  STATES  IN  OUR  OWN  TIME 

and  German.  In  the  settled  parts  of  our  country  the  popu 
lation  had  a  density  of  30.3  persons  to  the  square  mile/south 
ern  New  England  being  the  most  closely  peopled.  Much  of 
western  Pennsylvania  was  in  the  condition  of  the  newest  States, 
railroads  building  as  never  before,  population  increasing  at 
a  remarkable  rate,  and  industries  developing  on  every  hand. 
Petroleum,  which  before  the  Civil  War  had  been  skimmed  off 
the  streams  of  the  oil  region  and  sold  for  medicine,  in  1870 
developed  a  yield  of  over  five  and  a  half  million  gallons  in 
Pennsylvania  alone,  more  than  eleven  times  as  much  as  a 
decade  previous.  The  West  was  rapidly  recruiting  itself  from 
the  East,  the  city  from  the  country.  Between  1790  and  1860 
our  urban  population  had  increased  from  one  in  thirty  to  one 
in  six;  in  1870  more  than  one  in  five  dwelt  in  cities. 

There  were  now  thirty-seven  States,  nine  organized  terri 
tories,  and  two  unorganized  ones,  these  being  Alaska  and  the 
Indian  Territory.  Noteworthy  among  the  territories  was 
Washington,  whose  population  had  doubled  in  the  preceding 
decade  and  was  now  24,000.  Colorado  had  about  40,000. 
Utah  boasted  86,000,  one-third  of  whom  were  foreigners. 
New  Mexico  numbered  in  1870,  91,874,  in  1871,  114,000,  less 
than  one  to  each  square  mile.  Arizona  was  still  much  harried 
by  Indians,  and  contained  hardly  10,000  civilized  men.  This 
year  female  suffrage,  hitherto  unknown  in  America,  if  not  in 
the  world,  gained  a  foothold  in  Wyoming  and  in  Utah. 

During  the  ten  years  preceding  1870  the  railroad  mileage 
of  the  country  nearly  doubled.  The  Union  and  Central  Pa 
cific  Roads,  forming  the  only  transcontinental  line  then  in 
existence,  had  been  completed  on  May  10,  1869.  Into  Denver 
already  came,  besides  the  Union  Pacific,  three  other  railroads, 
all  short,  while  Washington  Territory  contained  the  germ  of 
the  Northern  Pacific,  whose  eastern  extremity  had  just  been 
begun  at  Duluth.  Dakota  had  sixty-five  miles  of  railway, 
Wyoming  four  hundred  and  fifty-nine.  With  the  above  ex 
ceptions  the  territories  were  wholly  without  railroads. 


DRIVING  THE  LAST  SPIKE  OF  THE   UNION  PACIFIC.     SCENE  AT  PROMONTORY 

UTAH,  MAT  /o,  i8bQ 

Drawn  by  B.  West  Clinedinst  from  photographs  in  the  possession  of  General  G.  M.  Dodge 


THE  UNITED  STATES  IN  OUR  OWN  TIME 


RAILROADS 

of  the  - 

UNITED  STATES, 

in 

1870 


The  close  of  the  long  Civil  War  had  gladdened  all  true 
American  hearts.  Only  the  Fenians  sought  further  bloodshed, 
and  even  they  pursued  their  aim  rather  feebly.  Their  attempt, 
in  April,  1866,  to  capture  the  British  island  of  Campobello, 
near  Eastport,  Me.,  collapsed  on  the  approach  of  Gen. 
Meade  with  United  States  troops.  On  June  i  a  detachment 
•of  Fenians  succeeded  in  capturing  Fort  Erie,  across  from 
Buffalo,  and  on  the  yth  another  company  occupied  St.  Ar- 
mand,  just  over  the  Vermont  border ;  but  both  parties  were 
speedily  dislodged  and  routed.  The  heart  of  the  nation 
delighted  in  peace.  In  1869,  carrying  out  a  conception  of  Mr. 
P.  S.  Gilmore,  Boston  held  a  great  Peace  Jubilee  to  celebrate 
the  end  of  the  late  fraternal  strife.  An  immense  coliseum  was 
erected  for  the  performances,  which  began  on  June  1 5  and 
lasted  till  June  20.  A  choir  of  10,000  singers,  an  orches 
tra  of  over  1,000  pieces,  a  battery  of  artillery,  and  an  anvil 
chorus  of  100  men  beating  anvils  made  up  the  unique  musical 
ensemble.  So  great  was  the  success,  financially  and  other- 


THE  GREAT  CITIES 


RAILROADS 

of  the 

UNITED  STATES, 

ii? 

1894. 


wise,  of  this  scheme,  that  in  1872  Mr.  Gilmore  under 
took  an  international  Peace  Jubilee.  This,  too,  was  held  in 
Boston,  opening  June  17  and  lasting  till  July  4.  Twenty 
thousand  voices  and  an  orchestra  2,000  strong  joined  in  it, 
parts  being  taken  also  by  choice  military  bands  from  France> 
Germany  and  England,  and  from  the  United  States  Marine 
Corps.  Vast  crowds  were  attracted,  but  the  receipts  this  time 
fell  far  short  of  the  expenditures. 

In  1870,  New  York,  with  942,292  inhabitants,  Phila 
delphia,  with  674,022,  Brooklyn,  with  396,099,  St.  Louis, 
with  310,864,  and  Chicago,  with  298,977,  were,  as  in  1890, 
our  five  largest  cities,  and  they  had  the  same  relative  size  as  in 
1890,  save  that  Chicago  meantime  passed  from  the  fifth  to 
the  second  place.  This  in  the  face  of  adversity.  In  October, 
1871,  the  city  was  devastated  by  one  of  the  most  terrible 
conflagrations  of  modern  times.  It  began  on  Sunday  evening, 
the  8th,  in  a  wooden  barn  on  DeKoven  Street,  in  the  West 
Division.  Lumber  yards  were  numerous  there,  and  through 


THE  UNITED  STATES  IN  OUR  OWN  TIME 


The  Court  House  at  Chicago  before  the  Fire 


these  the  flames  raged, 
leaping  across  the  stream 
before  a  strong  westerly 
wind  into  the  Southern 
Division,  which  was 
closely  built  up  with 
stores  and  warehouses. 
The  fire  continued  all 
Monday.  It  crossed  the 
main  channel  of  the 
Chicago  River  into 
the  Northern  Division, 
sweeping  all  before  it. 

"  Niagara  sank  into 
insignificance   compared 

with  that  towering  wall  of  whirling,  seething,  roaring  flame.  It 
swept  on  and  on,  devouring  the  massive  stone  blocks  as  though 
they  had  been  the  cardboard  playthings  of  a  child.  Looking 
under  the  flame  one  could  see,  in  the  very  centre  of  the  furnace, 
stately  buildings  on  either  side  of  Randolph  Street  whose 
beauty  and  magnificence 
and  whose  wealth  of  con 
tents  were  admired  by 
thousands  the  day  be 
fore.  A  moment  and  the 
flickering  flame  crept 
out  of  a  window;  another 
and  another  hissing 
tongue  followed;  a  sheet 
of  fire  joined  the  whirl 
ing  mass  above,  and  the 
giant  structure  was  gone. 
One  pile  after  another 
thus  dissolved  like  snow 
on  the  mountain.  Loud  rbt  chicago  Court  House  after  the  Pln 


THE    CHICAGO    FIRE 


The  Chicago  Court  House  in 


detonations  to  the  right  and  left,  where  buildings  were  being 
blown  up,  the  falling  of  walls  and  the  roaring  of  flames, 
the  moaning  of  the  wind  and  of  the  crowd,  and  the  shrill 
whistling  of  tugs  endeavoring  to  remove  the  shipping  out  of 
the  reach  of  danger,  made  up  a  frightful  discord  of  sounds  that 
will  live  in  every  hearer's  memory  while  his  life  shall  last." 

The  glare  could  be  seen  for  hundreds  of  miles  over  the 
prairie  and  the  lake.  The  river  seemed  to  boil  and  mingle  its 
steam  with  the  smoke.  Early  Monday  morning  the  Tribune 
building,  the  only  structure  left  in  the  business  quarter,  re 
mained  intact.  Two  patrols  were  constantly  at  work;  one 
sweeping  away  live  coals  and  brands,  the  other  watching  the 
roofs.  Till  four  o'clock  the  reporters  passed  in  regular  reports 
of  the  fire.  At  five  the  forms  were  sent  down.  In  ten  min 
utes  the  cylinder  presses  would  have  been  at  work.  At  that 
moment  the  front  basement  is  discovered  on  fire.  The  water- 
plug  at  the  corner  is  opened,  but  the  water-works  have  been 
destroyed.  The  pressmen  have  to  fly  for  their  lives.  By  ten 
o'clock  the  block  is  in  ashes. 


THE  UNITED  STATES  IN  OUR  OWN  TIME 


Streets,  bridges,  parks  are  gorged  with  panic-stricken 
throngs.  Not  a  few  are  crazed  by  terror.  One  old  woman 
stumbles  along  under  a  great  bundle,  crooning  Mother  Goose 
melodies.  Anarchy  reigns.  The  horrors  of  the  night  are  mul 
tiplied  by  drunkenness,  arson,  burglary,  murder,  rape.  Vigil 
ance  committees  are  formed.  It  was  estimated  that  fifty  ruf 
fians  first  and  last  were  shot  in  their  tracks,  among  them  five 
notorious  criminals.  Convicts  locked  in  the  court-house  base 
ment  would  have  been  burnt  alive  but  for  the  Mayor's  timely 
order,  which  his  son,  with  the  utmost  difficulty  and  danger,  de 
livered  after  the  building  had  began  to  burn. 

The  morning  after  the  fire  the  indomitable  Chicago  pluck 
began  to  show  itself.  William  D.  Kerfoot  knocked  together 
a  shanty,  facetiously  called  "  Kerfoot' s  block,"  an  unrivalled 
structure,  for  it  was  the  only  one  in  the  neighborhood.  To  it 
he  nailed  a  sign  which  well  typified  the  spirit  of  the  city.  "  Wm. 
D.  Kerfoot,  all  gone  but  wife,  children,  and  ENERGY."  The 
next  Sunday  the  Rev.  Dr.  Collyer  preached  where  his  church 
had  formerly  stood,  in  the  midst  of  the  city,  yet  in  the  heart 
of  a  wilderness,  more  than  a  mile  from  human  habitation. 

Not  till  Tuesday  morning  was  the  headway  of  the  fire 
checked,  and  parts  of  the  charred  debris  smouldered  on  for 


THE  BOSTON  FIRE 


months.  Nearly  three  and  a  third  square  miles  were  burned 
over;  17,450  buildings  were  destroyed;  98,500  persons  ren 
dered  homeless;  and  over  250  killed.  The  total  direct  loss 
of  property  amounted  to  $190,000,000,  which  indirect  losses, 
as  estimated,  swelled  to  $290,000,000.  Fifty-six  insurance 
companies  were  rendered  insolvent  by  the  fire.  A  Relief  and 
Aid  Society  was  at  once  formed,  which  within  a  month  had 
subscriptions  from  all  over  the  country  amounting  to  three  and 
a  half  million  dollars,  was  aiding  60,000  people,  and  had 
assisted  in  building  4,000  temporary  shelters.  Later  the  Illi 
nois  legislature  voted  aid. 

Next  after  that  of  Chicago  the  most  destructive  conflagra 
tion  ever  known  in  the  United  States  visited  Boston  in  1872. 
It  originated  during  Saturday  evening,  November  9,  on  the 
corner  of  Kingston  and  Summer  Streets,  spread  with  terrible 
rapidity  east  and  north,  and  raged  with  little  abatement  till 
nearly  noon  next  day.  During  Sunday  afternoon  the  flames 
seemed  well  under  control,  but  an  explosion  of  gas  about  mid- 
night  set  them  raging  afresh,  and  much  of  Monday  had  passed 
before  they  were  subdued.  Ordinary  appliances  for  fighting 


THE  UNITED  STATES  IN  OUR  OWN  TIME 


THE  WESTERN  UNION  TELEGRAPH  COMPANY. 


BY  THIS  COMPANY  SUBJECT  TO  THE  FOLLOWDJC  TEEMS: 


STAQEH.  %»a3uparintend'ent.  ChlJUo.  at"          WILLIAM  ORTON.  President 


|  Send  </ws 


*uty«et  to  the  above  terms  which  are  agreed,  to. 


Facsimile  of  the  Autograph  Telegram  from  General  Sheridan  to  the  Secretary  of  War,  announcing  the  Great  Fi>e 
at  Chicago;  in  the  collection  of  C.  F.  Gunther 

-fire  were  of  no  avail,  the  demon  being  at  many  points  brought 
to  bay  only  by  the  free  use  of  dynamite  to  blow  up  buildings 
in  his  path.  Sixty-five  acres  were  laid  waste.  Washington 
Street  from  Bedford  to  Milk  formed  the  western  limit  of  the 
tract,  which,  at  Milk,  receded  to  Devonshire,  lying  east  of  this 
from  Milk  to  State,  which  formed  its  northern  term.  Noth 
ing  but  the  waters  of  the  harbor  stayed  the  eastern  march  of 
the  fire.  The  district  burned  had  been  the  home  of  Boston's 
wholesale  trade,  containing  the  finest  business  blocks  which 
the  city  could  boast.  Fourteen  or  fifteen  lives  were  lost,  and 
not  far  from  eight  hundred  buildings  consumed.  The  prop 
erty  loss  was  placed  at  $80,000,000, 


THE  TWEED  RING 

Meantime  New  York  City  was  suffering  from  an  evil 
worse  than  fire,  the  frauds  of  the  "  Tweed  Ring,"  notorious 
forevermore.  In  the  summer  of  1870  proof  was  published  of 
vast  frauds  by  leading  city  officials,  prominent  among  them 
"  Boss  "  William  M.  Tweed,  who,  in  the  language  of  Judge 
Noah  Davis,  "  saw  fit  to  pervert  the  powers  with  which  he 
was  clothed,  in  a  manner  more  infamous,  more  outrageous, 
than  any  instance  of  a  like  character  which  the  history  of  the 
civilized  world  afforded." 

William  Marcy  Tweed  was  born  in  1823,  at  24  Cherry 
Street,  New  York  City.  A  youth  devoted  to  business  made 
him  a  fair  penman  and  an  adept  reckoner,  but  not  a  business 
man.  He,  indeed,  once  attempted  business,  but,  as  he  gave 
his  chief  attention  to  speculation,  gambling  and  ward  politics, 
completely  failed,  so  that  he  seems  forever  to  have  renounced 
legitimate  money-making.  As  a  volunteer  fireman,  known  as 
cc  Big  Six,"  a  gross,  licentious  Falstaff  of  real  life,  albeit  loyal 
and  helpful  to  his  friends,  Tweed  led  the  "  Roughs,"  being  op 
posed  by  his  more  decent  fellows,  the  "  Quills."  The  tide  of 
"  respectability,"  receding  uptown,  left  Tweed's  ward  in  the 
hands  of  poor  immigrants  or  the  sons  of  such,  who  became 
partly  his  willing  accomplices,  partly  his  unwitting  tools,  in  his 
onslaughts  upon  taxpayers.  He  began  these  forays  at  twenty- 
seven,  as  Alderman,  suspended  them  for  a  time  in  Congress, 
resumed  them  in  1857  as  Public  School  Commissioner,  con 
tinued  and  enlarged  them  as  member  and  four  times  President 
of  the  Board  of  Supervisors,  and  brought  them  to  a  climax  as 
a  functionary  of  the  Street  Department.  He  thus  became,  in 
time,  the  central  sun  in  the  system  of  brilliant  luminaries 
known  as  the  <£  Tweed  Ring." 

The  multitudinous  officials  of  the  city  were  the  Ring's 
slaves.  At  one  time  eight  hundred  policemen  stood  guard  to 
prevent  a  hostile  majority,  in  Tammany  Hall  itself,  from  meet 
ing.  The  thugs  of  the  city,  nick-named  "  Tweed's  lambs," 
rendered  invaluable  services  at  caucus  and  convention.  Two 


THE  UNITED  STATES  IN  OUR  OWN  TIME 


days  before  election  these  venal  cohorts  would  assemble  in  the 
340  election  districts,  each  man  of  them  being  listed  and  reg 
istered  under  several  assumed  names  and  addresses.  From 
Tweed's  house  in  1868  six  registered,  from  Justice  Shandley's 
nine,  from  the  Coroner's  thirteen.  A  State  Senator's  house 
w7as  put  down  as  the  home  of  thirty  voters.  One  Alderman's 
residence  nominally  housed  twenty,  another's  twenty-five,  an 
Assemblyman's  fifteen.  And  so  it  went.  Bales  of  fictitious 
naturalization  papers  were  secured.  One  year  105,000  blank 
applications  and  69,000  certificates  were  ordered  printed.  In 
one  case  thirteen  men,  in  another  fifteen,  were  naturalized  in 
five  minutes.  The  new  citizens  "  put  in  "  election  day  fol 
lowing  their  leaders  from  polling  place  to  polling  place  as 
needed. 

When  thieves  could  be  kept  in  power  by  such  means 
plunder  was  easy  and  brazen.  Contractors  on  public  works, 
were  systematically  forced  to  pay  handsome  bonuses  to  the 
Ring.  One  of  them  testified  :  "  When  I  commenced  building 
I  asked  Tweed  how  to  make  out  the  bills,  and  he  said  :  c  Have 
fifteen  per  cent,  over.'  I  asked  what  that  was  for,,  and  he 
said,  c  Give  that  to  me  and  I  will  take  care  of  your  bills.'  I 
handed  him  the  percentage  after  that."  Innumerable  methods 
of  fraud  were  successfully  tried.  During  the  year  1863  the 
expenditures  of  the  Street  Department  were  $650,000.  Within 
four  years  Tweed  quadrupled  them.  A 
species  of  asphalt  paving,  dubbed  "Fisk's 
poultice,"  so  bad  that  a  grand  jury  ac 
tually  declared  it  a  public  nuisance,  was 
laid  in  great  quantities  at  vast  cost  to 
the  city.  Official  advertising  was  doled 
to  twenty-six  daily  and  fifty-four  weekly 
sheets,  of  which  twenty-seven  vanished 
on  its  withdrawal.  But  all  the  other 
robber  enterprises  paled  before  the  city 
Court  House  job.  This  structure,  com- 


TWEED 


THE  TWEED  RING 


[Reproduced  from  Harper's  Weekly  (October  21,  /<?//) 
hy  permission  of  Messrs.  Harper  Ssf  Brothers.  Copy 
right,  1871,  by  Harper  &  Brothers] 

THE  BRAINS 

that  achieved  the  Tammany    Victory  at   the  Rochester 
Democratic  Convention 


menced  in  1 868,  under  stipu 
lation  that  it  should  not  cost 
more  than  1250,000,  was  in 
1871  still  unfinished  after  an 
outlay  of  $8,000,000,  four 
times  as  much  as  was  spent 
on  Parliament  House  in 
London.  Its  ostensible  cost, 
at  last,  was  not  less  than 
$12,000,000.  As  by  witch 
craft  the  city's  debt  was  in 
two  years  more  than  doubled. 
The  Ring's  operations  cheat 
ed  the  city's  tax-payers,  first 
and  last,  out  of  no  less  than 
$160,000,000,  "or  four  times  the  fine  levied  on  Paris  by 
the  German  army."  Though  wallowing  in  lucre,  and  prodigal 
withal,  Tweed  was  yet  insatiably  greedy.  "  His  hands  were 
everywhere,  and  everywhere  they  were  they  were  feeling  for 
money.",  In  1871  he  boasted  of  being  worth  $20,000,000, 
and  vowed  soon  to  be  as  rich  as  Vanderbilt. 

With  his  coarse  nature  the  Boss  revelled  in  jibes  made  at 
the  expense  of  his  honor.  He  used  gleefully  to  show  his  friends 
the  safe  where  he  kept  money  for  bribing  legislators,  finding 
those  of  the  cc  Tammany  Republican  "  stripe  easiest  game.  Of 
the  contractor  who  was  decorating  his  country  place  at  Green 
wich  he  inquired,  pointing  to  a  statue,  "  Who  the  hell  is  that  ?  " 
<c  That  is  Mercury,  the  god  of  merchants  and  thieves,"  was 
the  reply.  "  That's  bully  !  "  said  Tweed.  "  Put  him  over 
the  front  door."  His  donation  of  $100  for  an  altar  cloth  in 
the  Greenwich  Methodist  Church  the  trustees  sent  back,  de 
claring  that  they  wanted  none  of  his  stolen  money.  Other 
charitable  gifts  of  his  were  better  received. 

The  city  papers,  even  those  least  corruptible,  were  for 
long  either  neutral  or  else  favorable  to  the  Ring,  but  its  doings 


THE  UNITED  STATES  IN  OUR  OWN  TIME 

were  by  no  means  unknown.  They  were  matters  of  general 
surmise  and  criticism,  criticism  that  seemed  hopeless,  so  hard 
was  it  to  obtain  exact  evidence. 

But  pride  goeth  before  a  fall.  Amid  its  greatest  triumph 
the  Ring  sowed  the  wind  whence  rose  the  whirlwind  which 
wrought  its  ruin.  At  a  secret  meeting  held  in  the  house  of 
John  Morrissey,  pugilist  member  of  Congress,  certain  of  the 
unsatisfied,  soon  known  as  the  "  Young  Democracy,"  planned 
a  revolt.  Endeavoring  to  prevent  the  grant  by  the  New 
York  legislature  of  a  new  charter  which  the  Ring  sought,  the 
insurgents  met  apparent  defeat,  which,  however,  ultimately 
proved  victory,  Tweed  building  for  himself  far  worse  than  he 
knew.  The  new  charter,  abstractly  good,  in  concentrating 
power  concentrated  responsibility  also,  showing  the  outraged 
people,  when  awakened,  where  to  strike  for  liberty.  In  spite 
of  whitewashing  by  prominent  citizens,  of  blandishments  and 
bulldozing,  of  attempts  to  buy  the  stock  of  the  Times  and  to 
boycott  Harper  s  Weekly^  where  Nast's  cartoons — his  first 
work  of  the  kind — gave  the  Ring  international  notoriety,  the 
reform  spirit  proved  irresistible.  The  bar  had  been  servile  or 
quiet,  but  the  New  York  Bar  Association  was  now  formed, 
which  at  once  became  what  it  has  ever  since  been,  a  most 

influential    censor    of   the    bench.      The    Young    Democracy 

. 
grew  powerful.      Public-spirited   citizens  organized  a  Council 

of  Political  Reform. 

The  occasion  of  conclusive  exposure  was  trivial  enough. 
Sheriff  O'Brien  was  refused  part  of  what  he  thought  his  share 
of  the  sheriff  fees.  An  expert  accountant  in  the  Comptroller's 
office  supplied  him  with  damning  evidence  against  the  Ring. 
On  July  1 8,  1871,  Mr.  O'Brien  walked  into  the  Times  office 
and,  handing  the  editor  a  bundle  of  documents,  said  :  "  There 
are  all  the  figures  :  you  can  do  with  them  just  what  you  please." 
The  figures  were  published  on  the  2oth  in  an  exhibit  printed 
in  English  and  German,  causing  excitement  compared  with 
which  that  arising  from  the  Orange  Riot  of  July  1 2th  seemed 

14 


THE  TWEED  RING 


TWO  GREAT 


WHO  STOUE  THE  PEOPLE'S  AlONff  ?  -  00  TflL  .NY/TIMES, 


'TWAS  HIM- 


[Re f  reduced  ft 


rom  Harper's  Weekly  (August  79,  l8jl)  by  permission  of  Messrs 
Copyright,  1871,  by  Harper  6f  Brothers] 


.  Harper  Sf  Brothers. 


trifling.  The  sensation  did  not  end  with  talk.  On  September 
4th  a  mass-meeting  of  citizens  was  held  at  Cooper  Institute 
and  a  committee  of  seventy  prominent  men  chosen  to  probe 
the  frauds  and  to  punish  the  perpetrators.  For  the  work  of 
prosecution  the  Attorney-General  appointed  Charles  O'Conor, 
who  associated  with  himself  the  ablest  counsel.  Samuel 
J.  Tilden  was  conspicuously  active  in  the  prosecution,  thus 
laying  the  foundation  for  that  popularity  which  made  him  the 
Governor  of  New  York,  1 875-^77,  and  in  1876  the  Demo 
cratic  candidate  for  the  presidency  of  the  United  States. 

On  October  28,  1871,  Tweed  was  arrested  and  gave  a 
million  dollars  bail.  In  November,  the  same  year,  he  was 
elected  to  the  State  Senate,  but  did  not  take  his  seat.  On 
December  i6th  he  was  again  arrested,  and  released  on  $5,000 
bail.  The  jury  disagreed  on  the  first  suit,  but  on  the  second 


THE  UNITED  STATES  IN  OUR  OWN  TIME 

he  was  convicted  and  sentenced  to  pay  a  fine  of  $12,550  and 
to  suffer  twelve  years  imprisonment.  This  sentence  was  set 
aside  by  the  Court  of  Appeals  and  Tweed's  discharge 
ordered.  In  the  meantime  other  suits  had  been  brought, 
among  them  one  to  recover  $6,000,000.  Failing  to  find  bail 
for  $3,000,000,  he  was  sent  to  the  Ludlow  Street  Jail.  Being 
allowed  to  ride  in  the  Park  and  occasionally  to  visit  his  resi 
dence,  one  day  in  December  he  escaped  from  his  keepers. 
After  hiding  for  several  months  he  succeeded  in  reaching 
Cuba.  A  fisherman  found  him,  sunburnt  and  weary  but  not 
homesick,  and  led  him  to  Santiago.  Instead  of  taking  him 
to  a  hotel,  Tweed's  guide  handed  him  over  to  the  police  as 
probably  some  American  filibuster  come  to  free  Cuba.  The 
American  consul  procured  his  release  (his  passports  had  been 
given  him  under  an  assumed  name),  but  later  found  him  out. 
The  discovery  was  too  late,  for  he  had  again  escaped  and 
embarked  for  Spain,  thinking  there  to  be  at  rest,  as  we  then  had 
no  extradition  treaty  with  that  country,  Landing  at  Vigo,  he 
found  the  governor  of  the  place  with  police  waiting  for  him, 
and  was  soon  homeward  bound  on  an  American  war-vessel. 
Caleb  Cushing,  our  Minister  at  Madrid,  had  learned  of  his 
departure  for  that  realm,  and  had  put  the  authorities  on  their 
guard.  To  help  them  identify  their  man  he  furnished  them 
a  caricature  by  Nast,  representing  Tweed  as  a  Tammany 
policeman  gripping  two  boys  by  the  hair.  Thus  it  came  about 
that  "  tfwid  antelme "  was  apprehended  by  our  peninsular 
friends  as  a  child-stealer.  Though  everything  possible  was 
done  to  render  him  comfortable  in  jail,  Tweed  sighed  for 
liberty.  He  promised,  if  released,  to  turn  State's  evidence 
and  to  give  up  all  his  property  and  effects.  Some  papers  sug 
gested  that  the  public  pitied  the  man  and  would  be  glad  to 
have  him  set  free.  No  compromise  with  him  was  made,  how 
ever,  and  he  continued  in  jail  till  his  death  in  1878. 

In  1870  the   national  debt  amounted  to  a  little  less  than 
$2,500,000,000,  nearly  three  times  the  sum  of  all  the  country's 

16 


SHIPS 

State,  county  and  municipal  indebtedness  combined.  Yet  the 
revenues  sufficed  to  meet  the  interest  and  gradually  to  pay  off 
the  principal.  Reduction  in  the  rate  of  taxation  was  recom 
mended  in  the  President's  Message,  as  also  a  refunding  of  the 
debt,  but  this  latter  was  postponed  for  the  time  by  the  out 
break  of  the  Franco-Prussian  war.  Our  imports  for  the 
year  ending  June,  1870,  were  worth  $462,377, 587,  which  ex 
ceeded  the  figure  for  any  previous  fiscal  year.  The  duties 
on  these  imports  footed  up  nearly  $195,000,000.  The  imports 
for  the  year  fell  short  of  the  exports  by  over  $36,000,000. 

Painful  to  notice  was  the  small  proportion  of  our  com 
merce  which  was  carried  on  in  American  vessels.  Between 
1850  and  1855  we  had  outstripped  England  both  in  shipbuild 
ing  and  in  tonnage.  Seventy-five  per  cent,  of  our  ocean  traffic 
was  then  borne  in  American  vessels;  in  1869  the  proportion 
had  fallen  to  thirty  per  cent.  The  decay  of  our  merchant 
marine  was  originally  due  to  the  fatal  enterprise  of  Con 
federate  privateers  during  the  war,  and  to  the  change  now 
going  on  from  wood  to  iron  as  the  material  for  ships.  This 
transferred  to  British  builders  the  special  advantage  which 
Americans  had  so  long  as  wood  was  used.  Why  the  advan 
tage  continued  with  the  British  was  a  much-disputed  question, 
not  yet  separating  the  two  political  parties.  Protectionists  found 
it  in  British  labor  and  British  subsidies  to  steamship  lines, 
and  wished  to  offset  it  by  bounties  and  by  still  higher  subsi 
dies  to  American  shipping  enterprise.  Anti-protectionists 
traced  all  the  difficulty  to  protection,  particularly  denouncing 
the  duties  on  materials  imported  for  ship-building.  They 
urged  free  United  States  registry  for  foreign-built  ships,  or 
at  least  the  privilege  of  importing  free  of  duty  all  stock  to  be 
used  in  the  construction  of  ships. 

The  United  States  navy  was  neglected  after  the  war  and 
soon  became  antiquated,  being  occupied  mainly  with  the  most 
peaceful  enterprises,  such  as  hydrographic  and  coast  surveys. 
Indeed,  it  was  fitted  only  for  such.  The  destruction  of  the 


THE  UNITED  STATES  IN  OUR  OWN  TIME 

pirate  Forward  on  the  coast  of  Mexico  and  the  bombard 
ment  of  certain  Corean  forts  were  its  only  warlike  deeds  dur 
ing  1870.  The  army,  this  year,  numbered  34,000  enlisted 
men,  soon  to  be  reduced  to  the  legal  number  of  30,000.  It 
was  busied  in  making  surveys,  in  protecting  settlers  against 
Indians,  and  one-sixth  of  it  in  assisting  Government  officials 
to  keep  order  in  the  South.  Some  of  the  army  officers  and 
men  were  also  busy  in  taking  and  publishing  over  the  country 
scientific  observations  of  the  weather,  an  extremely  useful  form 
of  public  service  then  in  its  infancy.  The  United  States 
Weather  Bureau  dates  from  1870,  its  origin  and  organization 
mainly  due  to  the  then  Chief  Signal  Officer  of  the  Army, 
General  Albert  J.  Myer. 

';  When  the  resuscitation  of  the  South  began,  it  raised  a 
most  interesting  constitutional  question,  viz.,  what  effect  seces 
sion  had  upon  the  States  guilty  of  it ;  whether  or  not  it  was 
an  act  of  State  suicide.  That  it  amounted  to  suicide,  leaving, 
of  the  State  that  was,  "  nothing  but  men  and  dirt,"  was  held 
by  many,  among  them  Sumner  and  Stevens.  Both  these  men 
conceived  the  problem  of  the  disordered  States  as  that  of  an 
out-and-out  "  reconstruction  ;"  and  they  ascribed  to  Congress 
the  right  to  work  its  will  in  the  conquered  region,  changing 
old  State  lines  and  institutions  as  it  might  please,  and  postpon 
ing  settlement  for  any  convenient  length  of  time.  Against 
this  theory  a  strong  party  maintained  that  of  State  indestructi 
bility,  asserting  the  total  nullity  of  secession  acts. 

The  universal  supposition  at  first  was  that  the  Southern 
States  needed  only  "  restoration,"  to  be  conducted  by  the 
President.  "  Restoration  "  was  the  policy  of  Presidents  Lin 
coln  and  Johnson;  as  also  of  the  entire  Democracy.  Follow 
ing  the  idea  of  simple  restoration,  Lincoln  had  recognized 
loyal  State  governments  in  Virginia  at  the  beginning  of  the 
war,  and  in  Louisiana,  Arkansas,  and  Tennessee  later.  Dur 
ing  1865  Johnson  did  the  same  in  all  the  other  States  lately 
in  secession. 

18 


THE  IRON  LAW  OF  MARCH  2,  1867 

Strong  considerations  had  led  Congress,  at  this  point, 
to  assume  charge  of  the  restitution  of  the  States,  and,  brav 
ing  President  Johnson's  uttermost  opposition  and  spite, 
to  rip  up  the  entire  presidential  work.  "  The  same  autho 
rity  which  recognized  the  existence  of  the  war"  seemed 
"the  only  authority  having  the  constitutional  right  to 
determine  when,  for  all  purposes,  the  war  had  ceased.  The 
Act  of  March  2,  1867,  was  a  legislative  declaration  that  the 
war  which  sprang  from  the  Rebellion  was  not,  to  all  intents 
and  purposes,  ended ;  and  that  it  should  be  held  to  con 
tinue  until  State  governments,  republican  in  form,  and  subordi 
nate  to  the  Constitution  and  laws,  should  be  established."* 

On  March  2,  1866,  it  was  enacted  that  neither  House 
should  admit  a  member  from  any  seceder-State  till  a  congres 
sional  vote  had  declared  the  State  entitled  to  representation. 
The  ratification  of  the  Fourteenth  Amendment,  making  negroes 
citizens  of  the  United  States  and  forbidding  legislation  to 
abridge  their  privileges,  was  made  prerequisite  to  such  vote. 
Tennessee  accepted  the  terms  in  Jury,  but,  as  action  was 
optional,  all  the  other  States  declined,  thus  defeating  for  the 
time  this  amendment.  Congress  now  determined  not  to  wait 
for  the  lagging  States,  but  to  enforce  their  reconstruction. 
The  iron  law  of  March  2,  1867,  replaced  "  secessia "  under 
military  rule,  permitted  the  loyal  citizens  of  any  State,  blacks 
included,  to  raise  a  convention  and  frame  a  constitution  en 
franchising  negroes,  and  decreed  that  when  such  constitu 
tion  had  been  ratified  by  the  electors  to  the  convention 
and  approved  by  Congress,  and  when  the  legislature  under 
it  had  ratified  the  Fourteenth  Amendment  and  this  had  be 
come  part  of  the  Constitution,  then  the  State  might  be 
represented  in  Congress.  The  supplementary  law  of  March 
1 9th  hastened  the  process  by  giving  district  commanders  the - 
oversight  of  registration  and  the  initiative  in  calling  conven 
tions. 

*  Opinion  of  Attorney-General  E.  R.  Hoar,  May  31,  1869. 


THE  UNITED  STATES  IN  OUR  OWN  TIME 


HIRAM    R.   REBELS 

of  Mississippi 

The  first  colored  member  of 
the  U.  S.  Senate.  Admit 
ted  February  25th,  1870 


JOSEPH  F.  RAINET 

of  South  Carolina 
The  first   colored    member    of 
the     U.    S.   House   of  Rep 
resentatives.         Admitted 
December  12,1871 


THE  FIRST  COLORED  MEMBERS  OF  CONGRESS 


After  this  the  work  went 
rapidly  on.  Registration 
boards  were  appointed,  the 
test-oath:;:  applied,  dele 
gates  elected,  and  constitu 
tions  framed  and  adopted. 
These  instruments  in  all 
cases  abolished  slavery,  re 
pudiated  the  Confederate 
debt  and  the  pretended 
right  of  a  State  to  secede, 
declared  the  secession  acts 
of  i  86 1  null  and  void,  or 
dained  manhood  suffrage,  and  prohibited  the  passage  of  laws 
to  abridge  this. 

Congress  then  acted.  Alabama,  Arkansas,  North  and 
South  Carolina,  Florida,  Georgia  and  Louisiana,  were  admitted 
to  representation  in  June,  1868,  agreeing  never  to  revoke  uni 
versal  suffrage.  As  Georgia  was  suspected  of  evading  some 
of  the  requirements,  the  senators  from  the  State  were  refused 
seats  at  Washington,  and  did  not  obtain  them  till  the  last  of 
January,  1871.  Georgia's  representatives  were  given  seats,  but 

TEST  OATH. — Act  of  July  2,  1862.  Be  it  enacted,  etc.  That  hereafter  every 
person  elected  or  appointed  to  any  office  of  honor  or  profit  under  the  Government  of  the 
United  States,  either  in  the  civil,  military,  or  naval  departments  of  the  public  service,  except 
ing  the  President  of  the  United  States,  shall,  before  entering  upon  the  duties  of  such  office,  and 
before  being  entitled  to  any  of  the  salary,  or  other  emoluments  thereof,  take  and  subscribe  the 
following  oath  or  affirmation  :  u  J,  A.  B.,  do  solemnly  swear  (or  affirm)  that  I  have  never 
voluntarily  borne  arms  against  the  United  States  since  I  have  been  a  citizen  thereof ;  that  I  have 
voluntarily  given  no  aid,  countenance,  counsel  or  encouragement  to  persons  engaged  in  armed 
hostility  thereto  ;  that  I  have  neither  sought  nor  accepted  nor  attempted  to  exercise  the  functions 
of  any  office  whatever,  under  any  authority  or  pretended  authority  in  hostility  to  the  United  States, 
that  I  have  not  yielded  a  voluntary  support  to  any  pretended  government,  authority,  power  or 
constitution  within  the  United  States  hostile  or  inimical  thereto.  And  I  do  further  swear  (  or 
affirm)  that,  to  the  best  of  my  knowledge  and  ability,  I  will  support  and  defend  the  Constitu 
tion  of  the  United  States  against  all  enemies,  foreign  and  domestic  ;  that  I  will  bear  true  faith 
and  allegiance  to  the  same  ;  that  I  take  this  obligation  freely,  without  any  mental  reservation, 
or  purpose  of  evasion,  and  that  I  will  well  and  faithfully  discharge  the  duties  of  the  office  on 
which  I  am  about  to  enter,  so  help  me  God." 


ALL  STATES  AGAIN  REPRESENTED 


subsequently,  in  1869,  these  were  vacated,  and  they  remained 
empty  till  1871.  To  regain  representation  in  Congress  this 
State,  too,  was  obliged  to  ratify  the  Fifteenth  Amendment. 

Thus  stood  matters  in  1 870  :  all  but  four  of  the  late  Con 
federate  States  nominally  back  in  the  Union,  these  still  con 
tumacious,  but  confronted  by  an  inflexible  Congress,  which 

barred  them  from  every  national 
function  of  statehood  till  they  had 
conformed  to  all  the  conditions 
above  described. 

Virginia,  Mississippi,  and  Texas 
held  out  the  longest.     The  Act  of 
April  10,  1869,  was  passed  to  hasten 
their   action,  authorizing  the    Presi 
dent  to  call  elections    for   ratifying 
or  rejecting  the  new  constitutions  in 
those  States.     To  punish  the  States' 
delay,    their   new   legislatures    were 
required  to  ratify  the  proposed  Fif 
teenth    Amendment,     guarantee 
ing    the    negro's  right  to  vote,  as 
well  as  the  Fourteenth.     When  it 
passed  the  House  the  bill  lacked 
such  a  provision,  which  was  moved 
by    Senator   Morton,  of  Indiana, 
an    ultra    Republican.       Morton 
urged  the  adoption  of  the  amend 
ments   as  of  vast    importance  to 
the   country.     If  the  three  recal 
citrant    States    were    commanded 
to  ratify  and  did  so,  the  negroes' 
ballot  would   be  once  for   all   as 
sured,  placing  the  South  forever  in 
loyal  hands.      The  unreconstruct 
ed   States,  he  said,  ought  not  to 


Refresentative  George  E.  Harris,  of 
Mississippi.  Admitted  February 
23,  1870 


Senator  John  F.  Lewis,  of  Virginia.    Admit 
ted  January  27,  1870 


•RECONSTRUCTED  CONGRESSMEN" 


THE  UNITED  STATES  IN  OUR  OWN  TIME 

oppose  this  requirement,  and  their  opposition  was  sad  evidence 
of  their  treacherous  purpose  later  to  amend  their  constitutions 
so  as  to  strike  down  colored  suffrage.  Senator  Thurman  replied 
that  the  question  concerned  every  State  in  the  Union.  By  forc 
ing  these  three  States  to  ratify  this  amendment,  he  declared, 
"  you  do  not  coerce  them  alone.  You  coerce  Ohio,  you  coerce 
Illinois,  you  coerce  every  State  whose  people  are  unwilling  to 
adopt  the  amendment."  Senator  Bayard  thought  it  a  most 
dangerous  Federal  encroachment  to  take  from  the  States  and 
deposit  with  the  Federal  Government  the  regulation  of  the 
elective  franchise,  "the  power  of  all  powers,  that  which  under 
lies  and  creates  all  other  powers."  The  opposition  was,  how 
ever,  overborne,  and  by  February,  1870,  the  new  constitutions, 
together  with  the  Fourteenth  and  Fifteenth  Amendments  to 
the  United  States  Constitution,  had  been  ratified,  and  the 
three  belated  States  again  stood  knocking  at  the  doors  of 
Congress. 

The  House  of  Representatives  began  by  declaring  Vir 
ginia  entitled  to  representation  in  the  national  legislature. 
The  Senate,  more  radical,  influenced  by  the  still  lurking  sus 
picion  of  bad  faith,  amended  this  simple  declaration  with  a 
provision  requiring  the  "  test-oath  "  of  loyalty  from  members 
of  the  Legislature  and  public  officers  before  they  should 
resume  their  duties,  at  the  same  time  making  it  a  condition 
that  the  constitution  of  the  State  should  never  be  so  amended 
as  to  restrict  the  suffrage,  the  right  to  hold  office,  or  the  privi 
lege  of  attending  public  schools.  Similar  provisos  were  at 
tached  to  the  resolution  admitting  senators  and  representatives 
from  the  other  two  States.  Out  of  sheer  weariness  the  House 
concurred.  By  January  30,  1871,  all  the  States  were  again 
represented  in  both  Houses,  as  in  1860. 


22 


CHAPTER  II 
GENERAL  GRANT  AS   A  CIVIL  CHIEF 

THE    REPUBLICAN    PARTY    IN     1 870. ITS    DEFECTS. — PRESIDENT 

GRANT'S  SHORTCOMINGS. — HIS  FIRST  CABINET. — THE  PARTY'S  AT 
TITUDE     TOWARD      THE      TARIFF. TOWARD       THE      DEMOCRACY. — 

TOWARD  RE-ENFRANCHISEMENT  AT  THE  SOUTH. THE  LIBERAL  MOVE 
MENT. THE  DEMOCRATS. THE  "NEW  DEPARTURE"    AMONG  THEM. 

VALLANDIGHAM. JOHN     QUINCY      ADAMS. RECONSTRUCTION. — 

ERRORS     COMMITTED     THEREIN. THE      FIFTEENTH     AMENDMENT. — 

THE     KU-KLUX     KLAN. THE      FORCE      BILL. RE-ENFRANCHISEMENT      ^ 

AT     THE    SOUTH. GRANT     AND     THE     NATION'S     FINANCES. GOULD 

AND     FISK. BLACK      FRIDAY. THE     TREATY     OF      WASHINGTON. — 

RELATIONS       WITH       CUBA. PROPOSED      "  ANNEXION  "     OF       SANTO 

DOMINGO. — SUMNER     AND     THE     ADMINISTRATION. 

THE  year  1870  found  the  Republican  party  in  full  power. 
In  the  Senate  of  the  Forty-first  Congress  sat  but  nine 
Democrats,  and  out  of  its  two  hundred  and  thirty  Representa 
tives  only  seventy-five  were  Democrats.  Spite  of  differences 
in  their  own  ranks,  spite  of  the  frantic  struggles  of  the  opposi 
tion,  the  Republican  policy  of  reconstruction  had  been  put 
through  and  consummated  by  the  Fifteenth  Amendment, 
"  making  all  men  equal."  Sweepingly  victorious  upon  every 
issue  recently  tried,  freed,  moreover,  from  the  incubus  with 
which  President  Johnson  had  weighted  them,  having  elected 
to  the  executive  chair  of  the  nation  a  hero  whom  practically 
the  entire  party  and  country  trusted,  the  Republicans  could 
not  but  be  in  a  happy  mood.  No  wonder  that  the  Republican 
platforms  of  the  different  States  in  1870  and  1871  breathed 
utmost  satisfaction  and  hope. 

This  self-gratulatory  spirit  among  the  Republicans  was 
an  unhealthy  sign.  Honest  as  were  its  rank  and  file  and 
a  majority  of  its  leaders,  much  corruption  defiled  the  party's 

23 


THE  UNITED  STATES  IN  OUR  OWN  TIME 


/  /   _3  -+• 

GArndq*,  ~£ne  /w~/strz^S4£4   <7r  t^mrrw.  fvc^tej    'erf '  tZZZZ'-u^iJ 
<7  (?  J  * 

'/¥ 


/  ff/ 

&ri>tf  Z^"  O^vy  j(s*&<mJ 

tt 

A  Fragment  in  Facsimile  from  the  Original  Engrossed  Text  of  the  Fourteenth  Amendment,  at  the  State 
Department,  Washington.     Adopted  July  28,  l8bb 

high  places.  "The  early  movements  of  Grant  as  President 
were  very  discouraging.  His  attempt  to  form  a  cabinet  with 
out  consultation  with  any  one,  and  with  very  little  knowledge, 
except  social  intercourse,  of  the  persons  appointed,  created 
a  doubt  that  he  would  be  as  successful  as  a  President  as  he 
had  been  as  a  general,  a  doubt  that  increased  and  became  a 
conviction  in  the  minds  of  many  of  his  best  friends.  .  .  The 
impression  prevailed  that  the  President  regarded  the  heads 
of  departments,  invested  by  law  with  specific  and  inde 
pendent  duties,  as  mere  subordinates,  whose  functions  he 
might  assume.  .  .  It  can  hardly  be  said  that  we  had  a 
strictly  Republican  administration  during  Grant's  two  terms. 
While  Republicans  were  selected  to  fill  the  leading  offices,  the 
policy  adopted  and  the  controlling  influence  around  him  were 
purely  personal.  He  consulted  but  few  of  the  Senators  or 
members,  and  they  were  known  as  his  personal  friends.  Mr. 
Conkling,  by  his  imperious  will,  soon  gained  a  strong  influ 
ence  over  the  President,  and  from  this  came  feuds,  jealousies 
and  enmities,  that  greatly  weakened  the  Republican  party  and 
threatened  its  ascendancy."*  In  the  questions  of  taxation, 
debt  and  finance,  so  important  to  the  welfare  of  all,  Grant 
showed  little  interest.  "  His  veto  of  the  bill  to  increase  the 
amount  of  United  States  notes,  on  the  22d  of  April,  1874,  was 

*  John  Sherman's  Recollections  of  Forty  Years  in  the  House,  Senate  and  Cabinet. 

24 


THE  RECONSTRUCTION  COMMITTEE 


wn  by  W.  R.  Leigh 


The  Joint  Committee  of  Fifteen,  appointed  to  "  inquire  into  the  condition  of  affairs  in  the  so-called  Confederate  States,"  wbt> 
finally  adopted,  April  28,  iSbb,  a  series  of  resolutions  embodying  a  recommendation  which  afterward  took  form  as  the  Four 
teenth  Amendment.  Senators  W.  P.  Fessenden,  Maine,  'Chairman;  J.  W.  Grimes,  Iowa;  Ira  Harris,  New  York; 
J.  M.  Howard,  Michigan,-  George  H.  Williams,  Oregon.  Representatives.-  Thaddeus  Stevens,  Pennsylvania;  E.  B. 
Washburn,  Illinois;  Justin  S.  Merrill,  Vermont;  J.  A.  Bingham,  Ohio;  G.  S.  Boutwell,  Massachusetts;  Roscoe  ConUing^. 
New  York;  H.  T.  Blow,  Missouri;  H.  M.  Grider,  Kentucky,-  A.  J.  Rodgers,  New  Jersey;  Senator  Reverdy  Johnson^. 
Maryland.  The  last  three  voted  against  the  resolutions. 


PRESIDENT   GRANT'S   SHORTCOMINGS 


"Dam  Your  Spul.  The  Horrible  SepnWire  and  Bloody  Moon  has  at  last  arrived. 
Some  live  to-day  to-morrow  "Die."  We  the  undersigned  understand  through  our 
Grand  "  Ggetopt''  that  you  have  recomnicnde.l  a  big  Black  Nigger  for  Male  agent  oi> 
our  uu  rode  ;  wel,  sir,  Jest  you  understand  in  time  if  he  gets  on  the  rode  you  cnio 
make  up  your  mind  to  pull  roape.  If  you  have  any  thing  to  say  in"  regard  to  the 
Matter,  meet  the  Grand  Cyclops  and  Conclave  at  Den  No.  4  at  13  o'clock  midnight, 
Oct.  1st,  1871. 

"  When,  you  are  in  Calera  we  warn  you  to  hold  your  tounge  and  not  speak  so  much 
w.th  your  mouth  or  otherwise  you  will  he  taken  on  supprise  and  led  ont  by  the  Klan 
ana  learnt  to  stretch  hemp.  Beware.  Beware.  Ben-are.  Be»«r« 


an  exception,  but  on 
this  he  changed  his 
mind,  as  he  had  ex 
pressed  his  approval 
of  the  bill  when  pend- 

ing-"* 

"  General  Grant 
became  afterward  so 
thoroughly  a  party 
man  that  it  is  neces 
sary  to  recall  by  a 
positive  effort  that 
his  position  was 
looked  upon  as  very 
uncertain  when  his  administration  began.  His  report  to 
President  Johnson  on  the  condition  of  the  Southern  States  had 
indicated  that  he  was  not  in  sympathy  with  the  congressional 
plan  of  reconstruction,  which  was  the  burning  question  of 
the  time.  Party  leaders  were  nervous  lest  he  should  prove 
unwilling  to  conduct  his  administration  in  harmony  with 
them,  and  in  case  of  a  break  they  feared  a  total  loss  of  party 


(Signed) 


"Yon  know  who.      And  all  others  of  the  Klan." 

Facsimile    of  a    Ku-Klux   "  Warning  " 
der.ce  before  the  Congressit 


•PHILLIP  TSENBAUM, 

"Grand  Cytt& 
'JOHN  -BANKSTOWN 
'ESAU    DAVES. 
•MARCUS  THOMAS. 
'BLOODY  BOXES. 


in    Mississippi — put   in    evi 
lal  Committee 


adevendeut  Monitor,  Tuscal 


gallows.    Stand  fast.  ; 


cut  represents  the  fate  in  store  for  those  great  pests  of  Southern  society— 
S3  scalawag-it  found  in  Dixie's  land  after  the  break  of  day  on  the 


tl  Co, 


-A  Newspaper  Cutting  put  in  Evidence  before  the  Congr 


control  in  the 
country.  Mem 
bers  of  the  ad 
ministration  were 
therefore  urged 
strenuously  to 
make  no  issue 
on  what  might 
be  regarded  as  a 
personal  wish  of 
the  President, 

*John  Sherman's  Recol 
lections  of  Forty  Years 
in  the  House,  Senate 
and  Cabinet 


THE  UNITED  STATES  IN  OUR  OWN  TIME 


JAMES  FISK,  Jr. 
(After   a  photograph   by   Rock- 
wood) 


and  they  shared  the  opinions  of  their 
party  friends  enough  to  make  them  feel 
the  importance  of  avoiding  collision. "* 

General  Grant's  deficiencies  in  the 
presidential  office  were,  however,  nearly 
all  due  to  faults  of  his  character  which 
were  based  in  virtues.  To  the  man's 
moral  and  physical  courage,  and  his 
calm,  but  all  but  stubborn  bearing,  he 
added  a  magnanimity  and  an  unsuspect 
ing  integrity,  which  were  at  once  his 
strength  and  his  weakness.  Herein  lay 
the  secret  of  the  love  men  bore  him  and 
of  their  trust  in  him.  But  these  charac 
teristics  combined  with  his  inexperience 

of  civil  life  to  disarm  him  against  the  dishonorable  subtleties 
of  pretended  friends,  thus  continually  compromising  him. 
"  A  certain  class  of  public  men  adopted  the  practice  of  getting 
an  audience  and  making  speeches  before  him,  urging  their 
plans  with  skillful  advocacy  and  impassioned  manner.  They 
would  then  leave  him  without  asking  for  any  reply,  and  trust 
to  the  effect  they  had  produced.  Perhaps  their  associates  would 
follow  the  matter  up  in  a  similar  way.  It  would  thus  sometimes 
happen  that,  for  lack  of  the  assistance 
which  a  disinterested  adviser  could 
give,  his  habitual  reticence  would  make 
him  the  victim  of  sophistries  which 
were  not  exposed,  and  which  his  te 
nacity  of  purpose  would  make  him  cling 
to  when  once  he  had  accepted  them."*}' 
General  Sherman  thought  that  his  old 
friend,  Grant,  would  be  "  made  miser 
able  to  the  end  of  his  life  by  his  eight 


f 


pirn, 


D.  Cox,  Atlantic  Monthly,  August,   1895,  p.   167. 
fj.  D.  Cox,  ibid.,  p.  173. 


JAY  GOULD 


GRANT'S  FIRST  CABINET 


years'  experience"  in  the  presidency.  As  we  shall  see,  there  was 
considerable  reason  for  this  foreboding.  He  evidently  had 
Grant's  case  chiefly  in  mind  in  regretting  "  the  reputations 
wrecked  in  politics  since  1865,"  and  "the  many  otherwise 
good  characters  "  whom  political  life  had  "  poisoned." 

Grant's  first  cabinet  was  on  the  whole  not  strong,  though 
comprising  several  thoroughly  competent  men.  Hon.  E.  B, 
Washburne,  of  Illinois,  was  at  first  Secretary  of  State,  but  re 
signed  to  accept  the  position  of  Minister  to  France.  He  was 
succeeded  by  Hon.  Hamilton  Fish,  of  New  York,  a  gentle 
man  of  great  ability,  who  had  been  honorably  prominent  in 
the  politics  of  his  State,  and  had  served  a  term  in  Congress. 
The  Interior  Department  was  placed  in  charge  of  J.  D.  Cox. 
A.  E.  Borie  was  made  Secretary  of  the  Navy.  This  appoint 
ment  was  much  criticised,  and  Borie  soon  resigned,  when  the 
place  was  given  to  George  M.  Robeson.  President  Johnson's 
Secretary  of  War,  General 
Schofield,  Grant  retained 
for  a  time.  General  Raw- 
lins,  an  excellent  and  use 
ful  officer,  succeeded  him, 
but  died  soon.  His  suc 
cessor  was  William  W. 
Belknap.  J.  A.J.Creswell 
was  Postmaster- General, 
E.  Rockwood  Hoar,  At 
torney-General.  A.  T. 
Stewart,  the  New  York 
millionaire  merchant,  was 
named  for  the  Treasury 
portfolio,  and  the  Senate 
confirmed  him  with  the 
rest,  but  the  appointment 
was  found  to  be  contrary 

r          r>  PRESIDENT  GRANT 

to  a  statute  of  1 7  8  9,  pro-  (From  a  fhotografh  b,  Hoyt,  in  l8bq} 


THE  UNITED  STATES  IN  OUR  OWN  TIME 


viding  that  no  person  engaged  in  trade  or  commerce  should 
hold  that  office.  Efforts  were  made  to  remove  the  legal  bar 
rier,  which  failed,  and  George  S.  Boutwell  was  appointed. 

No  strictly  positive  policy  at  this  time  inspired  the  Re 
publican  body.  Republicans  certainly  opposed  any  repudi 
ation  of  the  war  debt,  whether  by  taxing  bonds  or  by  paying 
the  principal  or  the  interest  of  them  in  dollars  less  valuable 
than  gold  dollars.  But  this  was  only  a  phase  of  the  party's  war 
zeal,  which  always  carried  men's  thought  backward  rather  than 
to  the  future.  Upon  the  tariff  question  it  was  impossible  to  tell 
where  the  party  stood,  though,  clearly,  the  old  Whig  high- 
tariff  portion  of  its  constituency  did  not  yet  dominate.  Noth 
ing  bolder  than  "  incidental  protection  "  was  urged  by  anyone, 

except  where  a  State  or  section,  like 
Maine,  tentatively  commended  some 
interest  to  the  "  care,  protection,  and 
relief"  of  the  Government.  In  their 
public  utterances  touching  the  tariff  the 
two  great  parties  differed  little.  In 
each,  opinion  ran  the  gamut  from  "in 
cidental  protection,"  where  Democrat 
met  Republican  in  amity,  to  "  approxi 
mate  free  trade,"  which  extreme  there 
were  not  lacking  Republicans  ready  to 
embrace  had  the  tariff  been  then  a 
party  issue. 

Instead  of  looking  forward  and 
studying  new  national  interests,  the 
party  grounded  its  claims  too  exclu 
sively  upon  the  "  glorious  record " 
which  truly  belonged  to  it,  and  upon 
the  alleged  total  depravity  of  the 
Democrats  with  the  eternal  incorrig- 
ibleness  of  the  South.  Said  Senator 
Morton,  of  Indiana:  "The  Republican 

3° 


FRED.   DOUGLASS 
(From  a  f  holograph  by  Handy) 


BUENAVENTURA  BAEZ 

President  of  Santo  Domingo 

(From   a  photograph  in   the  collection 

of  James  E.  Taylor) 


THE  LIBERAL  MOVEMENT 

Party  .  .  .  could  not  afford  to  make  a  distinct  issue  on  the 
tariff,  civil  service  reform,  or  any  other  individual  measure; 
it  must  make  its  stand  on  these  assertions  :  The  Democrats, 
if  they  return  to  power,  will  either  take  away  the  pensions 
of  the  loyal  soldiers,  or  else  will  pension  Confederate  soldiers 
also  ;  will,  when  they  have  a  majority  in  Congress,  quietly 
allow  the  Southern  States  to  secede  in  peace ;  will  tax  national 
bonds  and  unsettle  everything  generally."  In  January,  1871, 
Senator  Henry  Wilson  wrote  :  "  To  keep  out  of  power  the 
Democratic  party  and  its  semi-rebellious  adherents  both  North 
and  South,  has  became  a  matter  of  supreme  importance  to 
the  nation  and  to  the  cause  of  humanity  itself." 

There  were,  however,  Republicans  who  by  no  means 
shared  these  views,  and  the  lifting  of  their  hands  already  fore 
shadowed  the  bolt  of  1872.  Not  a  few  Republican  partici 
pants  in  the  war  wished  the  earliest  possible  re-enfranchisement 
of  the  Southern  whites.  It  was  this  sentiment  that  carried 
West  Virginia  for  the  Democrats  in  1870.  Re-enfranchise 
ment  was  a  burning  question  also  in  Missouri.  At  the 
Republican  convention  in  that  State  the  same  year,  after  a  hot 
discussion,  General  McNeil  mounted  a  chair  and  shouted 
"  to  the  friends  of  the  enfranchisement  of  the  white  man,  that 
they  would  withdraw  from  this  convention  to  the  senate 
chamber."  About  a  third  of  the  delegates,  led  by  Carl 
Schurz,  retired,  and  nominated  a  Liberal-Republican  State 
ticket,  headed  by  B.  Gratz  Brown.  Supported  by  most  of 
the  Democrats  who  could  vote,  this  ticket  was  triumphant. 

Early  in  the  year  1871,  at  a  political  meeting  in  St. 
Louis,  was  manifested  the  first  overt  hostility  on  the  part  of 
the  Liberals,  or  "  Brownites,"  to  President  Grant.  This  sign 
of  the  times  was  followed  on  March  loth  by  a  meeting  of  a 
dozen  prominent  Republicans  in  Cincinnati,  Ex-Governor 
Cox  and  Stanley  Matthews  being  of  the  number.  They 
drafted  a  report,  which  was  signed  by  a  hundred  well-known 
Republicans,  advancing  four  principles:  (i)  general  amnesty 

31 


THE  UNITED  STATES  IN  OUR  OWN  TIME 


to  the  late  Con 
federates,  (2)  civil 
service  reform,  (3) 
specie  payments, 
and  (4)  a  revenue 
tariff.  During  the 
year  the  "bolt" 
took  on  national 
importance.  Sym 
pathy  with  it  ap 
peared  through 
out  the  country 
and  in  Congress, 
and  existed  where 
it  did  not  ap 
pear.  Influenced 
by  Mr.  Sumner, 
even  the  Massa 
chusetts  Repub 
lican  Convention, 
without  going  fur 
ther,  condemned, 
impliedly.  Grant's 
foreign  policy.  Finally  a  call  was  issued  from  Missouri  for 
a  National  Convention,  to  be  held  at  Cincinnati  on  May  i, 
1872,  in  opposition  to  Grant  and  his  administration. 

In  impotent  wrath  and  bitterness  proportioned  to  the 
apparent  prosperity  of  the  Republicans,  stood  the  Democracy. 
The  more  strenuous  its  opposition  to  a  "  godly  thorough 
reformation "  of  unrepentant  rebels,  the  more  determinedly 
had  the  people  rebuked  it  at  the  polls.  Hardly  more  inclined 
were  the  people  to  follow  it  upon  the  great  question  of  the 
public  debt,  where  the  party  demanded  that  the  five-twenties 
should  be  redeemed  in  greenbacks — "  the  same  money  for  the 
plough-holder  and  the  bond-holder " — and  that  all  national 


FACSIMILE   OF  SIGNATURES  TO  THE   TREATY  OF 

WASHINGTON 
(From  the  original  at  the  State  Department,  Washington) 


2" 


* 

•C* 


THE    "NEW    DEPARTURE" 


A.  E.  Borie,  Navy.  J.  A.  J.  Cresweil,  Postm'r-General.  E.  R.  Hoar,  AtCy-General. 


:  .  ;v:i 


£.  B.  ffashburne,  State.  J.  D.  Cox,  Interior.          *J.  M.  Schofield,  War.  G.  S.  Boutwell,  Treasury^ 

PRESIDENT  GRANTS  FIRST  CABINET 

bonds  or  the  interest  thereon  should  be  taxed.  Even  in  the 
South  the  leaders  began  to  see  that  the  true  policy  of  "The 
Reform  Party" — the  Democracy's  nom  de  guerre ',  was  that 
voiced  by  the  South  Carolina  Convention  of  1870,  which  pro 
posed  to  "accept  the  results  of  the  war  as  settled  facts"  and 
make  the  best  of  them,  striking  out  for  new  issues.  This  was 
the  key-note  of  the  "New  Departure"  led  by  Clement  L. 
Vallandigham,  of  Ohio.  Vallandigham  had  been  the  most 
extreme  "  copperhead  "  in  all  the  North.  By  his  outspoken 
ness  in  defence  of  the  Confederacy  during  the  war  he  had  got 
himself  imprisoned  and  banished  to  the  South.  It  was  signifi 
cant,  therefore,  when,  in  his  last  public  utterance — he  acci 
dentally  shot  himself  a  month  later — his  voice  once  more 
joined  that  of  South  Carolina,  this  time  in  accepting  "the 
results  of  the  war,  including  the  three  several 'amendments 
de  facto^  as  a  settlement  in  fact  of  all  the  issues  of  the  war." 

*Schofield    held    the    office    for    several    months    after    President    Grant's    inauguration. 
The  latter  then  appointed  John  A.  Rawlins. 

35 


THE  UNITED  STATES  IN  OUR  OWN  TIME 


Chief  Justice  Chase  wrote  Vallandigham,  praising  his  action  as 
a  "  great  service  to  the  country  and  the  party/'  and  "  as  the 
restoration  of  the  Democratic  Party  to  its  ancient  platform  of 
progress  and  reform."  John  Quincy  Adams,  Democratic  can 
didate  for  Governor  of  Massachusetts,  like  Vallandigham,  pro 
posed  a  hearty  acquiescence  in  what  was  past,  and  "  deplored 
the  halting  and  hesitating  step  with  which  the  Democracy  was 
sneaking  up  to  its  inevitable  position."  "  The  South,"  he 
continued,  "  is  galled  to-day  not  by  the  presence  of  the  Fif 
teenth  Amendment,  but  by  the  utter  absence  of  the  Constitu 
tion  itself.  Is  it  not  silly  then  to  squabble  about  an  amend 
ment  which  would  cease  to  be  obnoxious  if  it  was  not 
detached  from  its  context  ?  " 

The  method  of  reconstruction  resorted  to  by  Congress 
occasioned  dreadful  evils.  It  ignored  the  natural  prejudices  of 
the  whites,  many  of  whom  were  as  loyal  as  any  citizens  in  the 
land.  To  most  people  in  that  section,  as  well  as  to  very 
many  at  the  North,  this  dictation  by  Congress  to  acknowledged 
States  in  time  of  peace  seemed  high-handed  usurpation.  If 
Congress  can  do  this,  it  was  said,  any  State  can  be  forced  to 
change  its  constitution  on  account  of  any  act  which  Congress 
dislikes.  This  did  not  necessarily 
follow,  as  reconstruction  invariably 
presupposed  an  abnormal  condi 
tion,  viz.,  the  State's  emersion  from 
a  rebellion  which  had  involved  the 
State  government,  whose  over 
throw,  with  the  rebellion,  neces 
sitated  congressional  interference. 
Yet  the  inference  was  natural  and 
widely  drawn. 

<c  Congress  was  wrong  in  the  ex 
clusion    from    suffrage    of  certain 

pluQQPQ    nf  rifivPnQ      anH     nfallnnaKIp 
CldbSCb    01    LlUZ,CIlb,   dllU    Ul    d.11   UndDie 

i  Ml  * 

to  take   a  prescribed  retrospective 

36 


*LEXJ*DE*  r. 

(Mr.  Stewart  always  refused  to  sit  for  a 
portrait.  The  accompanying  illustration 
isfrom  a  painting,  made  after  his  death, 
h  Thomas  Le  Clear,  and  now  at  St. 

?««/•/  school,  Garden  cny,  L0ng  island) 


ERRORS  COMMITTED  IN  RECONSTRUCTION 

oath,  and  wrong  also  in  the  establishment 
of  arbitrary  military  governments  for  the 
States,  and  in  authorizing  military  commis 
sions  for  the  trial  of  civilians  in  time  of 
peace.  There  should  have  been  as  little 
military  government  as  possible  ;  no  military 
commissions,  no  classes  excluded  from  suf 
frage,  and  no  oath  except  one  of  faithful  obe 
dience  and  support  to  the  Constitution  and 
laws'  and  sincere  attachment  to  the  Consti 
tutional  Government  of  the  United  States. ":i 
"  It  is  a  question  of  grave  doubt  whether  the  Fifteenth 
Amendment,  though  right  in  principle,  was  wise  or  expedient. 
The  declared  object  was  to  secure  impartial  suffrage  to  the 
negro  race.  The  practical  result  has  been  that  the  wise  pro 
visions  of  the  Fourteenth  Amendment  have  been  modified  by 
the  Fifteenth  Amendment.  The  latter  amendment  has  been 
practically  nullified  by  the  action  of  most  of  the  States  where 
the  great  body  of  this  race  live  and  will  probably  always 
remain.  This  is  done  not  by  an  express  denial  to  them  of 
the  right  of  suffrage,  but  by  ingenious  provisions,  which 
exclude  them  on  the  alleged  ground  of  ignorance,  while  per 
mitting  all  of  the  white  race,  however  ignorant,  to  vote  at  all 
elections.  No  way  is  pointed  out  by  which  Congress  can 
enforce  this  amendment.  If  the  principle  of  the  Fourteenth 
Amendment  had  remained  in  full  force,  Congress  could  have 
reduced  the  representation  of  any  State,  in  the  proportion 
which  the  number  of  the  male  inhabitants  of  such  State,  denied 
the  right  of  suffrage,  might  bear  to  the  whole  number  of  male 
citizens  twenty-one  years  of  age,  in  such  State.  This  simple 
remedy,  easily  enforced  by  Congress,  would  have  secured  the 
right  of  all  persons,  without  distinction  of  race  or  color,  to 
vote  at  all  elections.  The  reduction  of  the  representation 
would  have  deterred  every  State  from  excluding  the  vote  of  any 

*  Salmon  P.  Chase,  Letter  to  Democratic  National  Committee  in  1873. 
37 


THE  UNITED  STATES  IN  OUR  OWN  TIME 

portion  of  the  male  population  above  twenty-one  years  of  age. 
As  the  result  of  the  Fifteenth  Amendment,  the  political  power 
of  the  States  lately  in  rebellion  has  been  increased,  while  the 
population  conferring  this  increase  is  practically  denied  all 
political  power.  I  see  no  remedy  for  this  wrong  except  the 
growing  intelligence  of  the  negro  race."* 

If  the  South  was  to  become  again  genuine  part  and  par 
cel  of  this  Union,  it  would  not,  nor  would  the  North  consent 
that  it  should,  remain  permanently  under  military  government. 
Black  legislatures  abused  their  power,  becoming  instruments 
of  carpet-bag  leaders  and  rings  in  robbing  white  property- 
holders.  Only  doctrinaires  or  the  stupid  could  have  expected 
that  the  whites  would  long  submit.  So  soon  as  federal  bayo 
nets  were  gone,  fair  means  or  foul  were  certain  to  remove 
the  sceptre  from  colored  hands.  Precisely  this  happened. 
Without  the  slightest  formal  change  of  constitution  or  of 
statute  the  Southern  States  one  by  one  passed  into  the  control 
of  their  white  inhabitants. 

Where  white  men's  aims  could  not  be  realized  by  per 
suasion  or  other  mild  means,  resort  was  had  to  intimidation 
and  force.  The  chief  instrumentality  at  first  used  for  keeping 
colored  voters  from  the  polls  was  the  Ku-Klux  Klan,  a  secret 
society  organized  in  Tennessee  in  1866.  It  sprung  from  the 
old  night  patrol  of  slavery  times.  Then,  every  Southern 
gentleman  used  to  serve  on  this  patrol,  whose  duty  it  was  to 
whip  severely  every  negro  found  absent  from  home  without 
a  pass  from  his  master.  Its  first  post  bellum  work  was  not  ill- 
meant,  and  its  severities  came  on  gradually.  Its  greatest 
activity  was  in  Tennessee,  Arkansas,  and  Mississippi,  where  its 
awful  mysteries  and  gruesome  rites  spread  utter  panic  among 
the  superstitious  blacks.  Men  visited  negroes'  huts  and 
"  mummicked  "  about,  at  first  with  sham  magic,  not  with  arms 
at  all.  One  would  carry  a  flesh  bag  in  the  shape  of  a  heart  and 
go  around  "  hollering  for  fried  nigger  meat."  Another  would 

*John  Sherman,  Recollections. 

33 


THE  KU-KLUX  KLAN 

put  on  an  India-rubber  stomach  to  startle  the  negroes  by 
swallowing  pailfuls  of  water.  Another  represented  that  he 
had  been  killed  at  Manassas,  since  which  time  "  some  one 
had  built  a  turnpike  over  his  grave  and  he  had  to  scratch  like 
h — 1  to  get  up  through  the  gravel."  The  lodges  were  "  dens," 
the  members  "  ghouls."  "  Giants/  "  goblins,"  "  titans," 
"  furies,"  "  dragons,"  and  "  hydras"  were  names  of  different 
classes  among  the  officers. 

Usually  the  mere  existence  of  a  "  den "  anywhere  was 
sufficient  to  render  docile  every  negro  in  the  vicinity.  If 
more  was  required,  a  half-dozen  "  ghouls,"  making  their  noc^ 
turnal  rounds  in  their  hideous  masks  and  long  white  gowns, 
frightened  all  but  the  most  hardy.  Any  who  showed  fight 
were  whipped,  maimed,  or  killed,  treatment  which  was  ex 
tended  on  occasion  to  their  "  carpet-bag  "  and  "  scalawag " 
friends — these  titles  denoting  respectively  Northern  and  South 
ern  men  who  took  the  negroes'  side.  The  very  violence  of 
the  order,  which  it  at  last  turned  against  the  old  Southrons 
themselves,  brought  it  into  disrepute  with  its  original  instiga 
tors,  who  were  not  sorry  when  Federal  marshals,  put  up  to  it 
by  President  Grant,  hunted  den  after  den  of  the  law-breakers 
to  the  death. 

In  1870  and  1871,  by  the  so-called  Force  Bills,  Federal 
judges  were  given  cognizance  of  suits  against  anyone  for 
depriving  another  of  rights,  privileges,  or  immunities  under 
the  Constitution.  Fine  and  imprisonment  were  made  the 
penalties  for  "  conspiracy "  against  the  United  States  or  the 
execution  of  its  laws,  as  by  forcibly  or  through  intimidation 
preventing  men  from  voting.  The  army  and  navy  were  placed 
at  the  service  of  the  President  to  enforce  the  act,  and  Federal 
judges  might  exclude  suspected  persons  from  sitting  on  juries. 
By  this  drastic  measure  and  its  rigorous  execution  in  nine 
counties  of  South  Carolina  the  organization  was  by  1 873 
driven  out  of  existence.  But  some  of  its  methods  survived. 
In  1875  several  States  adopted  and  successfully  worked  the 

39 


THE  UNITED  STATES  IN  OUR  OWN  TIME 

"  Mississippi  plan,"  which  was,  by  whatever  necessary  means, 
to  nullify  black  votes  until  white  majorities  were  assured.  Less 
violent  than  the  Ku-Klux  way,  this  new  one  was  equally  thor 
ough. 

Considering  the  stupendous  upheaval  in  Southern  society 
marked  by  the  erection  of  bondmen  into  full  citizens,  dark 
days  were  few.  Schools  arose.  The  ballot  itself  proved  an 
educator,  rough  but  thorough.  The  negro  vote,  become  a 
fixed  fact,  was  courted  by  the  jarring  factions  of  whites,  and 
hence  to  some  extent  protected.  Meanwhile  it  was  plainly  to 
the  negro's  advantage  that  he  was  fighting,  not  to  acquire 
status  and  rights,  but  for  status  and  rights  guaranteed  in  the 
organic  law  of  his  State. 

It  yet  remained  to  restore  the  disfranchised  whites  and  to 
remove  the  political  disabilities  imposed  by  the  Fourteenth 
Amendment.  Except  in  the  case  of  a  few  leaders,  the  disa 
bilities  were  annulled  by  the  Act  of  Amnesty  passed  May  22, 
1872.  At  about  the  same  time  general  re-enfranchisement  was 
accomplished  by  State  legislation,  Liberal-Republicans  joining 
with  those  Democrats,  specially  numerous  in  Missouri  and 
West  Virginia,  who  already  enjoyed  the  right  of  suffrage. 

By  March,  1866,  the  price  of  gold  in  paper  money  had 
fallen  from  war  figures  to  130^.  There  was  much  illegiti 
mate  speculation  in  the  metal,  dealing  in  "  phantom  gold  " 
mere  betting,  that  is,  on  gold  fluctuations.  Prominent  among 
the  operators  was  the  firm  of  Smith,  Gould,  Martin  &  Co. 
The  mind  of  the  firm  was  Jay  Gould,  a  dark  little  man,  with 
cold,  glittering  eyes.  Closely  associated  with  him  was  James 
Fisk,  a  vulgar  and  unprincipled  yet  shrewd  and  bold  man  of 
business.  During  the  spring  of  1869  Gould  bought  $7,000,- 
ooo  or  $8,000,000  in  gold,  immediately  loaning  it  again  on 
demand  notes.  There  being  not  over  $20,000,000  gold 
available  outside  the  Treasury,  the  business  community,  in 
case  of  any  call  for  gold,  was  at  his  mercy,  unless  the  Treasury 
should  sell.  This  must  be  prevented. 


40 


Drawn  by  B.  West  Clinedimt 
FISK  AND  GOULD'S  GRAND   OPERA  HOUSE  IN  A  STATE   OF  SIEGE 


GRANT  AND  THE  NATION'S  FINANCES 

In  June,  1869,  President  Grant,  on  a  trip  from  New 
York  to  Boston,  accepted  a  place  in  a  private  box  of  the 
theatre  which  Fisk  owned,  and  next  day  took,  at  the  invita 
tion  of  Fisk  and  Gould,  one  of  their  magnificent  steamers  to 
Fall  River.  After  a  handsome  supper  the  hosts  skillfully 
turned  the  conversation  to  the  financial  situation.  Grant  re 
marked  that  he  thought  there  was  a  certain  fictitiousness  in  the 
prosperity  of  the  country,  and  that  the  bubble  might  as  well  be 
tapped.  This  suggestion  "struck  across  us,"  said  Mr.  Gould, 
later,  "  like  a  wet  blanket."  Another  wire  must  be  pulled. 

Facts  and  figures  were  now  heaped  together  and  pub 
lished  to  prove  that,  should  gold  rise  in  this  country  about 
harvest  time,  grain,  the  price  of  which,  being  fixed  in  Liver 
pool,  was  independent  of  currency  fluctuations,  would  be  worth 
so  much  the  more  and  would  at  once  be  hurried  abroad ;  but 
that  to  secure  this  blessing  Government  must  not  sell  any 
gold.  Gould  laid  still  other  pipes.  Fisk  visited  the  presiden 
tial  sphinx  at  Newport ;  others  saw  him  at  Washington.  At 
New  York  Gould  buttonholed  him  so  assiduously  that  he  was 
obliged  to  open  his  lips  to  rebuke  his  servant  for  giving  Gould 
such  ready  access  to  him. 

The  President  seems  to  have  been  persuaded  that  a  rise 
in  gold  while  the  crops  were  moving  would  advantage  the 
country.  At  any  rate,  orders  were  given  early  in  September 
to  sell  only  gold  sufficient  to  buy  bonds  for  the  sinking  fund. 
The  conspirators  redoubled  their  purchases.  The  price  of 
gold  rose  till,  two  days  before  Black  Friday,  it  stood  at  140^/2  • 

Though  he  kept  it  to  himself  Gould  was  in  terror  lest  the 
Treasury  floodgates  should  be  opened  to  prevent  a  panic. 
Business  was  palsied,  and  the  bears  were  importuning  the  Gov 
ernment  to  sell.  At  his  wits'  end  he  wrote  Secretary  Bout- 
well  : 

"  SIR  :  There  is  a  panic  in  Wall  Street,  engineered  by  a 
bear  combination.  They  have  withdrawn  currency  to  such  an 
-extent  that  it  is  impossible  to  do  ordinary  business.  The  Erie 

43 


THE  UNITED  STATES  IN  OUR  OWN  TIME 

Company  requires  eight  hundred  thousand  dollars  to  disburse 
.  .  .  much  of  it  in  Ohio,  where  an  exciting  political  contest 
is  going  on,  and  where  we  have  about  ten  thousand  men 
employed,  and  the  trouble  is  charged  on  the  administration. 
.  .  .  Cannot  you,  consistently,  increase  your  line  of  currency?" 

Gould,  like  Major  Bagstock,  was  "  devilish  sly,  sir."  In 
his  desperation  he  determined  to  turn  "  bear  "  and,  if  neces 
sary  rend  in  pieces  Fisk  himself.  Saying  nothing  of  his  fears, 
he  encouraged  Fisk  boldly  to  keep  on  buying,  while  he  him 
self  secretly  began  to  sell.  Fisk  fell  into  the  trap,  and  his 
partner,  taking  care  in  his  sales  to  steer  clear  of  Fisk's  brokers, 
proceeded  secretly  and  swiftly  to  unload  his  gold  and  fulfil  all 
his  contracts.  From  this  moment  they  acted  each  by  and  for 
himself,  Gould  operating  through  his  firm  and  Fisk  through 
an  old  partner  of  his  named  Belden. 

On  Thursday,  September  2jd,  while  his  broker,  Speyers, 
is  buying,  Fisk  coolly  walks  into  the  Gold  Room  and,  amid 
the  wildest  excitement,  offers  to  bet  any  part  of  $50,000  that 
gold  will  rise  to  200.  Not  a  man  dares  take  his  bet. 

On  Black  Friday  the  Gold  Room  is  crowded  two  hours 
before  the  time  of  business.  In  the  centre  excited  brokers  are 
betting,  swearing,  and  quarreling,  many  of  them  pallid  with 
fear  of  ruin,  others  hilarious  in  expectation  of  big  commissions. 
In  a  back  office  across  from  the  Gold  Room,  Fisk,  in  shirt 
sleeves,  struts  up  and  down,  declaring  himself  the  Napoleon  of 
the  street.  At  this  time  the  Ring  was  believed  to  hold  in  gold 
and  in  contracts  to  deliver  the  same,  over  Si 00,000,000. 

Speyers,  whom  all  suppose  to  represent  Gould  as  well  as 
Fisk,  begins  by  offering  145,  then  146,  147,  148,  149,  but 
none  will  sell.  "Put  it  up  to  150,"  Fisk  orders,  and  gold 
rises  to  that  figure.  At  1 50  a  half  million  is  sold  him  by  Mr. 
James  Brown,  who  had  quietly  organized  a  band  of  merchants 
to  meet  the  gamblers  on  their  own  ground.  From  all  over 
the  country  the  "  shorts "  are  telegraphing  orders  to  buy. 
Speyers  is  informed  that  if  he  continues  to  put  up  gold  he 

44 


GOULD    AND    FISK 

will  be  shot;  but  he  goes  on  offering  151, 
152,  153,154.  Still  none  will  sell.  Mean 
time  the  victims  of  the  corner  are  sum 
moned  to  pay  in  cash  the  difference  between 
135,  at  which  the  gold  was  borrowed,  and 
150,  at  which  the  firm  is  willing  to  settle. 
Fearing  lest  gold  go  to  200,  many  settle  at 
148.  At  155,  amid  the  tremendous  roar 
of  the  bull  brokers  bidding  higher  and  OLIVER  p.  MORTON 
higher,  Brown  again  sells  half  a  million. 

o        J  o 

"  1 60  for  any  part  of  five  millions."  Brown  sells  a  million  more. 
"  161  for  five  millions."  No  bid.  "  162  for  five  millions." 
At  first  no  response.  Again,  "162  for  any  part  of  five  mil 
lions."  A  voice  is  heard,  "  Sold  one  million  at  162."  "  163^ 
for  five  millions."  "Sold  five  millions  at  163^."  Crash! 
The  market  has  been  broken,  and  by  Gould's  sales.  Every 
body  now  begins  to  sell,  when  the  news  comes  that  the  Gov 
ernment  has  telegraphed  to  sell  four  millions.  Gold  instantly 
falls  to  140,  then  to  133.  "  Somebody,"  cried  Fisk,  "  has  run 
a  saw  right  into  us.  We  are  forty  miles  down  the  Delaware 
and  don't  know  where  we  are.  Our  phantom  gold  can't 
stand  the  weight  of  the  real  stuff." 

Gould  has  no  mind  permanently  to  ruin  his  partner.  He 
coolly  suggests  that  Fisk  has  only  to  repudiate  his  contracts, 
and  Fisk  complies.  His  offers  to  buy  gold  he  declares  "  off," 
making  good  only  a  single  one  of  them,  as  to  which  he  was  so 
placed  that  he  had  no  option.  What  was  due  him,  on  the 
other  hand,  he  collected  to  the  uttermost  dollar.  To  prevent 
being  mobbed  the  pair  encircled  their  opera-house  with  armed 
toughs  and  fled  thither.  There  no  civil  process  or  other 
molestation  was  likely  to  reach  them.  Presently  certain  of 
"  the  thieves'  judges,"  as  they  were  called,  came  to  their  relief 
by  issuing  injunctions  estopping  all  transactions  connected 
with  the  conspiracy  which  would  have  been  disadvantageous 
for  the  conspirators. 

45 


THE  UNITED  STATES  IN  OUR  OWN  TIME 

Far  the  strongest  side  of  Grant's  Administration  was  the 
State  Department,  headed  by  the  clever  diplomat,  Hamilton 
Fish,  one  of  the  most  successful  Secretaries  of  State  who  ever 
served  our  country.  Here  distinguished  ability  and  abso 
lute  integrity  reigned  and  few  mistakes  were  made.  Were 
there  no  other  testimony,  the  Treaty  of  Washington  would 
sufficiently  attest  Mr.  Fish's  mastery  of  his  office.  Ever  since 
1863  we  had  been  seeking  satisfaction  from  Great  Britain  for 
the  depredations  committed  during  the  war  by  Confederate 
cruisers  sailing  from  British  ports.  Negotiations  were  broken 
off  in  1865  and  again  in  1868.  In  1869  Reverdy  Johnson, 
then  our  Minister  to  England,  negotiated  a  treaty,  but  the 
Senate  rejected  it.  In  January,  1871,  the  British  Govern 
ment  having  proposed  a  joint  commission  for  the  settlement 
of  questions  connected  with  the  Canadian  fisheries,  Mr.  Fish 
replied  that  the  adjudication  of  the  "Alabama  Claims  "  would 
have  to  be  first  considered,  "  as  an  essential  to  the  restoration 
of  cordial  and  amicable  relations  between  the  two  govern 
ments."  England  consented  to  submit  this  question  also  to  the 
commission,  and  on  February  2yth  the  High  Commissioners 
met  at  Washington.  The  British  delegation  included,  besides 
several  noblemen,  Sir  E.  Thornton  the  Queen's  Minister  at 
Washington,  Sir  John  Macdonald,  of  Canada,  and  Mountague 
Bernard,  Professor  of  International  Law  at  Oxford.  The  Ameri 
can  commissioners  were  the  Secretary  of  State  himself,  Justice 
Nelson  of  the  Supreme  Court,  Robert  C.  Schenck  our  Minister 
to  England,  E.  Rockwood  Hoar  late  United  States  Attorney- 
General,  and  George  H.  Williams,  Senator  from  Oregon. 

On  May  8th  the  commission  completed  a  treaty,  which 
was  speedily  ratified  by  both  Governments.  It  provided  for 
arbitration  upon  the  "Alabama  Claims,"  upon  other  claims  by 
citizens  of  either  country  against  the  other  for  damages  during 
the  Rebellion,  upon  the  fisheries,  and  upon  the  northwest 
boundary  of  the  United  States.  The  principal  settlements, 
happily  arrived  at  in  this  way  will  be  described  later. 

46 


RELATIONS    WITH    CUBA 

In  1868  the  "Junta  of  Laborers"  in  Cuba  inaugurated  a 
rebellion  against  the  mother  country.  By  1870  most  South 
American  States  had  recognized  them  as  belligerents,  and  they 
were  eager  that  the  United  States  should  do  the  same.  The 
sympathies  of  our  people  and  Government  were  with  them. 
In  the  summer  of  1869  Secretary  Fish,  directed  by  the  Presi 
dent,  had  prepared  and  signed  a  proclamation  according  to 
the  insurgents  the  rights  of  belligerents,  but  owing  to  the 
Secretary's  firm  unwillingness  this  document  was  never  issued. 
In  July,  1870,  the  President  changed  his  mind,  heartily  thank 
ing  Mr.  Fish  for  restraining  him  from  issuing  the  belligerency 
message.  The  good  offices  of  the  United  States  were,  how 
ever,  tendered,  with  the  view  of  inducing  Spain  to  recognize 
Cuba's  independence,  preventing  further  bloodshed  ;  but  the 
overtures  were  declined. 

Spain's  barbarous  method  of  warring  excited  horror. 
The  Spanish  Captain-General  in  Cuba  freely  sequestrated 
property,  to  whomsoever  belonging,  ordered  shot  every  male 
over  fifteen  years  of  age  found  outside  his  premises  without 
good  excuse,  burned  every  uninhabited  hut  and  every  hamlet 
not  flying  a  white  flag.  Such  procedure  called  forth  our  re 
monstrance,  which,  in  conjunction  with  the  known  sympathy 
of  Americans  for  the  rebels,  greatly  irritated  Spain.  Our  lega 
tion  house  at  Madrid  was  threatened,  our  vessels  in  one  or 
two  instances  brought  to  by  Spanish  meh-of-war,  and  a  num 
ber  of  our  citizens  in  Cuba  and  on  the  high  seas  maltreated  or 
killed.  Two  American  citizens,  Speakman  and  Wyeth,  em 
barked  by  mistake  in  a  vessel  carrying  an  insurrectionary  force 
destined  for  Cuba.  They  gave  themselves  up,  but  were  bru 
tally  murdered  after  the  merest  form  of  a  trial.  This  was 
exasperating  enough;  but  when,  on  October  31,  1873,  the 
yirginiuSy  belonging  to  an  American  citizen,  was  captured  on 
the  high  seas  off  Jamaica  by  the  Spanish  man-of-war  fornado, 
the  American  flag  hauled  down,  and  ^Captain  Fry,  with  fifty- 
six  of  his  ship's  company — nine  of  them  American  citizens— 

47 


THE   UNITED  STATES  IN  OUR  OWN  TIME 

shot,  for  some  weeks  hostilities  seemed  actually  imminent. 
The  Virginius  s  errand  was  in  spirit  illegal,  perhaps  literally 
so.  Many  revolutionists  were  on  board,  also  2,000  Remington 
rifles,  a  mitrailleuse,  and  a  large  supply  of  ammunition  and 
provisions  for  the  insurgents.  According  to  the  best  authori 
ties  Spain  was  quite  justified  in  seizing  the  vessel,  though 
Attorney-General  Hoar  denied  this,  but  not  in  putting  to  death 
those  on  board  with  no  trial  but  a  drumhead  court-martial. 

When  the  news  of  the  outrage  reached  this  country  innu 
merable  indignation  meetings  were  held.  President  Grant 
convoked  his  Cabinet  to  deliberate  upon  the  case,  and  the 
navy  yards  were  set  working  night  and  day.  The  Spanish 
Minister  of  State  at  first  haughtily  rejected  our  protest,  saying 
that  Spain  would  decide  the  question  according  to  law  and  her 
dignity.  Madrid  mobs  violently  demonstrated  against  the 
American  minister,  General  Sickles.  November  4th,  Secretary 
Fish  cabled  Sickles:  "In  case  of  refusal  of  satisfactory  repara 
tion  within  twelve  days  from  this  date,  you  will,  at  the  expira 
tion  of  that  time,  close  your  legation  and  will,  together  with 
your  secretary,  leave  Madrid."  On  the  I5th,  hearing  that 
fifty-seven  men  had  been  executed,  he  sent  word  :  "  If  Spain 
cannot  redress  these  outrages  the  United  States  will."  And 
on  November  25  :  "  If  no  accommodation  is  reached  by  the 
close  of  to-morrow,  leave."  Next  day  Spain  became  tractable 
and  Sickles  remained.  War  was  happily  averted.  Spain  re 
leased  the  Virginius  and  all  the  surviving  prisoners.  Having 
been  on  December  i6th  delivered  to  officers  of  our  navy,  the 
ship,  flying  the  Stars  and  Stripes,  proudly  sailed  for  New  York, 
but  foundered  in  an  ocean  storm.  The  prisoners  freed  reached 
New  York  in  safety.  Spain  solemnly  disclaimed  all  thought 
of  indignity  to  our  flag,  and  undertook  to  prosecute  any  of 
her  subjects  guilty,  in  this  affair,  of  violating  our  treaty  rights. 

President  Grant's  negotiations  for  the  annexation  of  the 
turbulent  little  republic  known  as  Santo  Domingo — "  Holy 
Sabbath,"  a  bit  of  unconscious  irony — ended  less  happily. 

48 


•THE   SCENE   IN  THE   NEtf  TORK  GOLD   ROOM  ON  BLACK   FRIDAY,   SEPTEMBER  24, 
Drawn  by  C.  S.  Reinkart  from  photographs  and  descriptions  by  eye-witnesses 


PROPOSED  "ANNEXION"  OF  SANTO  DOMINGO 

The  strategic  situation  of  the  island  is  good,  and  its  aspect  in 
viting — luxurious  and  fertile  valleys  between  grand  ranges  of 
volcanic  mountains.  The  heat  is  tempered  day  and  night  by 
sea-breezes — sometimes  rising  to  hurricanes.  The  rich  mineral 
and  other  resources  of  the  island  were  known  in  1870  but  lit 
tle  exploited.  A  tenth  of  the  people  were  white,  living  mainly 
in  the  sea-board  towns.  The  rest  were  hybrid  descendants  of 
the  man-eating  Caribs  and  of  the  buccaneers  and  warlike  ne 
groes  who  fought  under  Toussaint  L'Ouverture. 

Embarrassed  with  a  rival,  President  Baez  wished  to  turn 
his  domain  over  to  us,  as  a  predecessor  of  his  had  in  like  case 
once  given  it  to  Spain.  He  indicated  his  desire  to  President 
Grant,  who  dispatched  Col.  Babcock,  his  assistant  private  Sec 
retary,  to  report  upon  the  country,  its  people,  its  harbors,  etc. 
No  member  of  the  Cabinet  favored  the  mission,  yet  none  offi 
cially  objected.  The  State  Department  had  nothing  to  do 
with  arranging  it.  New  York  merchants  trading  to  San  Do 
mingo  offered  Babcock  passage  thither,  showing  that  his  pro 
posed  mission  was  known,  and  he  would  have  accepted  their 
offered  favor  but  for  Secretary  Fish's  protest.  Transportation 
for  him  by  the  navy  was  then  ordered,  and  it  was  found  that 
he  was  to  be  accompanied  by  Senator  Cole,  of  California,  and 
an  officer  from  the  Inspector-General's  department  who  spoke 
Spanish.  "As  the  members  of  the  Cabinet  were  carefully  dis 
creet  in  their  reticence,  the  increase  of  the  party  and  of  the 
apparent  importance  of  the  mission  caused  a  certain  uneasi 
ness,  especially  as  rumors  began  to  fly  about  that  business 
speculations  were  involved,  and  that  the  official  character  of 
the  affair  was  much  less  than  its  real  significance.  The  mem 
bers  of  the  Government  felt  loyally  bound  to  suppress  their 
own  doubts,  and  to  attribute  to  the  excitability  of  the  quid 
nuncs  the  rumors  of  important  purposes  connected  with  Bab- 
cock's  voyage."* 

*  This  and  the  next  following  quotations  are  from  J.  D.  Cox's  interesting  article,  already 
cited  in  this  chapter. 

5* 


THE  UNITED  STATES  IN  OUR  OWN  TIME 

Babcock  returned  bearing  a  draft  of  a  treaty  containing 
an  agreement  to  cede  Santo  Domingo  to  the  United  States 
out-and-out  for  something  over  a  million  dollars,  or  to  accept 
our  protectorate  over  it  at  the  same  time  giving  us  a  fifty-year 
lease  of  the  important  bay  and  harbor  of  Samana.  President 
Grant  had  become  intensely  anxious  to  acquire  this  realm.  It 
would  afford  us  a  coaling  and  naval  station  and  a  commercial 
entrepot,  enrich  the  United  States  and  extend  its  power,  and 
open  a  region  which  the  American  negro  could  colonize  and 
manage.  At  the  first  Cabinet  meeting  after  his  arrival  in 
Washington  Babcock  appeared,  showing  each  member  as 
he  arrived  "  specimens  of  the  ores  and  products  of  the  island 
and  descanting  upon  its  extraordinary  value.  He  met  a  rather 
chilling  reception,  and  soon  left  the  room.  It  had  been  the 
President's  habit  at  such  meetings  to  call  upon  the  members 
of  the  Cabinet  to  bring  forward  the  business  contained  in 
their  portfolios,  beginning  with  the  Secretary  of  State.  This 
would  at  once  have  brought  the  action  of  Babcock  up  by  Mr. 
Fish's  disclaimer  of  all  part  in  the  matter,  and  his  statement  of 
its  utter  illegality.  On  this  occasion,  however,  General  Grant 
departed  from  his  uniform  custom,  and  took  the  initiative. 
(  Babcock  has  returned,  as  you  see,'  said  he,  '  and  has  brought 
a  treaty  of  annexation.  I  suppose  it  is  not  formal,  as  he  had 
no  diplomatic  powers  ;  but  we  can  easily  cure  that.  We  can 
send  back  the  treaty  and  have  Perry,  the  consular  agent, 
sign  it ;  and,  as  he  is  an  officer  of  the  State  Department,  it 
would  make  it  all  right.'  ' 

"  But,  Mr.  President,"  said  Mr.  Secretary  Cox,  "  has  it 
been  settled,  then,  that  we  want  to  annex  San  Domingo  ?  " 

General  Grant  "  colored,  and  smoked  hard  at  his  cigar. 
He  glanced  at  Mr.  Fish  on  his  right,  but  the  face  of  the  Sec 
retary  was  impassive,  and  his  eyes  were  fixed  on  the  portfolio 
before  him.  He  turned  to  Mr.  Boutwell  on  his  left,  but 
no  response  met  him  there.  As  the  silence  became  painful, 
the  President  called  for  another  item  of  business,  and  left  the 


SUMNER  AND  THE  ADMINISTRATION 


CLEMENT  L.    I' ALLAN- 
DIG  HAM 

(After  a.  photograph  in  the  col 
lection  of  James  E.  Taylor) 


question  unanswered.  The  subject  was 
never  again  brought  up  before  the  assem 
bled  Cabinet." 

The  treaty  was  put  into  form,  signed 
on  November  29,  1869,  and  sent  to  the 
Senate  the  following  month.  Violent  op 
position  to  it  was  at  once  manifest,  of 
which  Mr.  Sumner  was  the  soul.  Sumner 
was  Chairman  of  the  Senate  Committee 
on  Foreign  Relations,  and  in  whatever 
related  to  this  committee's  work  was  in 
clined  to  domineer.  He  had  not  agreed 
with  Secretary  Fish  or  the  President  respecting  the  ground 
of  our  war  complaint  against  England.  "  Sumner  insisted 
that  the  hasty  proclamation  by  Great  Britain  of  neutrality 
between  the  United  States  and  the  Southern  Confederacy 
was  the  gravamen  of  the  Alabama  claims.  The  President 
and  Mr.  Fish  contended  that  this  proclamation  was  an  act  of 
which  we  could  not  complain,  except  as  an  indication  of  an 
unfriendly  spirit  by  Great  Britain,  and  that  the  true  basis  of 
the  Alabama  claims  was  that  Great  Britain,  after  proclaiming 
neutrality,  did  not  enforce  it,  but  allowed  her  subjects  to  build 
cruisers,  and  man,  arm  and  use  them,  under  cover  of  the  rebel 
flag,  to  the  destruction  of  our  commercial  navy." 

The  President,  Sumner  now  said,  had  violated  our  Con 
stitution  in  negotiating  the  San  Domingo  treaty  as  he  did  ;  he 
was  also  conniving  at  an  infringement  of  the  Dominican  consti 
tution,  which  forbade  alienating  any  part  of  that  land  ;  and 
was  traversing  international  law  by  a  menace  to  the  indepen 
dence  of  Hayti.  San  Domingo,  he  alleged,  with  its  undesir 
able  population,  was  in  continual  turmoil,  had  cost  Spain  more 
blood  and  treasure  than  it  was  worth,  and  been  lost  to  her 
after  all.  Baez  he  denounced  as  a  "  political  jockey,"  and  he 
declared  that  adventurers  were  abusing  the  President's  confi 
dence,  as  it  was  beginning  to  be  suspected  they  had  done  in 

53 


THE  UNITED  STATES  IN  OUR  OWN  TIME 

regard  to  "  Black  Friday  "  the  September  previous.  Writing 
to  Garrison  December  29,  1870,  and  referring  to  his  speech 
on  the  "  annexion  "  of  San  Domingo,  Sumner  said  that  the 
Haytian  Minister  had  previously  visited  him,  "  full  of  emo 
tion  at  the  message  of  the  President  as  c  trampling  his  country 
under  foot.'  ' 

President  Grant  did  his  utmost  to  secure  ratification  for 
the  treaty.  Having  expired  by  limitation  on  May  2ist,  it 
was  renewed  and  sent  to  the  Senate  again  on  the  Jist. 
Direct  application  to  Senators  in  this  interest  was  made  on 
the  President's  behalf,  a  course  generally  felt  to  be  very  objec 
tionable.  Republican  politicians  became  divided  touching 
annexation,  and  the  utmost  bitterness  of  feeling  prevailed. 
Secretary  Fish's  position  pending  this  business  was  extremely 
embarrassing.  An  intimate  friend  of  Mr.  Sumner,  he  was  ac 
customed  freely  to  discuss  with  him  all  diplomatic  affairs.  "He 
had  honestly  treated  the  talk  of  Dominican  annexation  as  mere 
gossip,  without  solid  foundation,  and  now  he  suddenly  found 
his  sincerity  in  question,  under  circumstances  which  forbade 
him  to  say  how  gravely  the  State  Department  had  been  com 
promised."  Twice  during  the  episode  he  offered  his  resigna 
tion,  but  the  President's  earnest  entreaty,  backed  by  that  of 
leaders  anxious  to  avoid  a  breach  in  the  party,  each  time  in 
duced  him  not  to  insist  on  its  acceptance.  "  But  the  progress 
of  the  San  Domingo  business  put  Mr.  Fish  in  a  false  position, 
apparently,  and  having  yielded  to  the  President's  urgency  that 
he  should  remain  in  the  Cabinet  he  could  not,  at  the  moment, 
explain  fully  to  Mr.  Sumner  the  seeming  changes  of  his  atti 
tude.  It  is  in  the  nature  of  such  differences  to  grow  larger, 
and  in  the  following  winter  they  led  to  an  open  rupture  be 
tween  the  old  friends." 

The  President's  campaign  to  secure  annexation  involved 
bargaining  for  the  votes  of  certain  "  carpet-bag "  Senators. 
"  He  was  told  that  they  desired  to  please  him  and  to  support 
his  plans,  but,  considering  Mr.  Sumner's  controlling  influence 

54 


SUMNER  AND  THE  ADMINISTRATION 

with  their  colored  constituents,  it  would  be  at  no  small  politi 
cal  peril  to  themselves  if  they  opposed  that  Senator  on  the 
San  Domingo  question.  .  .  In  matters  of  patronage  .  .  .  they 
found  themselves  less  influential  than  they  had  a  right  to 
expect.  Reciprocity  was  necessary  if  the  President  required  their 
aid.  When  asked  in  what  departments  they  found  a  lack  of 
consideration,  the  Attorney-General's  was  named,  and  it  was 
strongly  urged  that  Judge  Hoar  should  be  displaced  by  a  South 
ern  man  acceptable  to  them."  Attorney-General  Hoar  was 
nominated  to  the  Supreme  Court  presumably  to  answer  this 
Southern  demand.  The  Senate  refused  to  confirm  his  appoint 
ment,  and  Mr.  Hoar  had  to  be  gotten  rid  of  in  some  other 
way.  One  morning  in  June,  1870,  he  received  a  letter  from 
the  President  containing  the  "  naked  statement  that  he  found 
himself  under  the  necessity  of  asking  for  Hoar's  resignation. 
No  explanation  of  any  kind  was  given  or  reason  assigned."  In 
an  interview,  subsequently,  the  President  was  frank  enough  to 
connect  this  action  with  "  the  necessity,  to  carry  out  his  pur 
poses,  of  securing  support  in  the  Senate  from  Southern  Repub 
licans,  who  demanded  that  the  Cabinet  place  should  be  filled 
from  the  South."  Amos  T.  Aker£nan,  of  Georgia,  was  im 
mediately  nominated  and  soon  confirmed.  The  final  vote  on  the 
treaty  was  taken  June  joth.  A  considerable  majority  of  the  Sen 
ators  favored  it,  but  not  quite  the  necessary  two-thirds. 

The  treaty  having  been  refused  ratification  the  matter 
died  out  of  mind  ;  but  an  irreparable  rift  between  Grant  and 
Sumner  resulted.  Shortly  after  Sumner's  speech,  above  re 
ferred  to,  Grant  asked  Fred.  Douglass,  who,  friendly  to  Sum 
ner,  yet  agreed  with  Grant :  "  What  do  you  think  of  Sumner 
now  ?  "  "I  believe  that  Sumner  thought  himself  doing  a 
service  to  a  down-trodden  people,  but  that  he  was  mistaken," 
Douglass  replied.  This  answer  not  seeming  to  please  the 
President,  Douglass  asked  what  he  thought  of  Sumner.  After 
some  hesitation  Grant  replied,  with  feeling :  "  I  think  he  is 
mad."  President  Grant  considered  the  failure  of  the  treaty  a 

55 


THE  UNITED  STATES  IN  OUR  OWN  TIME 

national  misfortune,  but  submitted  with  patience,  not  only  to 
the  adverse  action  of  the  Senate,  but  to  the  suspicions  of  friends 
and  to  the  attacks  of  enemies  which  his  San  Domingo  ambi 
tion  had  aroused. 

The  annexationists  had  their  revenge  when  Sumner  lost 
the  chairmanship  of  the  Senate  Committee  on  Foreign  Rela 
tions,  which  he  had  held  so  long  and  prized  so  highly.  John 
Lothrop  Motley's  recall  from  the  British  mission  was  also 
referred  by  nearly  all  to  Senator  Sumner's  course  in  the  Santo 
Domingo  matter.  The  Saturday  Club,  of  Boston,  protested 
against  thus  allowing  the  President's  disagreement  with  Sum 
ner  to  prejudice  Minister  Motley  by  reason  of  their  friend 
ship,  considering  such  treatment  certain  "  to  offend  all  the 
educated  men  of  New  England."  Grant's  only  reply  was  : 
"  I  made  up  my  mind  to  remove  Mr.  Motley  before  there 
was  any  quarrel  with  Mr.  Sumner."  In  his  annual  message 
the  next  December  the  President  proposed  a  commission  to 
visit  San  Domingo  for  additional  information  about  the  island 
and  to  inquire  into  the  charges  of  corruption  which  had  been 
made  against  the  Executive  and  his  agent.  With  his  usual 
intemperance  Sumner  opposed  this  as  committing  Congress  to 
"  a  dance  of  blood ; "  yet  a  bill  to  create  the  commission 
passed  the  Senate  unanimously,  the  House  by  a  majority  of 
123  to  63.  The  commissioners  were  Dr.  Samuel  G.  Howe, 
President  Andrew  D.  White,  and  Hon.  A.  A.  Burton.  Their 
report  was  favorable,  making  it  credible  that  the  President 
might  have  secured  annexation  had  he  attempted  it  in  a  less 
autocratic  way, 


CHAPTER  III 
THE    GREELEY  CAMPAIGN 

THE     RISE     OF     HORACE     GREELEY. THE     TRIBUNE. GREELEY    AND 

GRANT. THE  LIBERAL  REPUBLICAN  MOVEMENT. THE  SPOILS  SYS 
TEM. SHEPHERD  AT  WASHINGTON. SCANDALS  CONNECTED  WITH 

THE    COLLECTION    OF    THE    REVENUES. REVERSAL  OF    HEPBURN    VS. 

GRISVVOLD. GRANT    AND    GREELEY    NOMINATED. MIXED  POLITICS. 

BOTH  CANDIDATES  SEVERELY  CRITICISED. A  CHOICE  OF    EVILS. — 

A  BITTER  CAMPAIGN.— DIFFICULTIES  CONFRONTING  GREELEY. — 
GRANT  ELECTED. GREELEY1  S  DEATH. HIS  CHARACTER. CONTINU 
ATION  OF  REPUBLICAN  POLICY  AT  THE  SOUTH. FORCE  AND 

ANARCHY  IN   LOUISIANA. 

ONE  hot  day  in  August,  1831,  an  ungainly  journeyman: 
printer  from  Erie,  Pa.,  was  among  the  "  arrivals  "  in 
New  York  City.  It  was  Horace  Greeley,  born  twenty  years 
before,  on  a  farm  in  Amherst,  N.  H.  From  childhood  an 
insatiable  reader,  at  ten  he  had  become  the  prodigy  of  his 
native  town.  His  stump-grubbing,  on  a  farm  in  Vermont, 
whither  poverty  drove  his  father's  family,  his  service  as  prin- 
\ter's  devil  there,  and  later  as  job  and  newspaper  printer  at 
Erie,  paid  little.  The  young  man  reached  the  metropolis 
with  only  ten  dollars  in  his  pocket,  while  the  rest  of  his 
earthly  goods  formed  a  bundle  which  he  swung  in  his  hand. 
After  long  and  vain  search  for  work  he  at  last  secured  a  situa 
tion  so  hard  that  no  other  printer  would  take  it.  In  it  he 
wrought  twelve  or  fourteen  hours  a  day  at  a  rate  never  exceed 
ing  six  dollars  a  week. 

After  various  vicissitudes  in  job-printing  and  desultory 
editorial  work,  where  he  evinced  genius  and  zeal  but  no 
special  aptitude  for  business,  Mr.  Greeley,  in  1841,  started 
the  Tribune.  For  this  venture  he  had  borrowed  S  1,000. 

57 


THE  UNITED  STATES  IN  OUR  OWN  TIME 

The  first  week's  losses  engulfed  nearly  half  this  sum,  but  at 
the  end  of  a  year  the  paper  was  an  assured  success.  It  soon 
became  the  mouth-piece  of  all  the  more  sober  anti-slavery 
sentiment  of  the  time,  whether  within  or  without  the  Whig 
party,  and  rose  to  power  with  the  mighty  tide  of  free-soil 
enthusiasm  that  swept  over  the  land  after  1850.  Greeley  and 
his  organ  were  the  chief  founders  of  the  Republican  party,  and 
the  most  effective  moulders  of  its  policy.  The  influence  of  the 
paper  before  and  during  the  war  was  incalculable,  far  exceed 
ing  that  of  any  other  sheet  in  America.  Hardly  a  Whig  or  a 
Republican  voter  in  all  the  North  that  did  not  take  or  read 
it.  It  gave  tone  to  the  minor  organs  of  its  party,  and  no 
politician  on  either  side  acted  upon  slavery  without  consider 
ing  what  the  Tribune  would  say. 

While  hating  slavery  and  treason,  and  hence  not  averse 
to  the  war,  Greeley  was  anxious  for  peace  at  the  earliest 
moment  when  it  could  be  safely  had  ;  and  forthwith  upon  the 
collapse  of  the  Confederacy  he  dismissed  all  rancor  toward  the 
South.  At  Jefferson  Davis's  presentment  for  treason  he 
stepped  forward  as  bondsman  ;  and  in  the  long  friction  which 
followed  he  persistently  opposed  all  harshness  in  dealing  with 
the  conquered.  He  disliked  Grant  as  the  exponent  of  severe 
methods  in  reconstruction,  and,  like  Sumner,  peculiarly 
abominated  his  policy  of  annexing  San  Domingo. 

At  length  Grant  and  Greeley  became,  in  effect,  foes. 
They  had  many  party  friends  in  common,  who  sought  by 
every  means  to  reconcile  them,  but  in  vain.  Greeley  was 
once  induced  to  call  at  the  White  House.  Grant  invited  him 
to  a  drive,  and  he  accepted.  The  horses  went,  the  President 
smoked,  and  Greeley  kept  silence,  all  with  a  vengeance.  Only 
monosyllables  were  uttered  as  the  two  stiff  men  rode  side  by 
side,  and  each  was  glad  when  they  could  alight  and  separate. 

In  January,  1872,  the  Liberal  Republicans  of  Missouri 
issued  a  call  for  a  national  convention  at  Cincinnati.  Greeley 
and  his  Tribune  took  sides  with  the  revolt.  Soon  they  were 

58 


THE  SPOILS  SYSTEM 


the  life  of  it.  Henceforth  the  opposition  to  the  Administra 
tion  increased  in  strength  day  by  day.  The  Cincinnati  Com 
mercial  and  the  Springfield,  Mass.,  Republican  sided  with  the 
Tribune,  while  the  New  York  'Times  and  Harper  s  Weekly 
earnestly  advocated  Grant's  re-election.  Sumner  had  long 
since  broken  with  Grant.  Many  other  prominent  Republi 
cans  in  Congress  and  outside  had  lost  confidence  in  the 
Administration,  and  then  become  hostile  thereto.  General 
Banks  was  one  of  these,  Stanley  Matthews  another,  George  W. 
Julian  another.  Senator  Schurz  openly  stated  that  if  Grant 
should  be  nominated  for  a  second  term  he  would  bolt  the 
ticket.  Early  in  the  second  session  of  the  Forty-second  Con 
gress  there  was  question 
of  appointing  a  com 
mittee  on  Investigation 
and  Retrenchment.  De 
bating  this,  Senator 
Trumbull  vigorously  de 
nounced  the  prevalent  a- 
buses  in  the  civil  service. 
The  spoils  system  had 
been  permitted  to  in 
vade  every  branch  of 
the  Government.  The 
odium  heaped  upon  car 
pet-bag  rule  at  the  South 
was  all  along  due  in  large 
measure  to  its  corruption. 
By  their  influence  and 
example  many  white 
federal  office-  holders 
misled  the  negro  officers, 
State  and  national,  and 
the  voters  as  well,  to 
regard  office  as  the  legiti- 


HORACE    GREELET 


59 


THE  UNITED  STATES  IN  OUR  OWN  TIME 


WILLIAM  HENRT  FRJ 

After  a  daguerreotype  in  the  pt>. 
sion  of  Horace  B,  Fry 


COUNT  ADAM  GUROW- 

SKI 

After    a    daguerreotype    in     the 
possession  of  Charles  A.  Dana 


mate  prey  of  the 
party  triumphant  on 
election  day.  At 
the  North,  no  less, 
appointments  in  an 
swer  to  political  wire 
pulling  were  the 
regular  order  of  the 
time.  "  Work  !  " 
said  an  office-holder 
in  1870  ;  "  I  work 
ed  to  get  here  !  You  don't  expect  me 
to  work  now  I  am  here  !  " 

Federal  offices  were  needlessly  multiplied.  In  March, 
1871,  a  custom-house  appraiser  was  appointed  at  Evansville, 
Ind.  He  informed  "his  Senator"  and  the  Secretary  of  the 
Treasury  that  his  office  was  a  sinecure,  writing  "  his  other 
Senator  "  soon  after  that  it  ought  to  be  abolished.  He  was 
removed  and  a  more  contented  incumbent  appointed.  "  Yet/* 
says  the  ex-appraiser,  "  there  could  be  no  charge  of  neglect  or 
incompetency,  for  no  officer  was  ever  more  faithful  and  dili 
gent  in  drawing  his  salary  than  I  was  during  those  two  years, 


sion  of  Charles  A.  Dana 


GEORGE   RIPLEY  MARGARET  FULLER  BAYARD   TAYLOR 

After  a   daguerreotype  in  the  posses-    After  a  daguerreotype  in  the  histori-  After  a  photograph  by  Szrony 

i  of  H.  1C.  Fay 

SOME   NOTED   CONTRIBUTORS  '. 
60 


SHEPHERD  AT  WASHINGTON 


THOMAS   HICKS  CHARLES  A.   DANA  GEORGE   WILLIAM  CURTIS 

•     After  a  daguerreotype  by  Brady,  lSj2,  in  the  possession  of  Charles  A.  Dana 

and  absolutely  there  was  nothing  else  to  do."  In  connection 
with  offices  where  there  were  far  weightier  functions  than 
drawing  salaries,  extravagance,  carelessness,  and  corruption 
were  exposed  with  damning  iteration. 

In  1871  the  District  of  Columbia  had  been  given  a  ter 
ritorial  government,  with  a  Governor,  a  Board  of  Public 
Works,  and  a  Legislature.  The  new  territory  lived  too  fast 
to  live  long,  letting  out  contracts  at  exorbitant  rates,  so  that 
they  were  bought  up  and  sublet,  sometimes  again  and  again. 
It  entered  upon  ambitious  schemes  of  city  improvement, 
which  involved  the  District  in  a  debt  far  beyond  the  lawful 
limit  of  $10,000,000.  These  and  other  evidences  of  wasteful 
administration  led  Congress,  in  1874,  to  abolish  the  territorial 
system  and  again  assume  direct  control  of  the  District. 
Lapse  of  time  disposed  Washingtonians  kindlv  to  remember 
Shepherd,  the  head  of  the  territorial  government  during  the 


•THE  TRIBUNE  IN  ITS  EARLY  DATS 


61 


THE  UNITED  STATES  IN  OUR  OWN  TIME 

great  transformation,  and  later  not  a  few  wished  his  statue  to 
appear  in  the  city  which  had  been  rendered  so  beautiful  and 
commodious  through  his  agency. 

More  notorious  than  the  "  Washington  Ring  "  were  the 
scandals  connected  with  the  collection  of  the  revenues.  Early 
in  April,  1874,  a  meeting  was  held  in  New  York  to  protest 
against  the  revenue  and  "  moiety  "  laws  ;  "  moiety,"  meaning 
that  the  law  gave  to  a  spy,  with  certain  officials,  one-half  of 
th-e  property  forfeited  to  the  Government  by  fraud  discovered 
through  such  person's  agency.  Under  these  laws  there  were 
repeated  instances  of  technical  forfeitures  and  condemnation 
on  the  ground  of  constructive  fraud,  owing  to  some  slight 
accidental  mistake.  The  laws  were  often  confused  and  self- 
contradictory,  placing  honest  officials  in  danger  of  committing 
flagrant  wrongs  by  the  effort  to  execute  their  terms.  A.  T. 
Stewart  is  said  to  have  been  at  one  time  liable  to  a  forfeiture 
of  $3,000,000  for  an  error  of  $300. 

An  informer  intimated  to  a  revenue  official  that  an  im 
porter  had  defrauded  the  Government,  paying  insufficient  duty 
upon  his  goods.  The  official  then  obtained  a  secret  warrant 
to.  seize  the  importer's  books  and  papers,  which  was  done. 
The  contingent  rewards  accompanying  this  business  were  so 
enormous  that  every  kind  of  intrigue,  deceit  and  subornation 
was  practiced.  Informers  were  charged  with  downright  black 
mail,  for  which  the  power  to  seize  private  books  and  papers 
gave  them  exceptional  opportunity.  They  sought  to  stigma 
tize  the  entire  mercantile  class  in  the  importing  cities.  The 
terror  in  which  the  house  of  Phelps,  Dodge  &  Co.  was  long 
kept  by  the  lurking  agents  of  the  Government  would  be 
incredible  to  most  of  our  citizens  now.  The  system  would 
not  have  surprised  people  in  Naples,  but  it  was  revolting  to 
Americans.  "  Every  clerk  might  become  an  informer.  The 
Government  stealthily  put  its  hand  into  every  counting-room^ 
as  the  Church  through  its  agents  surreptitiously  knew  every 
secret  of  the  household."  Vicious  as  it  was,  not  until  after 

62 


THE  UNITED  STATES  IN  OUR  OWN  TIME 

long  agitation  was  a  law  passed  putting  an  end  to  the  moiety 
abuse  with  its  lucrative  espionage  and  other  iniquities. 

The  President  and  his  Administration  were  unduly  blamed 
by  many  eminent  citizens  of  all  parties  for  the  reversal  in  the 
Supreme  Court  of  the  Hepburn  vs.  Griswold  decision  touch 
ing  the  constitutionality  of  the  greenback.  In  Hepburn  vs. 
Griswold  "  the  majority  of  the  Court  as  then  constituted — five 
Judges  out  of  eight — felt  obliged  to  conclude  that  an  act  mak 
ing  mere  promises  to  pay  dollars  a  legal  tender  in  payment  of 
debts  previously  contracted  is  not  a  means  appropriate,  plainly 
adapted,  or  really  calculated  to  carry  into  effect  any  express 
power  vested  in  Congress,  is  inconsistent  with  the  spirit  of 
the  Constitution,  and  is  prohibited  by  the  Constitution."  Said 
Mr.  Justice  Field  :  "  That  judgment  was  reached  only  after 
repeated  arguments  were  heard  from  able  and  eminent  coun 
sel,  and  after  every  point  raised  on  either  side  had  been  the 
subject  of  extended  deliberation.  .  .  It  is  not  extravagant 
to  say  that  no  case  has  ever  been  decided  by  this  Court  since 
its  organization  in  which  the  questions  presented  were  more 
maturely  considered.  It  was  hoped  that  a  judgment  thus 
reached  would  not  be  lightly  disturbed." 

The  President,  Judge  Hoar  his  Attorney-General,  and  a 
great  many  other  prominent  Republicans  were  opposed  to  the 
principles  of  the  Hepburn  vs.  Griswold  decision.  This  fact, 
together  with  the  speedy  overturn  of  the  decision  by  an  en 
larged  Court,  made  it  appear  as  if  the  composition  of  the 
Court  had  been  changed  on  purpose  to  secure  a  different  ut 
terance  upon  this  vital  question  of  constitutional  law.  Within 
a  few  weeks  after  the  Hepburn  vs.  Griswold  decision,  during 
the  same  term,  so  soon  as  its  vacancies  were  filled,  the  Court, 
on  motion  of  Attorney-General  Hoar,  voted  to  hear  the  ques 
tion  re-argued. 

"By  act  of  March  3,  1863,  the  Court  was  ordered  to 
consist  of  ten  members,  a  new  member  being  then  added.  By 
act  of  July  23,  1866,  f  to  fix  the  number  of  Judges  of  the 

6+ 


MR.    GREELET    RECEIVING    THE    DEMOCRATIC    COMMITTEE,    U'HICH  NOTIFIED    HIM   OF  HIS 
NOMINATION,    AT   THE    LINCOLN    CLUB    HOUSE* 


*  Mr.  J.  Lee  Carroll,  of  Maryland,  relates  that  when  the  formal  speeches  on  both  sides  were  ended,  and 
Mr.  Greeley  bad  invited  all  present  to  visit  him  at  Chaff  aqua,  some  one  in  the  group  asked  if  there  "  wert 
any  snakes  out  there ."  Quick  as  a  flash  Mr.  Gretle)  replied :  "  Oh,  yes,  a  few  copperheads,  but  the}  art 
quite  harmless ." 


REVERSAL   OF   HEPBURN    VS.  GRISWOLD 


Supreme  Court  of  the  United  States/  etc.,  it  was  enacted 
'  that  no  vacancy  in  the  office  of  Associate  Justice  should  be 
filled  by  appointment  until  the  number  of  Associates  should 
be  reduced  to  six,  and  thereafter  the  Supreme  Court  should 
consist  of  a  Chief  Justice  and  six  Associate  Justices.'  By  an 
act  of  loth  April,  1869,  to  take  effect  from  the  first  Monday 
of  December,  1869,  it  was  enacted  'that  the  Court  should 
consist  of  a  Chief  Justice  and  eight  Associates,  and  that,  for 
the  purposes  of  this  act,  there  should  be  appointed  an  addi 
tional  Judge.'  Hepburn  vs.  Griswold,  it  is  stated  in  the 
opinion  of  the  Court  in  the  case,  was  decided  in  conference 
November  27,  1869  (8  Wallace,  626),  there  being  then  eight 
Judges  (the  Chief  Justice  and  seven  Associates)  on  the  bench, 
the  lowest  number  to  which  the  Court  had  been  reduced.  One 
of  them,  Justice  Grier,  resigned  February  i,  1870.  The 
judgment  in  Hepburn  vs.  Griswold  was  announced  from  the 
bench  and  entered  February  7,  1870.  Mr.  Justice  Strong 
was  appointed  February  18,  1870,  and  Mr.  Justice  Bradley 
March  21,  1870,  and  the  order  for  the  present  [new]  argu 
ment  was  made  by,  and  the  argument  itself  heard  before,  the 
Court  of  nine,  as  constituted  by  act  of  loth  April,  1869."* 
Both  of  the  new  Justices,  Strong  and  Bradley,  voted  for  the 
reversal.  Judgment  was  rendered  in  December,  1870,  when 
the  Hepburn  vs.  Griswold  decision  was  set  aside  by  a  majority 
of  one.  The  new  dictum  of  the  Court  was  later  quite  gen 
erally  accepted  as  not  forced  law,  as  in  real  accord  with  the 
meaning  of  the  Constitution  deeply  and  broadly  viewed.  We 
shall  recur  to  the  subject  again  in  Chapter  X.,  there  arguing 
that  the  Court's  conclusion  was  sound ;  but  at  the  time  not  a 
few  classed  it  with  the  Dred  Scott  decision,  as  a  partisan  and 
most  dangerous  attack  upon  our  fundamental  law.  Said  an 
eminent  writer  :  "  When  public  opinion  has  reached  the  point 
of  tolerating  such  proceedings,  paper  constitutions  may  well 
be  consigned  to  oblivion  before  they  fall  into  contempt." 

*8   Wallace,  528,  note. 
67 


THE  UNITED  STATES  IN  OUR  OWN  TIME 

In  spite  of  all  these  grounds  for  criticism,  partly  solid  and 
partly  fanciful,  so  evidently  did  the  rank  and  file  of  the  party 
wish  Grant  to  continue  in  the  White  House  that  his  adver 
saries  saw  no  hope  of  capturing  the  Republican  convention. 
Most  of  them,  therefore,  allied  themselves  with  the  Liberals. 
The  Democrats  maintained  a  policy  of  "  passivity,"  but  long 
before  their  convention  there  were  hints  that  they  would 
accept  the  bolting  Republican  candidates  as  their  own,  should 
these  not  be  too  radically  opposed  to  democratic  ideas.  With 
such  aid  the  separatists  expected  to  carry  the  country. 

The  convention  of  Come-outers  assembled  at  Cincinnati 
on  May  ist,  and  effected  a  permanent  organization  with  Carl 
Schurz  as  chairman.  Touching  the  South,  the  platform 
declared  for  general  amnesty,  local  self-government,  and  the 
abolition  of  all  military  authority  as  superseding  civil  law. 
The  suspension  of  habeas  corpus  it  especially  condemned.  It 
denounced  corruption  in  the  civil  service,  and  declared  against 
a  second  term  in  the  Presidency.  It  demanded  a  tariff  which 
should  not  unnecessarily  interfere  with  industry,  advocated  a 
speedy  return  to  specie  payments,  and  ended  with  a  eulogy  on 
the  Union  soldiers.  Mr.  Greeley  was  nominated  for  the 
Presidency  on  the  sixth  ballot.  B.  Gratz  Brown,  Governor  of 
Missouri,  received  the  nomination  for  Vice-President. 

Grant's  friends  were  not  frightened.  They  pretended, 
rather,  to  regard  the  nomination  as  a  huge  joke.  All  con 
ceded  that  Greeley  was  an  honest  man,  yet  he  did  not  inspire 
confidence.  He  had  a  reputation  for  doing  strange,  compro 
mising  things.  John  Sherman  thought  him  "  probably  the 
most  unfit  man  for  President,  except  Train,  that  had  ever 
been  mentioned."  Many  of  the  Liberals  themselves  did  not 
fincy  him.  He  was  an  ultra  protectionist,  while  Schurz  and 
other  prominent  anti- Administration  Republicans  leaned  toward 
a  revenue  tariff.  Greeley  was  understood  to  intend,  in  case  of 
his  election,  to  hold  his  tariff  ideas  in  abeyance  in  deference  to 
the  preferences  of  his  free-trader  and  low-tariff  supporters. 

68 


GRANT  AND  GREELEY  NOMINATED 

This  understanding  did  not  conduce 
to  men's  respect  for  him.  Sumner 
was  for  radical  measures  in  the  South, 
which  most  of  the  Liberals  deprecated. 
It  was  Sumner  who,  in  the  Forty- 
second  and  Forty-third  Congresses, 
so  earnestly  sought  to  pass  the  Sup 
plementary  Civil  Rights  Bill,  with  the 
aim  of  securing;  for  the  Southern  negro 

.,  ..    .  ..  .  ZEBULON  B.    VAKCE 

social  as  well  as  political  equality  with 

the  white  man.  It  imposed  heavy  penalties  on  hotel-keepers, 
theatre  and  railway  managers  and  others  for  conducting  their 
businesses  so  as  in  any  way  to  discriminate  against  the  blacks. 
This  bill  readily  passed  the  Senate  whenever  moved,  but 
always  failed  in  the  House  until  March  i,  1875,  when,  a  year 
after  Sumner's  death,  it  went  upon  the  statute  book — to  be,  by 
a  Supreme  Court  decision  October  3,  1883,  declared  uncon 
stitutional  and  void.*  Little  as  they  agreed  with  one  another, 
however,  the  majority  of  the  seceders,  wishing  "  anybody  to 
beat  Grant,"  accepted  Greeley  with  no  small  heartiness. 

The  Republican  Convention  met  at  Philadelphia  on  June 
5th.  The  platform  declared  for  civil  service  reform  and  com 
plete  equality  in  the  enjoyment  of  all  civil,  political,  and  public 
rights  throughout  the  Union,  and  uttered  a  somewhat  ambigu 
ous  statement  in  regard  to  the  relations  of  capital  and  labor. 
It  upheld  the  President  in  his  Southern  policy,  though  main 
taining  that  State  governments  should  be  permitted  to  function 
in  the  fullest  degree  practicable.  The  latest  amnesty  bill  of 
Congress  it  approved,  and  it  eulogized  the  President  in  the 
highest  terms.  The  Convention  exhibited  no  opposition  to 
Grant,  and  he  was  renominated  by  acclamation.  Henry  Wil 
son,  of  Massachusetts,  was  given  the  second  place  on  the  ticket, 
defeating  Colfax,  who  had  incurred  the  enmity  of  several  men 
influential  in  the  party. 

*i09  U.  S.  Supreme  Court  Reports,  3. 
69 


THE  UNITED  STATES  IN  OUR  OWN  TIME 

Between  the  nomination  of  Grant  and 
the  Democratic  Convention  at  Baltimore, 
over  a  month  later,  public  attention  was 
centred  upon  the  attitude  of  the  Demo 
cratic  leaders  to  the  candidacy  of  Greeley 
and  Brown.  That  these  nominees  were 
not  wholly  acceptable  to  the  Democracy 
there  could  be  no  doubt.  Many  of  the 
party  chiefs  spoke  of  Greeley  with  open 

LTMAN  TRUMBULL  .  ,,  .  .          '  .    r 

derision.      Yet,  as  it  was  evident  that  if  the 

Liberal  candidates  did  not  receive  Democratic  endorsement  all 
efforts  against  Grant  would  prove  unavailing,  the  majority  of 
the  party  was  for  Greeley  at  all  hazards.  Said  ex-Governor 
Vance,  of  North  Carolina:  "  If  c  Old  Grimes'  is  in  the  demo 
cratic  hymn-book,  we'll  sing  him  through  if  it  kills  us."  Accord 
ingly,  the  Convention,  which  assembled  at  Baltimore  July  9th, 
notwithstanding  considerable  opposition,  accepted  the  Cincin 
nati  candidates  and  platform,  adjourning  in  some  hope  of 
victory.  A  few  dissatisfied  Democrats  met  at  Louisville  on 
September  3d  and  nominated  Charles  O'Conor  for  President 
and  John  Quincy  Adams  for  Vice-President.  Both  gentlemen 
declined,  but  the  nominations  were  left  unchanged. 

Greeley  accepted  the  Baltimore  nomination  in  a  letter 
dated  July  i8th.  In  this  he  insisted  on  the  "full  enfranchise 
ment  "  of  all  the  white  population  at  the  South,  and  declared 
that  henceforth  Democracy  and  Republicanism  would  stand 
for  one  and  the  same  idea,  "equal  rights,  regardless  of  creed 
or  clime  or  color."  The  entire  effective  force  of  the  Democ 
racy,  South  as  well  as  North,  rallied  to  the  Greeley  standard, 
joined,  strangely,  by  Republicans  and  Abolitionists  like  Trum- 
bull,  of  Illinois,  Julian,  of  Indiana,  Blair,  of  Michigan,  Sedg- 
wick,  of  New  York,  and  Bird,  of  Massachusetts.  General 
W.  T.  Sherman  wrote  from  Paris  to  his  brother,  the  Senator: 
"  Of  course  I  have  watched  the  progress  of  political  events 
from  this  standpoint,  and  feel  amazed  to  see  the  turn  things 

70 


BOTH  CANDIDATES  SEVERELY  CRITICISED 

have  taken.  Grant,  who  never  was  a  Republican,  is  your 
candidate  ;  and  Greeley,  who  never  was  a  Democrat,  but  quite 
the  reverse,  is  the  Democratic  candidate."  The  Senator  re 
plied  :  "  As  you  say,  the  Republicans  are  running  a  Democrat, 
and  the  Democrats  a  Republican.  And  there  is  not  an  essen 
tial  difference  in  the  platform  of  principle.  The  chief  interest 
I  feel  in  the  canvass  is  the  preservation  of  the  Republican 
party,  which  I  think  essential  to  secure  the  fair  enforcement  of 
the  results  of  the  war.  General  Grant  has  so  managed  things 
as  to  gain  the  very  bitter  and  active  hostility  of  many  of  the 
leading  Republicans,  and  the  personal  indifference  of  most  of 
the  residue.  He  will,  however,  be  fairly  supported  by  the 
great  mass  of  the  Republicans,  and  I  still  hope  and  believe  will 
be  elected.  The  defections  among  Republicans  will  be  made 
up  by  Democrats  who  will  not  vote  for  Greeley." 

On  June  joth  George  William  Curtis  wrote  :  "  The  best 
sentiment  of  the  opposition  is  that  both  parties  must  be 
destroyed  and  Greeley's  election  is  the  way  to  destroy  them. 
This  is  Schurz's  ground,  who  likes  Greeley  as  little  as  any  of 
us.  The  argument  seems  to  be,  first  chaos  then  cosmos. 
The  Nation  and  the  Evening  Post  in  this  dilemma  take  Grant 
as  the  least  of  evils.  He  has  been  foully  slandered,  and  Sum- 
ner's  speech  [of  May  3ist — see  page  75]  was  unpardonable. 
He  was  bitterly  indignant  at  me — said  that  my  course  was 
unspeakable  and  inconsistent,  and  that  I  was  bringing  un 
speakable  woe  upon  my  country.  I  could  only  reply,  '  Sum- 
ner,  you  must  learn  that  other  men  are  as  honest  as  you.' ' 

Much  could  be  truly  said  in  Greeley's  favor.  An  editor 
opposed  to  his  election  declared  "  that  he  was  a  man  of 
unimpeachable  private  life,  just,  charitable,  generous  ;  that  like 
many  of  our  greatest  statesmen  he  had  raised  himself  by  his 
own  unaided  exertions  to  a  place  of  great  power  and  distinc 
tion  ;  that  though  he  had  been  all  his  life  a  politician  he  had 
never  basely  sought  office  and  had  never  held  office  save  once, 
and  then  very  briefly  ;  that  with  all  his  errors  his  influence  had 

71 


THE  UNITED  STATES  IN  OUR  OWN  TIME 


always  been  used  in  favor  of  every  true  reform  as  well  as  many 
that  merely  promised  well ;  and  that  he  was  a  thorough  be 
liever  in  American  ideas  and  things." 

Among  Grant's  critics  the  cooler  argued  about  as  follows  : 
The  war  issues,  they  said,  should  be  treated  as  settled  ;  in  its 
prosperity  the  party  had  become  careless  ;  the  President  was 
surrounded  by  unwise  counsellors  and  influenced  by  unscru 
pulous  men  ;  under  him  the  civil  service  had  been  debauched 
as  never  before,  even  in  Jackson's  time  ;  if  he  should  be  re- 
elected  things  could  not  but  go  from  bad  to  worse.  Putting 
the  very  best  possible  construction  upon  his  motives,  they  de 
clared,  it  was  obvious  that  Grant  was  dividing  the  party,  and 
therefore  should  no  longer  continue  its 
official  head.  Some  of  the  President's  an 
tagonists  did  not  hesitate  even  to  impugn 
his  honesty.  His  advocacy  of  reform  in 
the  civil  service  they  denominated  "  thin 
twaddle."  He  was  charged  with  incorrigi- 

o  o 

ble  nepotism.  The  fact  that  he  had  been 
given  a  house  was  deemed  suspicious. 
The  utmost  was  made  of  his  incessant 
smoking  and  of  his  love  for  fast  horses. 

"  It  is  not  a  great  draft  upon  the  pub 
lic  purse,"  said  one,  "  nor  a  creation  of  a 
dangerous  family  influence,  when  the  Presi 
dent  appoints  a  dozen  or  more  of  his  rela 
tives  to  office  ;  but  it  is  a  bad  example,  and 
shows  a  low  view  of  the  presidential  office. 
But  far  worse  than  this  was  the  scandal 
of  the  President's  brother-in-law  at  the 
capital  following  the  profession  of  agent 
for  claims  against  the  Government,  carry 
ing  his  family  influence  into  the  subordinate  executive  depart 
ments  where  such  claims  are  judged,  and  actually — as  he 
testified  before  a  Congressional  Committee — appealing  cases 


HENRY  WILSON 


D.   GRATZ  BROWN 


A  CHOICE  OF  EVILS 

from  the  departments  to  the  President  and  appearing  before 
him  to  argue  them.  In  effect  this  was  the  sale  of  the  Presi 
dent's  influence  against  the  ends  of  justice  by  his  brother-in- 
law."  This  criticism  was  made  by  an  able  writer  who,  after 
all,  preferred  Grant  to  Greeley. 

The  President's  thick  and  thin  supporters  pleaded  that 
under  his  administration  the  public  debt  had  been  decreased, 
taxes  lowered,  the  utmost  honesty  and  economy  introduced  in 
public  affairs,  industry  revived,  and  confidence  restored.  They 
alleged  that  the  cause  of  the  Cincinnati  Convention  was  noth 
ing  but  selfish  discontent.  The  meeting,  they  said,  had  been 
controlled  by  scheming  politicians  and  place-hunters,  who 
knew  that  under  Greeley  they  could  have  what  they  wished. 
If  Grant  was  incompetent,  it  was  asked,  what  would  be  the 
state  of  affairs  should  Greeley,  who  had  hardly  ever  in  his  life 
held  an  office,  and  never  an  administrative  office,  be  elected  ! 

A  very  large  class  of  Republicans  admitted  as  true  most 
that  was  put  forth  in  criticism  of  the  Administration,  yet  wished 
Grant  elected.  "  Of  Grant,"  said  one  of  these  Republicans, 
"  we  have  some  reason  to  think  that  we  know  the  worst.  It 
appears  that  he  favors  civil  service  reform  at  least  as  much  as 
Mr.  Greeley  does.  His  relations  are  now,  we  believe,  all  com 
fortably  provided  for ;  gratified  citizens  have  showered  upon 
him  as  many  gifts  as  he  will  probably  care  to  receive." 
"  Pitiful  as  it  is  to  be  compelled  to  choose  one  of  two  evidently 
unfit  persons  for  the  highest  office  in  the  nation,  our  prefer 
ence  would  be  for  General  Grant.  .  .  Though  of  proved 
incapacity  in  civil  government,  he  is  still  believed  to  be  honest, 
cautious  and  steady,  with  a  reserve  of  intellectual  power  and 
moral  purpose  which,  in  any  coming  crisis  of  our  affairs,  might 
be  an  invaluable  aid  to  the  country."  This  writer  did  not 
doubt  that  Grant  was  "  stolid,  barren  of  ideas,  and  below  the 
intellectual  level  of  Jackson,  Taylor  and  Harrison,"  admitted 
that  vast  numbers  of  Republicans  would  vote  for  him  merely 
as  a  choice  of  evils,  and  declared  that  his  re-election  could  not 

73 


THE  UNITED  STATES  IN  OUR  OWN  TIME 

be  taken  for  an  unqualified  approval  of  his  administration. 
"  Grant,"  he  said,  "  conspicuously  fails  "  in  obvious  desire  for 
the  people's  good  ;  "  his  presence  inspires  no  enthusiasm  ;  his 
pulse  does  not  beat  with  the  popular  heart ;  he  has  the  cold 
ness  of  Washington  without  his  lofty  self-devotion." 

As  the  conflict  deepened  feeling  waxed  painfully  bitter 
and  the  meanest  personal  allusions  were  common.  Greeley's 
supporters  dubbed  their  candidate  "  Honest  Old  Horace  ; " 
the  opposition,  remembering  his  bail  to  Jefferson  Davis,  whom 
most  abolitionists  wished  hung,  called  him  "  Old  Bail-Bonds." 
"  Grant  beat  Davis,"  they  said,  "  Greeley  bailed  him."  He 
was  named  "  Horrors  Greeley,"  and  his  homely  manners  were 
made  the  subject  of  innumerable  jests.  "Greeley  " — so  ran  one 
relatively  sober  estimate — "  Greeley,  with  his  immense  experi 
ence  and  acuteness,  and  philanthropic  philosophy  of  life,  is  still 
unsteady,  grotesque,  obstinate  and  ridiculous — epithets  never 
yet  justly  applicable,  all  at  once,  to  a  President  of  the  United 
States."  Cartoons,  which  played  a  great  figure  in  this  campaign, 
vastly  exaggerated  his  corpulency.  On  the  unfortunate  B.  Gratz 
Brown  the  stalwarts  heaped  the  worst  disgrace  which  a  politi 
cal  candidate  can  receive,  that  of  being  ignored.  His  views 
and  his  record  were  never  mentioned  ;  only  his  bare  name  came 

before  the  pub 
lic.  In  every  car 
toon  by  Nast 
where  Greeley 
was  represented, 
a  tag  bearing  the 
legend  "  and 
Gratz  Brown," 
hung  from  his 

coat-tail.  Carl  Schurz  and  Whitelaw  Reid,  both  fighting 
Greeleyites,  were  pictured  with  classical  and  pedantic  features, 
eye-glasses  big  as  tea-cups,  and  legs  ten  feet  long. 

Such  coarseness  was  not  confined  to  the  supporters  of  the 

74 


A  BITTER  CAMPAIGN 


Administration.  The  Gree- 
ley  press  made  Grant  call 
to  his  intimates  to  bid  him 
good-by,  as  he  sang : 

f(  My  friends  are  gone  to  Chappa- 

qua, 
Oh,  put  me  in  my  little  bed." 

Chappaqua  was  Greeley's 
country  residence.  Greeley  was  dubbed  "  Old  Whitey  "  for 
his  coat  and  hat,  his  most  unique  habiliments,  and  the  fol 
lowing  doggerel  was  concocted,  equally  unique  in  its  good 
humor : 

"Press  where  ye  see  my  White  Hat  gleam  amid  the  ranks  of  war, 
And  be  your  oriflamme  this  day  the  Coat  of  Chappaqua." 

On  May  3  ist  Sumner  delivered  a  speech  in  which  he  ap 
plied  to  the  President  the  following  extract  from  a  letter  of 
Lord  Durham  to  Henry  Brougham  :  "  Among  the  foremost 
purposes  ought  to  be  the  downfall  of  this  odious,  insulting, 
degrading,  aide-de-campish,  incapable  dictatorship.  At  such 
a  crisis,  is  this  country  to  be  left  at  the  mercy  of  barrack  coun 
cils  and  mess-room  politics  ?  " 

If  the  disclosures  and  falsehoods  about  the  Credit  Mobi- 
lier,  of  which  we  shall  give  an  account  in  the  next  Chapter, 
hurt  the  party  in  power,  the  revelations  already  made  and  still 
coming  out  concerning  the  Tweed  Ring  told  against  Greeley's 
cause.  Tweed  was  of  Tammany,  and  Tammany,  now  in  the 
worst  repute  it  had  ever  borne,  threw  to  the  breeze  the  Greeley 
flag.  The  question  of  Female  Suffrage  also  plagued  Mr. 
Greeley.  The  National  Women's  Suffrage  Association  met 
in  New  York  May  9,  1872,  and  adopted 
resolutions  strongly  condemning  him  for  his 
position  in  regard  to  their  movement  assever 
ating  the  right  of  women  to  vote  under  the 
Fourteenth  and  Fifteenth  Amendments  to 
the  Constitution. 


75 


THE  UNITED  STATES  IN  OUR  OWN  TIME 

Nor  was  this  all.  As  an  uncompromising  opponent  of 
the  Democracy,  Greeley  had  during  his  editorial  career  wielded 
a  terribly  caustic  pen.  This  fact  much  aggravated  his  new 
position.  A  cut  in  Harper's  Weekly  represented  him  in  the 
act  of  eating  uncomfortably  hot  soup  from  a  dish  bearing  the 
inscription,  "  My  own  words  and  deeds."  Greeley  had  said 
that  the  Democratic  party  would  be  better  off  if  there  were 
not  a  school-house  in  the  country,  and  he  had  always  repre 
sented  that  only  people  of  the  lowest  sort  naturally  found  their 
way  to  its  ranks.  Now,  as  "  standard-bearer  of  the  great  Lib 
eral  movement,"  he  had  accepted  the  nomination  of  that  very 
party.  Against  Greeley  the  arch-abolitionist,  every  fire-eater 
paper  at  the  South  had  for  twenty-five  years  been  discharging 
its  most  venomous  spleen.  Once,  before  the  war,  a  Northern 
sheet  characterized  the  representative  plantation  lord  as  sigh 
ing  : 

"  Oh  for  a  nigger  and  oh  for  a  whip, 
Oh  for  a  cocktail  and  oh  for  a  nip, 
Oh  for  a  shot  at  Old  Greeley  and  Beecher, 
Oh  for  a  whack  at  a  Yankee  school-teacher  ; 
And  so  he  kept  ohing  for  what  he  had  not, 
Not  contented  with  owing  for  all  he  had  got." 

Now  the  quondam  plantation  lord  was  invited  to  the  polls  to 
vote  for  the  "  Old  Greeley  "  aforesaid. 

Numerous  and  weighty  as  were  Grant's  faults  and 
Greeley's  virtues,  events  or  sentiments  proved  too  strong  for 
the  bolting  movement.  Many  for  a  time 
deluded  themselves  with  the  hope  of  its 
triumph,  but  as  election  day  approached 
it  became  evident  that  Grant  would  receive 
an  overwhelming  majority  in  the  electoral 
college.  Most  of  those  Republicans  who 
at  first  disinclined  to  vote  for  Grant,  hop 
ing  for  a  better  man,  determined,  as  the 
campaign  advanced,  to  put  up  with  the  ills 
they  had  rather  than  fly  to  the  unknown  CHARLES  O'CONOR 

76 


GREELEY'S  DEATH 

ones  which  they  believed  the  promotion 
of  Greeley  sure  to  bring.  As  State  after 
State  declared  for  Republicanism  during 
the  late  summer  and  fall,  the  shadows 
of  defeat  lengthened  across  Greeley's 
path.  Finally  he  undertook  a  personal 
canvass,  stumping  New  Hampshire  and 
Maine  in  August,  Pennsylvania  and  Ohio 
in  September.  From  this  campaign  work 
he  was  called  to  the  death-bed  of  his  wife, 
over  whose  stricken  form  he  watched  with 

the  tenderest  love  and  care  until  she  passed  away,  a  week  before 
the  election.  His  defeat  at  the  polls  was  overwhelming.  He 
carried  but  six  States,  all  of  them  Southern.  Grant's  popular 
majority  approached  three-quarters  of  a  million.  Mr.  Greeley 
was  quite  spent  in  body  and  mind  by  the  terrible  bitterness  of 
the  campaign,  by  the  magnitude  of  his  defeat,  and  most  of  all 
by  his  deep  bereavement.  Before  his  wife's  death  he  had  said 
to  an  intimate,  "  I  am  a  broken  old  man.  I  have  not  slept  one 
hour  in  twenty-four  for  a  month.  If  she  lasts,  poor  soul,  another 
week,  I  shall  go  before  her."  For  six  weeks  he  did  not  enjoy 
a  night  of  natural  sleep.  Malaria  had  already  undermined 
his  system,  and  on  November  29th  he  succumbed,  ere  the 
shouts  of  the  victors  had  died  away.  At  once  all  laid  aside 
thoughts  of  triumph,  his  bitterest  enemies  hastening  to  do 
honor  to  the  memory  of  his  noble  character. 

In  the  death  of  Horace  Greeley  the  nation  lost  a  citizen 
of  sterling  worth  and  deep  patriotism.  Opinionated,  an  ideal 
ist  rather  than  a  practitioner  in  his  contention  for  right,  he  had 
been  led  into  more  than  one  quixotic  error,  laying  himself 
open  to  attacks  that  left  their  sting.  His  judgments  were 
often  precipitate  and  unsound.  June  29,  1862,  he  wrote 
to  J.  R.  Giddings  :  "  We  are  going  to  ruin.  McClellan  is 
certainly  a  fool,  probably  a  traitor,  and  Halleck  is  no  better.  We 
are  doomed."  But  every  one  now  forgot  the  man's  blunders 

77 


THE  UNITED  STATES  IN  OUR  OWN  TIME 

and  remembered  only  the  purity  and  benevolence  of  his  spirit. 
No  one  had  ever  impeached  the  honesty  of  his  motives.  It 
was  the  universal  verdict  that  he  had  been  a  man  of  great  soul 
and  lofty  devotion,  not  unworthy  the  title  bestowed  upon  him 
by  Whittier,  of  "  The  Modern  Franklin." 

As  in  duty  bound,  Congress,  on  February  12,  1873, 
counted  the  electoral  vote.  When  the  State  of  Georgia  was 
reached,  Mr.  Beck,  of  Kentucky,  announced  three  of  the  votes 
of  that  State  for  Greeley.  The  House  voting  to  reject  these, 
since  the  candidate  was  dead  at  the  time  they  were  cast,  and 
the  Senate  voting  to  receive  them,  they  were  thrown  out  under 
the  Twenty-second  Joint  Rule,  then  in  force.  Upon  different 
objections,  but  under  the  same  rule,  the  votes  of  Arkansas  and 
Louisiana  were  also  rejected.  Had  Greeley  lived  he  would 
probably  have  received  sixty  electoral  votes. 

Grant  was  inaugurated  March  4,  1873.  In  his  inaugural 
address  he  declared  strongly  for  the  establishment  of  the  ne 
groes'  civil  rights.  He  maintained  that  no  executive  control 
was  exercised  in  the  Southern  States  which  would  not  be  had 
in  others  under  similar  circumstances.  He  favored  the  exten 
sion  of  the  country's  territorial  domains,  pledging  himself  to 
the  restoration,  so  far  as  possible,  of  good  feeling,  and  to  the 
establishment  of  the  currency  on  a  solid  basis.  He  urged  the 
construction  of  cheaper  inland  routes  for  travel  and  trade,  and 
also  the  re-establishment  of  our  foreign  commerce. 

The  campaign  of  1872  naturally  sweetened  Sumner's 
temper  toward  the  Southern  people.  In  a  letter  to  the  col 
ored  voters  of  the  United  States,  dated  July  29,  1872,  he 
said :  "  Pile  up  the  ashes,  extinguish  the  flame,  abolish  the 
hate — such  is  my  desire."  In  accordance  with  this  sentiment 
he  introduced  in  the  Senate  a  bill  providing  that  the  names  of 
battles  against  citizens  of  the  United  States  while  in  rebellion 
should  not  be  continued  in  the  army  register  or  placed  on  the 
colors  of  regiments.  This  failed  to  pass,  but  an  act  did  pass 
which  happily  reduced  to  some  extent  the  rancor  felt  by  the 

78 


REPUBLICAN  POLICY  AT  THE   SOUTH 


HENRT    CLAY 
WARMOTH 


South  against  the  North.  It  removed  political 
disabilities  from  all  citizens  of  the  late  Con 
federacy,  except  Senators  and  Representatives 
in  the  Thirty-sixth  and  Thirty-seventh  Con 
gresses,  officers  in  the  judicial,  military  and  naval 
service,  and  heads  of  departments  and  foreign 
ministers  of  the  United  States.  This  act  was 
approved  May  22,  1872.  However,  the  Re 
publican  programme  for  governing  the  Southern 
States  was  as  yet  by  no  means  essentially  al 
tered. 

Congressional  discussions  over  race  difficulties  were  re 
newed  with  some  bitterness  when,  in  May,  1872,  a  bill  was 
brought  before  Congress,  extending  to  all  election  precincts 
the  act  of  1871,  whereby  Federal  Supervisors  could  be  ap 
pointed  in  towns  of  over  20,000  inhabitants.  It  passed  the 
Senate  without  great  difficulty.  In  the  House  it  was  strenu 
ously  opposed,  its  enemies  dubbing  it  "  election  by  bayonet." 
It  finally  passed  the  House  also,  June  8th,  as  an  amendment 
to  an  appropriation  bill. 

During  the  second  session  of  the  Forty-second  Congress, 
there  was  more  or  less  race  trouble  in  the  South,  and  the  anti- 
Administration  forces  took  occasion  to  reflect  anew  on  the 
President's  policy  under  the  Force  Act.  On  January  25, 
1873,  the  House  passed  a  resolution  re 
questing  the  President  to  inform  Congress 
touching  the  condition  of  South  Carolina, 
in  which  State,  under  the  authority  of 
the  act  of  April  20,  1871,  he  had  sus 
pended  the  writ  of  habeas  corpus.  The 
citizens  of  the  State  also  made  a  request 
for  a  statement  of  the  Government's 
policy  in  prosecutions  under  that  act.  The 
reply  stated  that  the  Executive  was  dis 
posed,  except  in  grave  cases,  to  show  great 


P.  B.  S.  PINCHBECK 


79 


THE  UNITED  STATES  IN  OUR  OWN  TIME 

clemency  and  to  discontinue  prosecutions  against  violators  of 
the  law. 

The  election  of  November,  1870,  gave  Louisiana  to 
the  Republicans  by  a  substantial  majority,  but  almost 
immediately  the  party  began  to  break  up  into  factions. 
Governor  Warmoth  was  opposed  by  leading  federal  officers, 
who  succeeded  in  gaining  control  of  the  Republican  State 
convention.  With  the  assembling  of  the  Legislature  in 
January,  1872,  the  situation  assumed  a  grave  character.  On 
the  death  of  Lieutenant-Governor  Dunn,  in  November  of 
the  previous  year,  P.  B.  S.  Pinchback,  a  colored  adherent  of 
Warmoth,  had  been  elected  President  of  the  Senate,  but  the 
Administration  leaders  declared  his  election  illegal.  In  the 
House,  Speaker  Carter,  an  anti- Warmoth  man,  was  antagonized 
by  Warmoth's  friends.  After  a  bitter  struggle,  during  which 
Warmoth  and  a  number  of  his  supporters  were  arrested  by 
the  Federal  authorities,  Carter  was  deposed.  A  congressional 
committee  investigated  the  quarrel,  but  could  not  quiet  it,  and 
the  politics  of  Louisiana  continued  in  an  inflamed  condition. 

Estrangement  soon  arose  between  Governor  Warmoth 
and  Pinchback,  Warmoth  heading  the  Liberal  Republican 
movement  in  the  State.  After  much  manoeuvring  the  Liberals 
united  with  the  Democratic  and  "  Reform  "  parties  in  a  fusion 
ticket  headed  by  John  McEnery,  with  an  electoral  ticket  sup 
porting  Greeley  and  Brown.  The  Pinchback  faction  united 
with  the  Grant  party,  nominating  W.  P.  Kellogg  for  Governor 
and  Pinchback  for  Congressman-at-large.  There  can  be  little 
doubt  that  McEnery  was  elected  by  a  large  majority. 

The  returns  of  the  election  were  to  be  submitted  to  the 
State  Returning  Board.  At  the  time  of  the  election  the  Board 
consisted  of  Governor  Warmoth,  Lieut.-Gov.  Pinchback,  Sec 
retary  of  State  Herron,  John  Lynch,  and  T.  C.  Anderson. 
When  this  board  met,  Pinchback  and  Anderson  being  candi 
dates  for  office  at  this  election  whose  result  was  to  be  deter 
mined,  were  declared  incapable  of  serving.  The  Governor 

80 


THE   DISPERSAL    OF   THE   McENERT  LEGISLATURE   AT  ODD   FELLOWS'   HALL, 

NEW   ORLEANS 


On  March  6th,  187^,  a  body  of  Metropolitan  Police,  under  orders  from  General  Longstre 
Kellogg  militia,  marched  to  Odd  Fellows'  Hall,  where  the  McEnery  Legislature  was  in  s 
Jive  members  who  refused  to  disperse  or  to  leave  the  building. 


Commander    of   the 
nd  arrested  the  only 


FORCE  AND  ANARCHY   IN  LOUISIANA 

supplanted  Herron  with  a  more  trusty  friend,  and  proceeded 
to  fill  the  other  two  vacancies.  In  like  manner,  Lynch  and 
Herron,  professing  to  be  the  true  board,  supplied  their  own 
lack  in  numbers.  In  December,  the  Supreme  Court  of  the 
State  declared  Herron  an  intruder  into  the  office  of  Secretary 
of  State,  thus  demolishing  the  Lynch  and  Herron  board, 
while  Federal  Circuit  Judge  E.  H.  Durell,  in  answer  to 
Kellogg's  prayer,  enjoined  Warmoth's  board  from  acting. 
Meantime  a  legislative  act,  duly  passed  and  approved,  ousted 
both  boards  and  provided  for  a  new  one.  This  being  speedily 
organized,  the  returns  were  canvassed  and  McEnery  was  de 
clared  elected  Governor  by  a  majority  of  7,000. 

Kellogg's  prospects  now  seemed  desperate,  but  they  did 
not  prove  to  be  so.  On  the  night  of  December  5th,  "  in  his 
own  chambers,  without  any  previous  motion  in  Court,"  Justice 
Durell  drew  up  and  issued  to  the  United  States  Marshal, 
Packard,  the  following:  "  It  is  hereby  ordered,  that  the  Marshal 
of  the  United  States  for  the  District  of  Louisiana  shall  forth 
with  take  possession  of  the  building  known  as  the  Mechanics' 
Institute  and  occupied  as  the  State-house,  for  the  assembling 
of  the  Legislature  therein,  in  the  city  of  New  Orleans,  and  hold 
the  same  subject  to  the  further  order  of  the  Court;  and  mean 
while  to  prevent  all  unlawful  assemblage  therein  under  the 
guise  or  pretext  of  authority  claimed  by  virtue  of  pretended 
canvass  and  returns  made  by  said  pretended  returning  officers 
in  contempt  and  violation  of  said  restraining  order;  but  the 
Marshal  is  directed  to  allow  the  ingress  and  egress  to  and  from 
the  public  offices  in  said  building,  of  persons  entitled  to  the 
same." 

This  mandate,  void  in  point  of  law,  was  efficient,  and 
next  morning,  obeying  the  Marshal's  order,  Captain  Jackson, 
with  United  States  soldiers,  began  a  six  weeks'  occupation 
of  the  State-house.  Collector  of  the  Port,  Casey,  tele 
graphed  the  President :  "  Marshal  Packard  took  possession 
of  State-house  this  morning,  at  an  early  hour,  with  military 

83 


THE  UNITED  STATES  IN  OUR  OWN  TIME 

posse,  in  obedience  to  a  mandate  of  Circuit  Court,  to  prevent 
illegal  assemblage  of  persons  under  guise  of  authority  of  War- 
moth's  returning  board,  in  violation  of  injunction  of  Circuit 
Court.  .  .  The  decree  was  sweeping  in  its  provisions, 
and  if  enforced  will  save  the  Republican  majority  and  give 
Louisiana  a  Republican  Legislature  and  State  government.  " 

The  same  day  the  Lynch  board  met  and,  though  without 
the  returns,  elected  Kellogg  Governor  by  19,000  majority. 
They  then  proceeded  by  the  very  easy  and  summary  method 
set  forth  in  the  following  bit  of  testimony,  to  create  a  Republi 
can  legislature  in  place  of  the  legal  body : 

By  Mr.  Carpenter.  Q.  "  You  estimated  it,  then,  upon 
the  basis  of  what  you  thought  the  vote  ought  to  have  been  ?  " 

By  Lynch.  A.  "  Yes,  sir.  That  was  just  the  fact,  and 
I  think,  on  the  whole,  we  were  pretty  correct." 

This  Legislature  at  once  impeached  Warmoth,  thus  mak 
ing  Pinchback  Governor  for  the  unexpired  term.  The  Court 
again  aided,  enjoining  all  not  named  on  the  Lynch  list  from 
claiming  office,  and  enjoining  Warmoth  from  interfering  with 
the  organization  of  the  Lynch  Legislature. 

On  December  n,  1872,  Pinchback  telegraphed  the 
Attorney-General  at  Washington  :  "  May  I  suggest  that  the 
commanding  general  be  authorized  to  furnish  troops  upon  my 
requisition  upon  him,  for  the  protection  of  the  Legislature  and 
the  gubernatorial  office  ?  "  Kellogg,  the  heir  apparent,  also 
telegraphed:  "If  the  President  in  some  way  indicates  recogni 
tion,  Governor  Pinchback  and  Legislature  would  settle  every 
thing."  Collector  Casey  co-operated  :  "  The  delay  in  placing 
troops  at  disposal  of  Governor  Pinchback,  in  accordance  with 
joint  resolution,  is  disheartening  our  friends  and  cheering  our 
enemies.  If  requisition  of  Legislature  is  complied  with,  all 
difficulty  will  be  dissipated,  the  party  saved,  .  .  and  the  tide 
will  be  turned  at  once  in  our  favor  .  .  .  .  ' 

Next  day,  the  I2th,  Attorney-General  Williams  re 
sponded:  cc  Acting-Governor  Pinchback,  New  Orleans,  Loui- 

84 


FORCE  AND  ANARCHY   IN  LOUISIANA 

siana  :  Let  it  be  understood  that  you  are  recognized  by  the 
President  as  the  lawful  executive  of  Louisiana,  and  that  the 
body  assembled  at  Mechanics'  Institute  is  the  lawful  Legisla 
ture  of  the  State  ;  and  it  is  suggested  that  you  make  proclama 
tion  to  that  effect,  and  also  that  all  necessary  assistance  will  be 
given  to  you  and  the  Legislature  herein  recognized  to  protect 
the  State  from  disorder  and  violence." 

In  answer  to  a  telegram  from  McEnery,  begging  for 
delay  till  a  committee  of  citizens  could  lay  the  facts  before  the 
Executive,  came  the  following:  "  Hon  John  McEnery.  Your 
visit  with  a  hundred  citizens  will  be  unavailing,  so  far  as  the 
President  is  concerned.  His  decision  is  made  and  will  not  be 
changed,  and  the  sooner  it  is  acquiesced  in  the  sooner  good 
order  and  peace  will  be  restored.  Geo.  H.  Williams,  Attor 
ney-General."  Finally  this :  "  Washington,  December  14, 
1872.  General  W.  H.  Emory,  U.  S.  A.,  Commanding,  New 
Orleans,  Louisiana.  You  may  use  all  necessary  force  to  pre 
serve  the  peace,  and  will  recognize  the  authority  of  Governor 
Pinchback.  By  order  of  the  President :  E.  D.  Townsend, 
Adjutant-General." 

On  January  7,  1873,  the  day  appointed  for  the  assem 
bling  of  the  Legislature,  both  the  opposing  bodies  began 
operations  "  inter  arma"  A  week  later  both  Kellogg  and 
McEnery  took  the  oath  of  office.  President  Grant  supported 
the  Pinchback  claimants  with  federal  troops.  The  House 
of  Representatives  instructed  its  Committee  on  Privileges  and 
Elections  to  inquire  into  the  dispute.  A  report  was  made 
February  20,  1873,  which  condemned  federal  interference. 
The  committee  found  that  McEnery  was  de  jure  entitled  to 
the  governorship,  but  that  Kellogg,  supported  by  the  army, 
was  de  facto  Governor.  The  committee  recommended  the 
passage  of  an  act  "  to  secure  an  honest  re-election  "  in  Louis 
iana.  The  recommendation  was  not  adopted  and  anarchy,  in 
effect,  followed. 


CHAPTER  IV 

THE  GENEVA  AWARD  AND  THE  CREDIT 

MOBILIER 

OUTCOME     OF     THE     WASHINGTON     TREATY. THE    "  ALABAMA 

CLAIMS." VAIN  EFFORTS  AT  SETTLEMENT. THE  GENEVA  TRIBU 
NAL. RULES  FOR  ITS  GUIDANCE. QUESTIONS  ANSWERED  BY  IT. 

ITS   DECISION. THE  NORTHWESTERN  BOUNDARY  SETTLEMENT. — 

THE  CREDIT   MOBILIER  STORY. ENTHUSIASM   FOR  THE  WEST. — 

VASTNESS     OF     THAT     SECTION. THE     RUSH     THITHER. THE 

PIONEERS.  —  LAND-GRABBING. GRANTS    FOR    TRANSCONTINENTAL 

RAILWAYS. INCEPTION  OF  THE  UNION  PACIFIC  COMPANY. THE 

CREDIT  MOBILIER  COMPANY. OAKES  AMES  AND  HIS  CONTRACT. — 

STOCK  SOLD  TO  CONGRESSMEN. THE  "SUN's"  PUBLICATION. THE 

FACTS. — AMES'S  DEFENSE. — CENSURE  OF  HIM   BY  THE  HOUSE  OF 

REPRESENTATIVES. HIS   DEATH. REASONS  FOR   THE   SENTIMENT 

AGAINST  HIM. 

NOTHING  aided  President  Grant  and  his  party  in  their 
1872  campaign  more  than  the  honorable  outcome 
which  the  Treaty  of  Washington  had  in  the  Geneva  Award 
and  the  northwestern  boundary  settlement,  both  seasonably 
made  known  to  the  world  in  1872.  The  Award  related  to 
the  famous  Alabama  Claims,  and  meant  that  these,  or  the 
most  important  of  them,  must  be  paid  us  by  Great  Britain. 
Chief  credit  for  such  happy  result  was  due  to  Hon.  Hamilton 
Fish,  Grant's  Secretary  of  State,  yet  naturally  and  justly,  the 
Administration  as  a  whole  profited  by  his  triumphant  diplo 
macy. 

The  claims  usually  denominated  "  Alabama  "  claims  were 
partly  national  or,  less  accurately,  "  indirect,"  and  partly  indi 
vidual  or  direct.  The  national  claims  were  for  destruction  of 
United  States  commerce  or  its  transfer  to  other  flags  occa 
sioned  by  Confederate  privateers  fitted  out  wholly  or  partly  in 

87 


THE  UNITED  STATES  IN  OUR  OWN  TIME 

Great  Britain,  and  for  enhanced  marine  insurance  and  increased 
cost  of  the  war  in  life  and  treasure  due  to  the  same  cause. 
The  individual  or  direct  claims  were  for  damages  through  cer 
tain  specific  acts  of  depredation  by  Confederate  war-vessels, 
notably  the  Alabama^  the  Florida^  and  the  Shenandoah. 

In  spite  of  repeated  warnings  from  Hon.  Charles  Fran 
cis  Adams,  then  United  States  Minister  to  Great  Britain,  the 
Queen's  Government  had  suffered  the  Florida^  originally 
called  the  Oreto,  and  ostensibly  destined  for  Palermo,  Sicily, 
to  be  built  at  Liverpool  in  1862,  and  to  receive,  at  Green  Bay, 
near  Nassau,  arms  and  munitions  from  another  vessel.  The 
Florida  was  indeed  seized,  but  soon  released.  Adams's  sus 
picions  were  shortly  directed  against  another  vessel  building  at 
Liverpool,  called  "  the  290,"  from  the  number  of  merchants 
who  contributed  to  her  construction,  but  later  and  better 
known  as  the  Alabama.  His  suspicions  were  confirmed 
by  evidence  which  distinguished  British  counsel  declared 
"  almost  conclusive,"  sufficient  to  impose  a  "  heavy  responsi 
bility  "  upon  the  collector  of  customs  "  if  he  failed  to  detain 
her."  Easily  dodging  the  half-hearted  reach  that  was  made 
for  her,  "the  290"  went  forth  upon  her  career  of  devastation, 
continuing  it  until  she  was  sunk  by  the  Kearsage.  The 
Sbenandoah  cleared  from  Liverpool  as  a  merchant  vessel,  the 
Sea  King,  and  when,  in  November,  1865,  she  took  in  supplies 
and  enlisted  men  at  Melbourne,  English  liability  for  her  acts  be 
came  definitely  fixed.  .  Claims  of  a  less  conclusive  nature  were 
made  on  account  of  the  acts  of  ten  other  Confederate  privateers. 

Mr.  Adams  left  England  in  1868  without  having  ob 
tained  any  satisfaction  of  these  claims.  His  successor,  Hon. 
Reverdy  Johnson,  was  upon  his  arrival  in  London  much  dined 
and  wined.  He  made  effusive  speeches,  judging  from  which 
one  would  think  that  in  his  view  Great  Britain  could  do  no 
wrong.  Secretary  Seward,  too,  had  a  warm  regard  for  Eng 
land,  and  was  moreover  anxious  to  settle  the  difficulty  before 
leaving  office.  But  the  Johnson-Clarendon  Treaty,  the  off- 


THE  "ALABAMA  CLAIMS" 


The  Florida 


The   Sbenandoab 


The  Alabama,  or  2QO 


THREE   FAMOUS   CONFEDERATE   CRUISERS 


The  Shenandoah  is  from  a  photograph  of  a  drawing  owned  by  John  T.  Mason,  Esq. 
The  other  two  are  from  photographs  owned  by  John  M.  Kell,  Esq. 

spring  of  this  cordial  policy,  was,  in  the  spring  of  1869, 
unceremoniously  drummed  out  of  the  Senate  to  the  music  of 
Charles  Sumner's  famous  speech,  which,  as  one  paper  put  it, 
"  set  almost  all  Americans  to  swinging  their  hats  for  eight  or 
nine  days,  and  made  every  Englishman  double  up  his  fists  and 
curse  every  time  he  thought  of  it  for  several  weeks." 

That  treaty  contained  not  a  word  of  regret  for  England's 
unfriendly  posture  during  the  war,  or  the  slightest  confession 
of  fault.  It  ignored  the  national  claims  of  the  United  States, 
while  its  language  with  regard  to  British  citizens'  claims  against 
the  United  States,  whatever  was  intended  by  it,  was  so  catho 
lic  that  when  the  text  of  the  treaty  became  known  Confederate 
bonds  in  England  rose  from  their  tomb  with  ten  per  cent,  of 
their  original  vitality  about  them. 

On  becoming  President,  Grant  recalled  Johnson  and  sent 
to  succeed  him  John  Lothrop  Motley,  a  firm  friend  of  Sum 
ner's,  sharing  Sumner's  extreme  views  upon  the  British  ques 
tion.  But  the  policy  of  the  new  Administration  was  not  so 
radical  as  Sumner's.  It  laid  little  stress  upon  the  recognition 
of  belligerency  as  a  ground  for  damage,  and  left  Great  Britain 
to  take  the  initiative  in  coming  to  an  understanding.  Like 
Sumner,  Mr.  Motley  wished  to  insist  upon  damages  for  Eng- 

89 


THE  UNITED  STATES  IN  OUR  OWN  TIME 


CHARLES  SUMNER 


land's  premature  recognition  of  the 
Confederates  as  belligerents.  He, 
too,  was  soon  removed. 

At  the  instance  of  England,  a 
joint  High  Commission  was  speedily 
appointed  to  sit  in  Washington. 
The  Treaty  of  Washington,  drawn 
up  by  this  Commission  and  pro 
claimed  on  July  4,  1871,  provided 
for  an  adjustment  of  all  outstanding 
differences  between  the  countries 
touching  the  fisheries,  the  north 
western  boundary,  and  the  claims 
of  citizens  of  either  government 

against  the  other  for  acts  committed  during  the  Civil  War. 
The  Treaty  further  provided  "  for  the  reciprocal  free  navi 
gation  of  certain  rivers,  including  the  St.  Lawrence,  for  the 
common  use  of  certain  Canadian  and  American  canals,  and  for 
reciprocal  free  transit  across  the  territories  of  the  United 
States  or  Canada ;  these  provisions  to  be  enforced  by  ap 
propriate  legislation,  to  be  binding  for  ten  years,  and  term 
inable  thereafter  on  two  years'  notice."  In  all  its  articles 
together  the  Treaty  engaged  the  co-operation  of  no  fewer  than 
eight  sovereign  States.  The  Alabama  claims  it  referred  to  a 
Tribunal  of  Arbitration,  consisting  of  one  arbitrator  from  each 
of  the  high  contracting  parties  and  one  each  appointed  by  the 
executives  of  Italy,  Switzerland,  and  Brazil.  Count  Sclopis 
was  the  Italian  arbitrator,  Mr.  Jacques  Staempfli  the  Swiss, 
and  Baron  Itajuba  the  Brazilian.  The  tribunal  met  at  Geneva, 
December  15,  1871,  but,  as  we  have  observed,  did  not  render 
its  decision  until  the  succeeding  year. 

The  Treaty  of  Washington  had  laid  down  for  the  guidance 
of  the  tribunal  three  rules,  which  form  such  an  important  con 
tribution  to  international  law  that  they  deserve  quotation  in  full : 
"  A  neutral  government  is  bound, 

9o 


RULES  FOR  GUIDANCE  OF  GENEVA  TRIBUNAL 

"  First :  To  use  due  diligence  to  prevent  the  fitting  out, 
arming  or  equipping,  within  its  jurisdiction,  of  any  vessel 
which  it  has  reasonable  ground  to  believe  is  intended  to  cruise 
or  to  carry  on  war  against  a  power  with  which  it  is  at  peace  ; 
and  also  to  use  like  diligence  to  prevent  the  departure  from  its 
jurisdiction  of  any  vessel  intended  to  cruise  or  carry  on  war  as 
above,  such  vessel  having  been  specially  adapted,  in  whole  or 
in  part,  within  such  jurisdiction,  to  warlike  use. 

"  Secondly  :  Not  to  permit  or  suffer  either  belligerent  to 
make  use  of  its  ports  or  waters  as  the  base  of  naval  operations 
against  the  other,  or  for  the  purpose  of  the  renewal  or  aug 
mentation  of  military  supplies  or  arms,  or  the  recruitment  of 
men. 

"  Thirdly  :  To  exercise  due  diligence  in  its  own  ports  and 
waters,  and,  as  to  all  persons  within  its  jurisdiction,  to  prevent 
any  violation  of  the  foregoing  obligations  and  duties." 

In  the  text  of  the  Treaty  of  Washington  Great  Britain 
denied  that  these  rules  were  a  true  statement  of  the  principles 
of  international  law  as  that  law  stood  during  the  American 
Civil  War,  but  consented  that  the  Alabama  Claims  should  be 
decided  in  accordance  with  them  notwithstanding.  Both  coun 
tries  agreed  to  abide  by  these  principles  in  future,  and  to  invite 
other  maritime  powers  to  do  the  same. 

Question  being  raised  as  to  the  interpretation  of  certain 
terms  and  the  scope  of  certain  provisions  in  the  fehree  rules,  the 
tribunal  made  the  following  preliminary  decisions  : 

1.  The  meaning  of  "due  diligence."     The  tribunal  took 
the  ground  that  what  constitutes  "  due  diligence  "  varies  with 
the  circumstances  of  the  case.     The  greater  the  probable  dam 
age  to  either  belligerent,  the  greater  must  be  the  care  taken  by 
the  neutral  government  to  prevent  the  escape  of  cruisers  from 
its  ports. 

2.  Should  a  neutral  detain  an  escaped  cruiser  when  it  re- 
enters    the    neutral's   jurisdiction,    the    cruiser    having  in  the 
meantime   been   regularly  commissioned   by  its   government  ? 

91 


THE  UNITED  STATES  IN  OUR  OWN  TIME 

The  arbitrators  decided  that  the  neutral  had  a  right  to  detain 
such  a  cruiser,  in  spite  of  its  commission,  but  was  under  no 
positive  obligation  to  do  so. 

3.  Does  a  neutral's  responsibility  end  with  the  enforce 
ment  of  its  local  laws  to  prevent  the  escape  of  cruisers,  even  if 
those  laws  are  inadequate  ?  Decision  was  given  that  the  case 
must  be  determined  by  international  law  and  not  by  national 
legislation.  If  a  country's  regulations  for  carrying  out  its  ac 
knowledged  international  duties  are  ineffective,  they  ought  to 
be  changed. 

Though  these  decisions  touching  the  law  of  nations  were 
of  world-wide  significance,  the  verdict  on  the  facts  in  the  case 
had  a  more  immediate  interest  for  the  American  people.  In 
direct  claims  the  tribunal  dismissed,  and  it  made  no  award  for 
the  expense  of  pursuing  Confederate  cruisers,  or  for  any  pro 
spective  earnings  which  ships  lost  through  them.  But,  for  Great 
Britain's  negligence  in  failing  to  prevent  the  equipment,  arm 
ing,  and  provisioning  of  the  Confederate  privateers,  the  gross 
sum  of  $15,500,000  was  awarded  the  United  States.  Sir  Al 
exander  Cockburn,  the  English  "  arbitrator,"  was  the  only  one 
to  take  this  decree  with  ill  grace.  On  the  announcement  of  it 
he  seized  his  hat  and  left  the  room  without  so  much  as  an 
adieu,  getting  "  leave  to  print"  with  the  record  of  the  proceed 
ings  a  choleric  document  known  as  his  "  Opinions." 

The  dispute  as  to  our  northwestern  boundary  was  also 
decided  in  our  favor  during  1872.  By  a  treaty  of  1846  the 
boundary  line  between  the  United  States  and  British  America 
was  run  westward  along  the  49th  parallel  "  to  the  middle  of 
the  channel  which  separates  the  continent  from  Vancouver's 
Island,  thence  southerly  through  the  middle  of  the  said  chan 
nel  and  of  Fuca's  Strait,  to  the  Pacific  Ocean."  Should 
"  the  middle  "  referred  to  be  interpreted  as  passing  through 
the  Strait  of  Rosario,  on  the  side  next  Washington  Territory, 
or  through  the  Canal  de  Haro,  on  the  Vancouver  side  of  the 
archipelago  there  ?  Should  those  islands  be  looped  into  the 

92 


Charles  Francis  Jacques          Count 

Adams  Staempfii        Sdofis 

M.   Favrot,  Secretary 


Baron 
Itajuba 


Sir  Alexander 
Cockburn 


COUNT   SCLOPTS    ANNOUNCING    THE    DECISION    OF    THE    GENEVA    TRIBUNAL 

['•'•Sir  Alexander  Cockburn      .      .      .      left  the  room  -without  so  much  as  an  adieu."] 
Painted  by  W.  R.  Leigh  from  photografhs  and  diagrams  loaned  by  J.  C.  Bancroft  Davis,  Esy. 


ENTHUSIASM    FOR   THE  WEST 

territory  of  Uncle  Sam,  or  given  to  John  Bull  ?  This  ques 
tion  the  Treaty  of  Washington  referred  to  Emperor  William  I., 
of  Germany. 

The  historian  Bancroft,  the  only  surviving  statesman  save 
one  concerned  in  negotiating  the  1846  treaty,  argued  our 
claims  in  this  matter,  and  on  October  21,  1872,  had  the  satis 
faction  of  seeing  his  plea  crowned  by  a  favorable  decision. 
"  The  award,"  said  President  Grant,  "  leaves  us  for  the  first 
time  in  the  history  of  the  United  States  as  a  nation,  without  a 
question  of  disputed  boundary  between  our  territory  and  the 
possessions  of  Great  Britain."  It  was  a  proud  result  for  the 
President,  and  assisted  not  a  little  in  his  re-election. 

While  the  consequences  of  the  memorable  Treaty  of 
Washington  were  favorable  to  the  party  in^  power,  another 
revelation  of  the  campaign  had  much  influence  in  the  opposite 
direction.  In  August,  1872,  when  the  excitement  of  the  Pres 
idential  strife  was  already  high,  the  New  York  Sun  published  a 
story  which  added  fresh  fuel  to  the  political  fires  already  rag 
ing,  and  promised  to  generate  much  steam  to  propel  the  Gree- 
ley  movement.  It  related  to  the  Credit  Mobilier  operations  in 
constructing  the  Union  Pacific  Railway.  If  true,  the  facts  said 
to  exist  involved  in  corruption  the  Speaker  of  the  House,  the 
Vice-President,the  Republican  nominee  for  the  vice-presidency, 
the  Secretary  of  the  Treasury,  and  others  high  in  political  life. 

Enthusiasm  for  the  Great  West  kindled  again  after  the 
war  and  became  a  mania.  The  climate  and  soil  of  the  region 
had  been  persistently  misrepresented  by  the  Hudson  Bay 
Company,  by  Great  Britain  its  successor  in  title,  by  influen 
tial  Southerners  jealous  of  the  North,  and  by  numerous  ex 
ploring  parties.  The  "  Great  American  Desert  "  was  a  dragon 
of  which  numberless  horrors  were  related.  So  early  as  1850 
it  had  been  outflanked  by  way  of  the  Horn  and  threatened 
from  the  Pacific  Coast,  but  not  till  after  the  war,  when  South 
ern  influence  was  withdrawn,  was  it  transfixed  by  any  avenue 
of  general  travel  or  trade. 

95 


THE  UNITED  STATES  IN  OUR  OWN  TIME 

The  United  States  west  of  the  Mississippi,  leaving  out 
Texas,  Minnesota,  and  California,  naturally  broke  up  as 
follows:  (i)  The  Arkansas  District,  embracing  Arkansas, 
most  of  Indian  Territory  and  a  portion  of  Missouri.  Here 
were  bottoms  of  Egyptian  fertility  and  warmth,  subject  to 
heavy  rainfall,  in  parts  forest-covered.  Beyond  the  Ozarks 
was  a  colder  and  dryer  plateau.  (2)  The  Lower  Missouri 
Valley,  including  nearly  the  whole  State  of  Missouri,  also 
western  Iowa  and  part  of  Kansas  and  Nebraska.  This  was 
opened  to  settlement  earlier  than  (i)  and  was  the  sooner 
populated.  The  rainfall  and  temperature  here  were  suited  to 
all  northern  crops,  and  the  land  was  nearly  level.  (3)  The 
Upper  Missouri  Valley,  practically  coinciding  with  North  and 
South  Dakota.  This  tract  was  higher,  dryer  and  much  colder 
than  (2).  Fortunately,  where  it  was  cold,  surface  coal  was 
to  be  had  for  the  digging,  and  where  arid,  the  earth  beneath 
seemed  a  vast  subterranean  sponge,  rendering  artesian  wells  a 
successful  means  of  irrigation.  This  district  was  unwooded. 
(4)  The  Cordilleran  Plateau,  extending  from  100°  W.  long., 


^ItL^kx, 


Lord  Tenterden  Mountague  Bernard  Sir  Alexander  Cockburn  Sir  Roundel!  Palmer 

THE    ENGLISH  REPRESENTATIVES   AT  GENEVA 

westward  to  the  Rocky  Mountains,  and  from  near  the  Cana 
dian  border  to  the  Rio  Grande.  This  vast  area  was  too  arid  for 
the  plow.  Formerly  a  buffalo  range,  it  has  become  a  great 
cattle  pasture,  and  is  apparently  destined  to  continue  such. 

96 


THE   RUSH    TO  THE  WEST 

(5)  The   Mountain  Region,  in  width  from   500  miles  at  the 
north  and  south  to  1,000  in  the  middle,  composed   of  basins 
more   or   less   extensive,  enclosed  by    sharp  and  high  ridges. 
Irrigation  made  some  farming  possible  here,  but  the  mineral 
wealth  was   immense   and  mining  became  the  main  industry. 

(6)  The  Northwestern  Country,  comprising  parts  of  Wyoming, 
Idaho,  Montana,  and  the  States  of  Washington  and  Oregon. 
Here  timber  was    plentiful  and  farming  profitable.      On  the 
Pacific  Slope  from   50   to  200   cords  of  wood  per  acre  could 
be  cut,  and  all  ordinary  crops  and  fruits  save  grapes  succeeded. 

The  settler's  way  to  this  Promised  Land  was  in  some 
measure  made  smooth  between  1860  and  1870.  Arizona, 
Colorado,  Dakota,  Idaho,  Montana  and  Wyoming  had  been 
organized  as  territories  ;  Kansas,  Nebraska  and  Nevada  had 
been  admitted  to  statehood.  The  status  of  the  West  when 
the  rush  commenced  we  set  forth  in  Chapter  I.  Enormous 
companies  came  to  the  Red  River  Valley,  to  Colorado,  where 
raged  a  mining  furor  second  only  to  that  witnessed  by 


Crf/^  Gushing          William  M.  Evarts     Charles  Francis  Adams       J.  C.  Bancroft  Davis       Morrison  R.  Waitc 
THE    AMERICAN    REPRESENTATIVES   AT   GENEVA 

fornia  in  '49,  to  Utah,  and  to  the  Slope.  People  pressed 
along  all  river  courses,  especially  up  and  down  the  valley  of 
the  Columbia.  Montana  received  a  farming  quota.  Helena, 
whose  main  street  was  the  Last  Chance  Gulch,  was  destined, 

97 


THE  UNITED  STATES  IN  OUR  OWN  TIME 

unlike  its  compeer,  Virginia  City,  to  survive  and  thrive  even 
when  the  Last  Chance  Gulch  should  become  a  reminiscence. 
From  California  and  Colorado  the  Territory  caught  the  gam 
bling  spirit.  It  was  said  that  two  Montana  mining  millionaires 
were  one  evening  contributing  red,  white  and  blue  wafers  to  a 
goodly  pile  on  the  table  between  them,  which  in  due  time  was 
"  raked  in."  As  they  were  about  to  proceed  to  a  new  deal, 
an  Eastern  stranger  approached,  threw  down  a  hundred  dollar 
bill  and  said:  "  Gentlemen,  I  would  like  to  join  you.  There's 
the  money  for  some  chips."  Whereupon  one  of  the  players 
told  "  Sam,"  the  banker,  to  "  take  the  gentleman's  money  and 
give  him  a  white  chip." 

Many  of  the  Western  pioneers  were  rough  fellows,  some 
of  them  desperadoes.  The  orderly  population  which  came 
later  brought  the  bad  element  under  control,  at  first  by  vigi 
lance  committees,  then  by  law  and  order  methods,  though  the 
pistol  long  had  much  to  do  in  keeping  as  well  as  in  breaking 
the  civil  peace.  Visitors  w7ere  early  struck  with  the  very  con 
siderable  culture  of  the  people  and  by  the  many  articles  of 
comfort  and  even  luxury  in  those  Western  towns  of  .a  day. 
Newspapers  were  common  from  the  first.  Asked  how  a 
town  of  a  few  thousand  could  support  four  dailies,  a  resident 
replied,  "  Why,  stranger,  it  takes  all  those  dailies  to  support 
the  town."  "Booming"  became  a  fine  art.  "No  Other 
Land,"  said  one  sheet,  "  No  Other  Clime  On  Top  of  God's 
Green  Earth,  Where  Land  is  Free  as  Church  Bells'  Chime, 
Save  the  Land  of  Dakota  Dirt.  Here  For  a  Year  of  Honest 
Toil  a  Home  You  May  Insure,  and  From  the  Black  and 
Loamy  Soil  a  Title  in  Fee  Mature.  No  Money  Needed 
Until  the  Day  When  the  Earth  Provides;  Until  You  Raise 
a  Crop,  no  Pay  : — What  Can  You  Ask  Besides  ?  " 

Nevada  received  an  overflow  from  the  West — from  Cali 
fornia.  Here  and  there,  slowly  transforming  the  desert  into  an 
empire,  were  scattered  still  other  pools  and  lakes  of  humanity. 
Not  the  least  important  of  these  was  the  Black  Hills  settlement. 


U.  S.  GRANT 

From  a  f  holograph  by  Walker,  June  2,  iSfj.  General  Grant  shaved  his  beard 
on  purpose,  the  picture  being  for  use  in  cutting  a  cameo.  Only  two  copies  each 
of  the  two  -views,  showing  right  and  left  profile,  were  printed. 


LAND  GRABBING 


GEORGE     BANCROFT 
jlftcr    a     photograph    in    the 
historical    collection    of    H. 
US.  Fay. 


The  rumor  of  "  Gold  in  the  Black  Hills  " 
grew  rife  in  1874,  and  the  soldiers  were  in 
straits  to  dam  the  tide  of  prospectors  till  a 
treaty  of  cession  could  be  obtained  to  ex 
tinguish  the  Sioux  title.  "  All  same  old 
story,"  said  a  warrior.  "  White  men  come, 
build  chu-chu  through  reservation.  White 
men  yawpy-yawpy.  Say,  '  Good  Indian, 
good  Indian  ;  we  want  land.  We  give  muz- 
es-kow  (money),  liliota  muz-es-kow  (plenty 
money).'  Indian  say,  '  Yes.'  What  In 
dian  get  ?  Wah-nee-che  (nothing).  Some  day  white  man  want 
move  Indian.  White  men  yawpy-yawpy.  c  Good  Indian, 
good  Indian  ;  give  good  Indian  liliota  muz-es-kow.'  What  In 
dian  get  ?  Wah-nee-chee.  Some  day  white  man  want  half 
big  reservation.  He  come  Indian.  Yawpy-yawpy :  '  Good 
Indian;  we  give  .Indian  liliota  muz-es-kow.'  Indian  heap 
fool.  He  say,  c  Yes.'  What  Indian  get?  Wah-nee-chee. 
All  same  old  story.  £  Good  Indian,  good  Indian.'  Get 
nothing  !  "* 

In  one  way  and  another  speculators  seized  upon  choice 
slices  of  the  public  domain.  Often  the  alternate  quarter-sec 
tions  belonging  to  a  railroad  would  be  bought  up,  and  the 
other  quarter-sections — government  land — secured  in  due 
time  through  "  dummies "  located  for  the  purpose.  One 
Montana  land  shark  gave  a  series  of  balls  and  dinners  at  a 
country  house,  inviting  a  large  number  of  ladies,  and  accom 
panying  every  invitation  with  a  promise  of  a  $100  present. 
At  each  festival,  in  the  midst  of  the  whirl,  each  guest  signed 
a  claim  to  a  homesteader's  rights  in  the  adjoining  lands. 
When  the  "  claims  "  were  "  proved  up  "  each  lady  received 
her  $100  and  the  authors  of  the  scheme  got  land  enough  for 
a  dukedom.  As  many  such  marches  depended  upon  irrigation 
for  their  value,  "  grabs "  for  "  water-rights "  early  began. 

*"Our  Great  West,"  by  Julian  Ralph. 


THE  UNITED  STATES  IN  OUR  OWN  TIME 


"  We  who  are  on  the  ground,"  said  an  enterprising  Mohtanian, 
"  are  going  to  get  whatever  there  is  lying  around.  You  don't 
suppose  we  are  going  to  let  a  parcel  of  strangers  pre-empt  the 
water-rights  so  that  we  must  pay  taxes  to  them  ?  No  ;  we 
prefer  to  let  them  pay  the  taxes  to  us."  A  very  reasonable 
preference. 

Queer  land  laws  and  railroad  bonuses  made  possible  bo 
nanza  farming  on  an  enormous  scale.  In  the  course  of  years 
farming  of  this  sort  raised  up  bands  of  nomadic  farm-hands, 
who,  beginning  at  the  South,  worked  northward  with  the 
advancing  season  till  the  ripened  year  found  them  beyond  the 
Canada  border.  There  were  also  companies  of  sheep-shear 
ing  specialists,  who 


usually  made  two 
rounds  a  year, 
passing  their  win 
ters  riotously  in  the 
towns  and  cities. 
The  great  cattle- 
ranges  were  tra 
versed  by  still 
other  nomads,  the 
"  cow-boys,"  in  *"g 
bands  known  as 
"  trails,"  traveling 
about  a  day  apart, 
each  "  trail  "  with 
its  camp  equipage 

and  relay  of  broncos.  Texas  cattle  would  be  driven  north 
ward  to  fatten  upon  the  Montanian  "  Bad  Lands  "  as  a  pre 
paration  for  their  final  journey  to  Chicago. 

Some  traits  in  the  foregoing  sketch  anticipate  a  little,  yet 
enough  of  it  was  true  so  early  as  the  end  of  the  war  to  assure 
a  few  that  the  West  was  to  have  an  enormous  development. 
Two  transcontinental  railways  were  planned,  one  to  cross  the 


Boundary  claimed  by  England 

*- Boundary  claimed  by  the  United  States 

THE    NORTHWEST  WATER  BOUNDARY 


GRANTS  FOR  TRANSCONTINENTAL  RAILWAYS 

*"  Great  Desert,"  the  other  to  round  its  northern  end,  both  to 
be  equipped  as  soon  as  possible  with  branch  and  connecting 
lines.  The  more  southerly,  the  Union  and  Central  Pacific, 
had  the  advantage  of  earlier  completion  and  a  more  developed 
western  terminus  ;  but  the  Northern  Pacific  could  cross  the  Cor 
dilleras  at  a  lower  level  and  need  traverse  no  desert.  Both  enter 
prises  were  unstintedly  favored  by  grants  of  public  land.*  This 
policy  was  widely  condemned,  but  also  vigorously  defended. 

In  1871  a  competent  writer  discussing  the  grant  to  the 
Northern  Pacific  declared  it  self-evident  that  as  a  result  of  the 
opening  of  this  region  the  Government  would  get  ample 
returns  for  its  liberality.  It  was  more  than  a  royal  subsidy  by 
which  it  had  secured  the  construction  of  that  great  highway. 
It  had  given  therefor  50,000,000  acres  of  land,  an  area  larger 
than  many  kingdoms,  worth,  if  sold  at  the  average  price  of 
the  Minnesota  school  lands,  $350,000,000;  if  sold  like  the 
lands  of  the  Illinois  Central  Railroad,  $550,000,000.  Mr. 
Wilson,  for  many  years  Commissioner  of  the  Land  Depart 
ment  of  the  Illinois  Central  Railroad,  comparing  this  grant 
with  the  Illinois  Central  Railroad  grant,  thought  it  a  small 
estimate  to  say  that  if  properly  managed  the  Northern  Pa 
cific's  land  would  build  the  entire  road  connecting  the  then 
terminus  of  the  Grand  Trunk  through  to  Puget  Sound,  the 
head  of  navigation  on  the  Columbia,  fit  out  an  entire  fleet  of 
sailing  vessels  and  steamers  for  the  China,  East  Indian  and 
coasting  trade,  and  leave  a  surplus  that  would  roll  up  to  mil 
lions.  He  deemed  the  probable  value  of  the  grant  $990,000,- 
ooo,  its  possible  value  $1,320,000,000.  The  Government 
gained  no  popularity  by  a  gift  so  vast.  At  the  Jay  Cooke  & 
Co.  failure  in  1873  a  large  part  of  these  lands  passed  to  credi 
tors  of  the  road,  one  of  the  circumstances  which  contributed  to 
make  bonanza  farming  so  marked  a  feature  in  parts  of  the  West. 

*In  all  the  Union  Pacific  received  13,000,100  acres,  the  Central  Pacific,  12,100,100; 
the  Northern  Pacific,  47,000,000  ;  the  Kansas  Pacific,  6,000,000  ;  the  Atlantic  and  Pacific, 
42,000,0005  the  Southern  Pacific,  9,520,000.  The  first  transcontinental  lines  also  got  subsi 
dies  exceeding  $60,000,000. 

103 


THE  UNITED  STATES  IN  OUR  OWN  TIME 

In  July,  1862,  Congress  created  the  Union  Pacific  Rail 
way  Company  to  build  a  railroad  from  the  Missouri  River  to 
the  Pacific  Ocean,  fixing  at  $1,000,000,000  the  amount  of  its 
stock,  loaning  it  a  vast  sum  in  government  bonds,  endowing 
it  with  an  enormous  amount  of  land  along  the  route,  and 
allowing  it  till  1876  to  complete  the  enterprise.  The  shares 
sold  slowly,  and  it  was  soon  clear  that  unless  Congress  gave 
better  terms  the  undertaking  would  fail.  Accordingly  a  more 
liberal  act  was  passed.  Even  this  did  not  put  the  road  in  a 
way  to  completion.  Contractors,  several  of  whom  were 
besought  to  do  so,  hesitated  to  undertake  the  building  of  such 
a  line  or  any  part  of  it,  and  but  eleven  miles  of  the  construc 
tion  were  accomplished  up  to  September,  1865.  Most  be 
lieved  either  that  the  road  could  not  be  built  or  that  it  would 
never  pay. 

In  March,  1865,  the  Credit  Mobilier  of  America,  a  com 
pany  organized  by  the  Pennsylvania  Legislature  in  1859  as 
the  "  Pennsylvania  Fiscal  Agency,  "and  in  its  new  form  soon 
amply  equipped  with  capital,  contracted  with  the  Union  Pacific 
to  go  forward  with  the  construction.  Two  hundred  and 
forty-seven  miles  of  road  were  thus  built,  carrying  the  line  to 
the  one-hundreth  meridian.  Then  arose  trouble  within  the 
Credit  Mobilier  Company.  T.  C.  Durant,  President  of  this 
and  Vice-President  of  the  Union  Pacific,  wished  the  Mobilier 
to  realize  at  once  all  possible  profits  out  of  the  construction, 
while  his  opponents,  New  England  parties,  believing  that  the 
road  would  pay,  were  inclined  to  deal  honestly  with  it,  expect 
ing  their  profits  as  corporators  in  the  Mobilier  to  come  from 
the  appreciation  of  the  Union  Pacific  stock,  in  which,  to  a 
great  extent,  the  Mobilier  was  paid  for  its  work.  This  party 
sought  to  eject  Durant  from  the  Mobilier  management,  and  at 
length  did  so  ;  but  his  power  in  the  railway  corporation  was 
sufficient  to  prevent  the  Mobilier  as  such  from  getting  a  fur 
ther  contract.  After  much  contention,  during  which  the  Mo 
bilier  was  on  the  verge  of  failing,  Durant  consented  that  Oakes. 

104 


UNION  PACIFIC  STOCK  SOLD  TO  CONGRESSMEN 


Ames  might  take  a  contract  to  push  the  construction  of  the 
road.  Mr.  Ames  was  at  the  time  a  Mobilier  stockholder  and 
a  representative  in  Congress  from  Massachusetts. 

Ames's  contract  was  dated  August  16,  1867,  but  on  the 
1 5th  of  the  next  October  he  made  it  over  to  seven  trustees, 
who  took  Ames's  place  as  contractor.  They  did  all  the  things 
which  he  had  agreed  to  do,  and  were  remunerated  just  as  he 
was  to  be.  The  trustees  bound  themselves  to  pay  over  all  the 
profits  of  their  contract  to  the  Mobilier  stockholders  in  the 
proportions  in  which  these  severally  held  stock  at  the  date  of 
their  contract.  This  arrangement  was  fully  carried  out  and 
the  road  finished,  under  it.  It  was  an  adroit  way  of  circum 
venting  Durant  and  enabling  the  Mobilier  to  build  the  road 
in  spite  of  him. 

During  1867  and  1868  Ames  sold  shares  of  Credit  Mo 
bilier  stock  to  many  members  of  Congress.     He  gave  away 

none,  but  in  a  number  of 
cases  payment  was  con 
siderably  subsequent  to 
sale.  Though  worth  much 
more,  every  share  was  sold 
for  par  and  interest,  just 
what  it  cost  Ames  himself. 
Colonel  H.  S.  Mc- 
Comb,  of  Delaware,  in 
virtue  of  a  subscription 
that  he  said  he  had  made 
for  a  friend,  claimed  of 
Ames  $25,000  in  Mobi 
lier  stock  which  he  alleged 
had  never  been  received. 
Letters  passed  back  and 
forth  between  McComb 
and  Ames,  in  one  of  which 
Ames,  a  blunt,  outspoken 


EMPEROR   WILLIAM    I.    OF    GERMANY 


105 


THE  UNITED  STATES  IN  OUR  OWN  TIME 

man,  declared  that  he  had  placed  the  stock  with  influential 
gentlemen  (naming  several  Congressmen)  "  where  it  would  do 
the  most  good."  Press  and  public  eagerly  took  up  this  phrase. 
Soon  it  was  in  every  mouth,  all  placing  upon  it  the  worst  con 
struction  which  the  words  could  bear.  McComb  pressed  his 
suit  and  at  last  the  letters  were  published.  The  New  York 
Sun  of  September  4,  1872,  hi  the  very  heat  of  the  Greeley 
campaign,  came  out  with  the  heading  :  "  The  King  of  Frauds  ; 
How  the  Credit  Mobilier  bought  its  Way  through  Congress  ;  " 
stating  that  Ames  had  distributed  in  bribes  thirty  thousand 
shares  of  the  stock,  worth  nine  millions  of  dollars.  The  scan 
dal  ran  through  the  country  like  wildfire,  the-  allegations  being 
very  generally  believed,  as  they  probably  are  still. 

But  we  now  know  that  they  comprised  partly  gross  fabri 
cations  and  partly  gross  exaggerations.  Mr.  Ames's  motive 
was  laudable — the  completion  of  a  great  national  work,  which 
has  long  since  paid  the  country  many  times  its  cost.  He  knew 
that  the  Pacific  Railway  had  bitter  enemies  in  Congress  and 
outside,  most  of  them  not  public-spirited,  but  the  blackmailer 
servants  of  Durant,  who  stood  ready,  should  opportunity 
offer,  to  work  its  ruin.  He  wished  to  be  fortified.  His  method 
certainly  carried  him  to  the  verge  of  propriety,  and  perhaps 
beyond  ;  but,  everything  considered,  the  evidence  shows  little 
ground  for  the  peculiar  execration  visited  upon  him.  The  Po 
land  Committee  of  the  House,  reporting  on  February  18, 
1873,  declared  that  Ames  had  acted  with  "intent  to  influence 
the  votes  of  members."  In  the  sense  that  he  sought  to  inter 
est  men  in  the  enterprise  and  to  prevent  them  from  sacrificing 
it  through  apathy  or  spite,  this  was  probably  true.  That  it 
was  true  in  any  other  sense  is  at  least  not  proved. 

"  These,  then,  are  my  offences,"  said  Ames,  in  his  de 
fence  ;  "  that  I  have  risked  reputation,  fortune,  everything,  in 
an  enterprise  of  incalculable  moment  to  the  Government,  from 
which  the  capital  of  the  world  shrank  ;  that  I  have  sought  to 
strengthen  the  work  thus  rashly  undertaken  by  invoking  the 

106 


OAKES  AMES'S   DEFENCE 

charitable  judgment  of  the  public  upon 
its  obstacles  and  embarrassments  ;  that 
I  have  had  friends,  some  of  them  in 
official  life,  with  whom  I  have  been 
willing  to  share  advantageous  oppor 
tunities  for  investments  ;  that  I  have 
kept  to  the  truth  through  good  and 
evil  report,  denying  nothing,  con 
cealing  nothing,  reserving  nothing. 
Who  will  say  that  I  alone  am  to  be  OAKES  AMES 

offered  up  a  sacrifice  to  appease  a  pub 
lic  clamor  or  expiate  the  sins  of  others  ?  Not  until  such  an 
offering  is  made  will  I  believe  it  possible.  But  if  this  body 
shall  so  order  that  it  can  best  be  purified  by  the  choice  of  a 
single  victim,  I  shall  accept  its  mandate,  appealing  with  un 
faltering  confidence  to  the  impartial  verdict  of  history  for  that 
vindication  which  it  is  proposed  to  deny  me  here." 

The  committee  recommended  his  expulsion.  "  It  was 
useless  to  point  out  that  no  act  was  before  Congress  at  the 
time  of  the  alleged  bribery,  or  before  or  after  it,  for  which 
Ames  was  seeking  votes.  No  person  whom  he  had  bribed  or 
sought  to  bribe  was  produced.  Nor  was  any  object  he  had 
attempted  to  accomplish  suggested."  Hon.  B.  F.  Boyer,  one 
of  those  who  received  stock,  testified  : 

"  I  had  no  idea  of  wrong  in  the  matter.  Nor  do  I  now 
see  how  it  concerns  the  public.  No  one  connected  with  either 
the  Credit  Mobilier  or  the  Union  Pacific  Railroad  ever  directly 
or  indirectly  expressed,  or  in  any  way  hinted,  that  my  services 
as  a  member  of  Congress  were  expected  in  behalf  of  either 
corporation  in  consideration  of  the  stock  I  obtained,  and  cer 
tainly  no  such  services  were  ever  rendered.  I  was  much  less 
embarrassed  as  a  member  of  Congress  by  the  ownership  ot 
Credit  Mobilier  stock  than  I  should  have  been  had  I  owned 
stock  in  a  national  bank,  or  in  an  iron-furnace,  or  a  woollen- 
mill,  or  even  been  a  holder  of  government  bonds  ;  for  there 

107 


THE  UNITED  STATES  IN  OUR  OWN  TIME 

was  important  legislation  while  I  was  in  Congress  affecting  all" 
these  interests,  but  no  legislation  whatever  concerning  the 
Credit  Mobilier.  I  can  therefore  find  nothing  in  my  conduct 
in  that  regard  to  regret.  It  was,  in  my  judgment,  both  honest 
and  honorable,  and  consistent  with  my  position  as  a  member 
of  Congress.  And,  as  the  investment  turned  out  to  be  profit 
able,  my  only  regret  is  that  it  was  no  larger  in  amount." 

The  House  proceeded  to  censure  Ames,  and  it  would 
probably  have  expelled  him,  had  not  the  alleged  offence  been 
committed  under  a  previous  Congress.  Soon  after  this  cen 
sure,  which  aggravated  a  disease  already  upon  him,  Mr.  Ames 
went  home  to  die.  The  Wilson  Committee  reported  that  the 
Mobilier  had  "  wronged  "  the  Government,  and  drafted  a  bill, 
which  was  passed,  ordering  the  Attorney-General  to  bring  suit 
against  its  stockholders.  He  did  so,  and  pushed  it  to  the 
Supreme  Court,  but  it  lamentably  failed  at  every  step. 

These  congressional  charges  against  Oakes  Ames  have  in 
no  wise  the  weight  which  has  been  attached  to  them.  In 
making  them,  the  House  was  actuated  by  a  popular  clamor 
against  the  Credit  Mobilier,  sedulously  worked  up  by  the  Demo 
cratic  press  and  by  Durant.  Many  members  who  voted  for 
the  censure  at  once  apologized  to  Ames,  saying  that  they  had 
done  so  purely  for  fear  of  their  constituents.  That  "  credit 
mobilier  "  was  a  foreign  name  rendered  men  suspicious  of  the 
thing  named.  The  French  Credit  Mobilier,  from  which  the 
American  concern  took  its  title,  had  got  into  trouble  in  1868 
and  been  wound  up.  Such  as  knew  of  this  thought  that  fraud 
must  of  course  taint  the  Credit  Mobilier  of  America  as  well. 
Some  of  those  charged  with  having  received  Ames's  alleged 
bribes  cleared  themselves  at  his  expense,  falsely  denying  all 
knowledge  of  the  Mobilier  and  declaring  that  they  had  never 
directly  or  indirectly  held  any  of  the  stock.  Such  eagerness 
to  disavow  connection  with  it  deepened  people's  suspicion  of 
it.  Pressure  was  used  to  force  Ames,  who  himself  courted  in 
vestigation,  to  support  these  denials.  It  availed  so  far  as  to 

108 


REASONS  FOR  THE  SENTIMENT  AGAINST  AMES 

make  him  hesitate,  telling  his  story  reluctantly  and  by  piece 
meal,  as  if  he  dreaded  the  truth.  This  of  course  had  a  further 
bad  effect.  In  these  ways  an  almost  universal  impression  came 
to  prevail  that  a  fearful  crime  had  been  committed,  involving 
most  and  perhaps  all  the  leaders  of  the  Republican  party. 
Here  was  rich  chance  for  partisan  capital.  Democrats  and 
Liberals  presented  the  scandal  in  the  worst  possible  light  and 
with  telling  effect.  Could  anything  have  defeated  Grant,  this 
would  assuredly  have  done  so. 


109 


CHAPTER  V 

"CARPET-BAGGER"  AND  "SCALAWAG"  IN 

DIXIE 

GRANT'S  RE-ELECTION  AND  THE  SOUTH. — COURT  DECISIONS  CONFIRM 
ING  STATE  SOVEREIGNTY. THE  LOUISIANA  "  SLAUGHTER-HOUSE 

CASES." OSBORN  VS.  NICHOLSON. WHITE  VS.   HART. DESOLATION 

AT  THE  SOUTH  AFTER  THE  WAR. DISCOURAGEMENT. INTEMPER 
ANCE,  IGNORANCE. SLOW  REVIVAL  OF  INDUSTRY. SOCIAL  AND 

POLITICAL  CONFLICT. THE  "  SCALAWAG." THE  "CARPET-BAG 
GER." —  GOOD  CARPET-BAGGERS. THEIR  FAILINGS. RESISTANCE. — 

NORTHERN  SYMPATHY  WITH  THIS. THE   FREEDMEN. THEIR  VICES. 

—  THEIR  IGNORANCE. FOOLISH  AND  CORRUPT  LEGISLATION EX 
TRAVAGANT  EXPENDITURES  IN  VARIOUS  STATES. —  IN  MISSISSIPPI.  —  IN 
GEORGIA. IN  SOUTH  CAROLINA. OVERTHROW  OF  MANY  CARPET 
BAG  GOVERNMENTS. VIOLENCE  STILL,  BUT  OFTEN  EXAGGERATED. 

THE  re-election  of  President  Grant  did  not  improve  the 
state  of  feeling  at  the  South.  Bitterness  toward  the 
powers  at  Washington  and  sullen  defiance  of  them  were  still 
the  temper  of  most  Southern  whites.  This  notwithstanding 
several  facts  which  might  have  been  expected  to  produce  a 
contrary  effect.  Certain  important  legal  decisions  of  the  time 
should  have  pleased  the  South,  confirming,  as  they  in  a  cer 
tain  way  did,  the  doctrine  of  State  Sovereignty.  One  such 
decision  was  handed  down  April  14,  1873,  in  the  celebrated 
Louisiana  "  Slaughter-House  Cases."  These  arose  out  of  an 
act  passed  by  the  Legislature  of  Louisiana  in  1869,  creat 
ing  the  Crescent  City  Live-Stock  Landing  and  Slaughter 
House  Company,  with  the  exclusive  privilege  of  carrying  on 
the  slaughtering  business  in  New  Orleans  and  the  adjoining 
parishes.  The  butchers  of  the  city  contested  the  act  on  the 
ground  that  it  violated  the  recent  constitutional  amendments, 
creating  an  involuntary  servitude,  abridging  the  privileges  and 


THE  UNITED  STATES  IN  OUR  OWN  TIME 

immunities  of  citizens  of  the  United  States,  denying  to  the 
plaintiffs  equal  protection  under  the  law,  and  depriving  them 
of  their  property  without  due  process.  In  its  decision,  from 
which,  however,  Chief  Justice  Waite,  with  Associates  Field, 
Bradley  and  Swayne,  dissented,  the  Court  held  that  servitude 
means  personal  servitude  ;  that  "  there  is  a  citizenship  of  the 
United  States  and  a  citizenship  of  the  State,  each  distinct  from 
the  other,"  that  while  the  amendment  placed  citizens  under 
federal  protection  it  gave  them  no  new  rights  as  citizens  of  a 
State,  and  finally  that  the  act  of  the  Louisiana  Legislature  was 
not  a  denial  of  equal  protection  by  the  laws  or  a  deprivation 
of  property. 

On  April  22,  1872,  the  Court  had  rendered  its  decision 
in  the  case  of  Osborn  vs.  Nicholson,  confirming  the  validity 
of  slave  contracts  entered  into  before  the  Emancipation  Proc 
lamation.  Another  important  decision  of  the  same  date 
related  to  the  case  of  White  vs.  Hart.  This  arose  from  the 
attempt  of  the  plaintiff  to  recover  on  a  promissory  note  given 
for  the  purchase-money  of  a  slave,  the  defense  claiming  non 
liability  on  the  ground  that  by  the  new  constitution  of 
Georgia  the  State  courts  were  forbidden  to  consider  the  valid 
ity  of  such  contracts.  In  its  decision  the  Court  clearly 
defined  the  relation  of  the  seceder  States  to  the  Union  and 
held  that  such  a  State,  having  never  been  out  of  the  Union, 
was  never  absolved  from  the  prohibition  in  the  Constitution 
of  the  United  States  against  passing  laws  impairing  the  obliga 
tion  of  contracts. 

On  March  22,  1875, tne  Supreme  Court  decided  that  cer 
tain  corporations  created  by  the  Legislature  of  Georgia  while 
in  rebellion  were  legal.  This  meant,  in  effect,  that  any  acts  by 
the  de  facto  though  unlawful  government  of  that  State,  so  long 
as  they  did  not  tend  to  aid  the  rebellion  or  to  abridge  the 
rights  of  citizens  of  the  United  States,  were  valid. 

But  Southerners'  memories  were  too  sad,  their  pains  too 
keen,  their  sufferings  of  all  sorts  too  terrible,  to  be  assuaged 


THE  SOUTH  AFTER  THE  WAR 

merely  by  agreeable  definitions  of  points 
in  constitutional  law.  The  war  left  the 
South  in  indescribable  desolation.  Great 
numbers  of  Confederates  came  home  to 
find  their  farms  sold  for  unpaid  taxes, 
perhaps  mortgaged  to  ex-slaves.  The 
best  Southern  land,  after  the  war,  was 
worth  but  a  trifle  of  its  old  value.  Their 
ruin  rendered  many  insane  ;  in  multi 
tudes  more  it  broke  down  all  energy. 
The  braver  spirits — men  to  whom  till 

DANIEL  H.  CHAMBERLAIN  .         x 

now  all   toil  had  been   strange — set  to 

work  as  clerks,  depot-masters  and  agents  of  various  business 
enterprises.  High-born  ladies,  widowed  by  Northern  bullets, 
became  teachers  or  governesses.  In  the  comparatively  few 
cases  where  families  retained  their  estates,  their  effort  to  keep 
up  appearances  was  pathetic.  One  by  one  domestics  were 
dismissed ;  dinner  parties  grew  rare ;  stately  coaches  lost  their 
paint  and  became  rickety ;  carriage  and  saddle-horses  were 
worn  out  at  the  plough  and  replaced  by  mules.  At  last  the 
master  learned  to  open  his  own  gates,  the  mistress  to  do  her 
own  cooking. 

In  a  majority  of  the  Southern  cities  owners  of  real  estate 
found  it  for  years  after  hostilities  closed  a  source  of  poverty 
instead  of  profit.  In  the  heart  of  Charleston  charred  ruins 
of  huge  blocks  or  stately  churches  long  lingered  as  reminders 
of  the  horrid  past.  Many  mansions  were  vacant,  vainly  flaunt 
ing  each  its  placard  "  for  rent."  Most  of  the  smaller  towns, 
like  Beaufort,  threatened  permanent  decay,  their  streets  silent 
and  empty  save  for  negro  policemen  here  and  there  in  shiny 
blue  uniforms.  The  cotton  plantations  were  at  first  largely 
abandoned  owing  to  the  severe  foreign  competition  in  cotton- 
growing  occasioned  by  the  war.  It  was  difficult  to  get  help  on 
the  plantation,  so  immersed  in  politics  and  so  lazy  had  the  < 
field-hands  become. 


THE  UNITED  STATES  IN  OUR  OWN  TIME 

Upon  the  whites  in  many  communities  a  kind  of  moral 
and  social  stagnation  settled  down,  an  unhealthy,  hopeless 
acquiescence  in  the  worst  that  might  come.  Politics  they  long 
regarded  with  abhorrence,  as  the  accursed  thing  that  had 
brought  on  the  war.  Whites,  as  well  as  negroes,  drank  reck 
lessly.  Few  of  any  class  cared  much  for  education.  In  1874 
Alabama  had  380,000  citizens  who  could  neither  read  nor 
write,  of  whom  nearly  100,000  were  white.  Yet  the  year 
before  the  public  schools  in  that  State,  except  in  the  larger 
cities,  had  been  closed  because  the  State  could  not  pay  the 
teachers.  If,  ta  the  Africans,  education  was  freer  after  the  war 
than  before,  turmoil  and  poverty  left  the  young  Southerners 
of  paler  skin  little  time  or  disposition  for  schooling.  The 
determination,  when  it  came,  of  the  Southern  whites  to  rule, 
sad  as  were  the  atrocities  to  which  it  led,  was  a  good  sign, 
marking  the  end  of  a  lethargy  which  boded  naught  save  ill  to 
any. 

But  the  end  of  trouble  was  not  yet.  Mere  courage 
would  not  bring  prosperity  to  a  people  undergoing  a  social 
and  political  upheaval  which  amounted  to  anarchy  and  prom 
ised  indefinite  continuance.  How  angry  the  conflict  was 
will  appear  when  we  see  that  it  brought  the  "  scalawag,"  the 
"  carpet-bagger,"  and  the  negro,  partly  each  by  himself  and 
partly  together,  into  radical  collision  with  all  that  was  most 
solid,  intelligent  and  moral  in  Southern  society.  "  Whatever 
were  the  designs  or  motives  of  the  authors  of  the  reconstruc 
tion  measures,  the  work  of  carrying  them  out  was  of  necessity 
committed  to  those  who  lived  at  the  South.  It  is  a  mild  state 
ment  to  say  that  those  on  whom  this  responsibility  fell  were 
not  generally  well  suited  or  qualified  for  such  work.  Sweeping 
denunciations  are  seldom  just.  Those  who  took  part  in  re 
construction  at  the  South  were  not  all,  or  nearly  all,  (  North 
ern  adventurers,  Southern  renegades  and  depraved  negroes.' 
Among  all  the  classes  so  described  were  worthy  and  able  men  ; 
but  the  crude  forces  with  which  they  dealt  were  temporarily 

114 


THE   "SCALAWAG" 

too  strong  for  their  control  or  resistance.  Corruption  ran  riot ; 
dishonesty  flourished  in  shameless  effrontery  ;  incompetency 
became  the  rule  in  public  offices."' 

The  South  had  still,  as  always,  a  class  of  swaggering 
whites,  the  kind  who  earlier  said  that  "  the  Yankees  would 
back  up  against  the  North  Pole  before  they  would  fight." 
Once,  previous  to  the  war,  Hon.  John  C.  Breckenridge,  of 
Kentucky,  journeying  from  New  Orleans  to  Washington, 
passed  through  South  Carolina.  He  subsequently  related  his 
experience.  "  But  one  man,"  he  said,  "  boarded  the  cars  on 
the  route  through  that  unpopulous  piny-wooded  land.  He 
was  dressed  in  full  regimentals,  and  entered  the  smoking-car 

with    the    mien   of  a 
CambysesoraMurat. 

I  joined  this  splendid 

J 
soldier  m  the  smok- 

ing-car.  I  offered  him 

a    fresh     cjp-ar    to    en_ 

u.      T 

SaSe  him  m  conver- 

sation,  and   began  to 

question  him.    {  May 
T       i    »       •  j  T  11 

!  ask'  sald  \>  meekl>r' 
'what  is  going  on  in 

this  State  ?'    Tossing 

his    head    in    proud 

Summary  of  the  Amount  paid    to    one    Firm   for    Furniture  disdain,         he         TCplied 

by  the  South  Carolina  Legislature  of 1872-74 

From  the  Refort  of  the  Investigating  Committee  CjOing  Ott,    SUll  .        W  C 

won't  stand  it  no  mo/ 

suh  !  The  Governor  has  sent  for  his  staff  to  meet  with  him  and 
consult  about  it  in  Columbia,  suh!  I  am  one  of  his  staff,  suh ! 
We  won't  stand  it  any  longer,  suh  !  No,  suh  !  It  is  intolerable, 
suh!  No,  suh!'  'Stand  what?'  I  asked,  in  surprise,  not 
unmixed  with  dread.  f  What  is  going  on  ? '  He  answered  : 
<  Stand  the  encroachments  on  our  Southern  institutions,  suh  ! 

^Governor  Chamberlain's  Administration  in  South  Carolina,  Preface,  vi. 


THE  UNITED  STATES  IN  OUR  OWN  TIME 

The  abolitionists  must  be  crushed,  suh  !  We  will  do  it,  suh  ! 
South  Carolina  is  ready,  suh  ! ' 

In  reconstruction  times  Southern  heroes  of  this  stamp 
turned  up  as  "  scalawags."  Most  of  the  scalawags  so  hated  after 
the  war  were  the  fire-eaters,  old  slave-traders,  and  plantation 
overseers  whom  decent  society  had  tabooed  before  the  war. 
They  had  no  social  position  to  lose,  and  it  was  but  natural, 
their  social  superiors  being  Democrats,  that  they  themselves 
should  become  ardent  Republicans.  Negro  voters  they  now 
bought  and  sold,  or  shot,  just  as  formerly  they  had  bought 
and  sold,  or  shot,  negro  slaves.  These  same  men,  who,  under 
Republican  rule,  sought,  with  too  much  success,  to  lead  the 
blacks,  reappeared  with  the  restoration  of  the  Democracy  in 
their  original  character  as  negro-baiters,  hunting  and  killing 
their  poor  victims  whenever  this  met  party  exigencies  better 
than  bribery  did.  A  few  old  Whigs  and  perhaps  some  others 
joined  the  Republicans  on  principle.  In  the  heat  of  political 
controversy  these  might  be  denounced  as  scalawags,  but  they 
were  of  a  different  spirit. 

Soon  after  the  reconstruction  of  his  State,  at  a  public 
meeting  in  celebration  of  the  event,  Wade  Hampton  advised 


£ OLUME^A,   JS.    £.,_• 

THE    STA 

Will  pay  to  the  Order  of  Mr         '-..J.... 


Fa;:imi!c  of  a  "  Gratuity  "    Voted  to  Governor  Moses  by  the  South  Carolina  Legisla 
ture  in  i8jl 

the    blacks  to  seek    political  affiliation  with    the  best   native 
whites,  as    both    races   equally   wished  order  and  prosperity 

*S.  S.  Cox,    "  Three  Decades  of  Federal  Legislation." 
116 


THE    "CARPET-BAGGER" 

restored.  Beverly  Nash,  colored,  addressed  the  meeting,  urg 
ing  the  same.  "His  people,"  he  said,  "recognized  the 
Southern  white  man  as  their  c  true  friend,'  and  he  wished  all 
the  Confederates  re-enfranchised.  In  this  temper  colored 
men  formed  the  Union  Republican  party  of  South  Carolina, 
and  adopted  a  platform  free  from  rancor. 

Unfortunately,  such  chance  for  affiliation  was  lost.  Causes 
were  at  work  which  soon  lessened  Sambo's  respect  for  "  Old 
Massa,"  and  "  Old  Massa's  "  for  Sambo.  Republicans  from 
the  North  flocked  to  the  South,  whom  the  blacks,  viewing 
them  as  representing  the  emancipation  party,  naturally  wel 
comed  and  followed.  These  "  carpet-baggers,"  as  they  were 
called,  were  made  up,  in  the  main,  of  military  officers  still  or 
formerly  in  service,  Freedmen's  Bureau  agents,  old  Union 
soldiers  who  had  bought  Southern  farms,  and  people  who  had 
settled  at  the  South  for  purposes  of  trade. 

There  were,  no  doubt,  many  perfectly  honest  carpet-bag 
gers,  and  the  fullest  justice  should  be  done  to  such.  They 
considered  themselves  as  true  missionaries  in  partibus,  commis 
sioned  by  the  great  Republican  party  to  complete  the  regime 
of  righteousness  which  the  war  and  the  emancipation  proclam 
ation  had  begun.  A  prominent  Democratic  politician,  describ 
ing  a  reconstruction  Governor  of  his  State,  whom  he  had  done 
his  best  to  overthrow,  said  :  "  I  regard  him  as  a  thoroughly 
honest  man  and  opposed  to  corruption  and  extravagance  in 
office.  I  think  his  desire  was  to  make  a  good  Executive  and 
to  administer  the  affairs  of  the  State  in  the  interest  of  the 
people,  but  the  want  of  sympathy  between  him  and  the  white 
people  of  the  State,  and  his  failure  to  appreciate  the  relations 
and  prejudices  of  the  two  races,  made  it  next  to  impossible  for 
him  to  succeed." 

In  the  States  where  the  worst  evils  were  suffered  the  really 
guilty  parties  were  usually  few,  the  great  body  of  legislators 
being  innocently  inspired  by  some  loud  and  ringing  watchword 
like  "  internal  improvements,"  or  "  the  development  of  the 


117 


THE  UNITED  STATES  IN  OUR  OWN  TIME 

State,"  to  vote  for  measures  devised  to  enrich  cunning  sharks 
and  speculators.  What  history  will  condemn  in  connection  with 
the  reconstruction  governments  is  not  so  much  individuals  as 
the  system  which  permitted  a  few  individuals  to  be  so  bane- 
fully  influential,  not  only  in  spite  of  their  well-meaning  asso 
ciates  but  by  means  of  these.  Moreover,  carpet-bagger 
character  differed  somewhat  with  locality.  Perhaps  the  recon- 
structionists  of  Mississippi  were  the  best.  We  have  evidence 
that  the  majority  of  the  white  leaders  there  were  honest,  being 
moved  in  their  public  acts  by  strong  convictions  of  right  and 
justice,  which  cost  many  of  them  their  lives. 

But  even  of  the  honest  carpet-baggers  many  were  idealists, 
little  likely  to  help  reconcile  the  races,  nearly  certain  to  be 
misled  by  their  shrewd  but  unprincipled  colleagues.  All  were 
disliked  and  mistrusted  by  the  local  whites,  as  aliens,  as  late 
foes  in  arms,  as  champions  of  an  order  intolerable  to  the  dom 
inant  Anglo-Saxon.  The  sons  of  Dixie  had  been  educated  to 
believe  in  the  negro  as  an  inferior  being.  The  Confederacy 
had  been,  in  a  way,  based  on  this  principle.  To  establish  a 
government  so  founded  they  had  ventured  everything  and  had 
lost.  A  power  unjust  and  tyrannical,  as  they  conceived,  had 
filled  their  States  with  mourning,  beggared  them,  freed  their 
slaves,  and,  as  a  last  injury  and  insult,  done  its  best  to  make 
the  negro  their  political  equal.  They  resisted,  some  passively, 
others  actively.  The  best  of  them  could  not  but  acquiesce 
with  a  certain  joy  when  the  younger  and  more  lawless 
used  violence  and  even  murder  to  remove  the  curse.  The 
powerful  hand  of  the  Federal  Government,  sometimes  itself 
perpetrating  outrages  in  effort  to  suppress  such,  was  evaded 
by  excuses  and  devices  of  all  sorts.  When  it  was  withdrawn, 
the  Southerners  announced  boldly  that  theirs  was  a  white 
man's  government  and  that  the  ex-slaves  should  never  take 
part  in  it. 

On  the  race  issue  the  North,  including  no  few  Republi 
cans  and  even  carpet-baggers  themselves,  gradually  sided  with 

118 


BEGINNINGS  OF  NEGRO  SUFFRAGE 


ri*  /J..~ 


f  M.  H.  BERRY, 

ALL  m  ofliiirii 

CKILBREN'S   CARRIAGES,    WAGONS.  i 


the  South.  Northern 
Republicans,  especially 
such  as  had  travelled  in 
the  South,  not  seldom 
regretted  that  the  suf- 
rage  had  ever  been 
given  to  the  blacks.  It 
is  interesting  to  notice 
that  the  idea  of  colored 
men's  voting  did  not 
originate  at  the  North. 
Till  1 834  and  183  5  free 
men  of  color  voted  in 
Tennessee  and  North 
Carolina.  In  some  sec 
tions  "  the  opposing 
candidates,  for  the  nonce 
oblivious  of  social  dis- 
tinctionsand  intent  only 
on  catching  votes,  hob 
nobbed  with  the  men  and  swung  corners  all  with  the  dusky 
damsels  at  election  balls."  In  1867  General  Wade  Hampton, 
being  invited  by  the  colored  people  to  address  them  at  Co 
lumbia,  S.  C.,  did  so,  advocating  a  qualified  suffrage  for  them. 
After  the  war  Mississippi  whites  voted  unanimously  for  the 
Fifteenth  Amendment.  On  the  other  hand,  in  the  North,  at 
first  only  Stevens  and  Sum  ner  were  for  negro  suffrage.  So  late 
as  1865  Oliver  P.  Morton  was  strenuous  against  it,*  foretel 
ling  most  of  the  evils  which  the  system  actually  brought  forth. 
In  1865  Connecticut  rejected  a  negro  suffrage  amendment  by 
6,272  majority;  in  1867  Ohio,  Kansas  and  Minnesota  did 
the  same  by  the  respective  majorities  of  50,620,  8,923  and 
1,298.  In  1868  New  York  followed  their  example  with 'a 
majority  of  32,601. 

*See  North  American  Review,  Vol.  123,  p.  259  et  seq. 
119 


Facsimile  of  a  Bill  for  Furnishing  the   State  Home  at  Columbia 
S.  C.,  in  1872. 


THE  UNITED  STATES  IN  OUR  OWN  TIME 

The  experiment  being  tried,  all  interests,  not  least  those 
of  the  blacks  themselves,  were  found  to  require  that  the  supe 
rior  race  should  rule.  It  seemed  strange  that  any  were  ever 
so  dull  as  to  expect  the  success  of  the  opposite  polity.  One 
perfectly  honest  carpet-bag  Governor  confessed  that  while  he 
could  give  the  people  of  his  State  "a  pretty  tolerable  govern 
ment,"  he  could  not  possibly  give  them  one  that  would  satisfy 
"  the  feelings,  sentiments,  prejudices  or  what  not  of  the  white 
people  generally  in  that  State." 

The  good  carpet-baggers  and  the  bad  alike  somehow 
exerted  an  influence  which  had  the  effect  of  morbidly  inflam 
ing  the  negro's  sense  of  independence  and  of  engaging  him 
in  politics.  His  former  wrongs  were  dwelt  upon  and  the  bal 
lot  held  up  as  a  providential  means  of  righting  them.  The 
negro  was  too  apt  a  pupil,  not  in  the  higher  politics  of  prin 
ciple  but  in  the  politics  of  office  and  "swag."  In  1872  the 
National  Colored  Republican  Convention  adopted  a  resolution 
"  earnestly  praying  that  the  colored  Republicans  of  States 
where  no  federal  positions  were  given  to  colored  men  might 
no  longer  be  ignored,  but  be  stimulated  by  some  recognition 
of  federal  patronage."  The  average  negro  expressed  his  views 
on  public  affairs  by  the  South  Carolina  catch  :  "  De  bottom 
rail  am  on  de  top,  and  we's  gwineter  keep  it  dar."  "  The 
reformers  complain  of  taxes  being  too  high,"  said  Beverly 
Nash  in  1874,  after  he  had  become  State  Senator ;  "  I  tell  you 
that  they  are  not  high  enough.  I  want  them  taxed  until  they 
put  those  lands  back  where  they  belong,  into  the  hands  of 
those  who  worked  for  them.  You  worked  for  them  ;  you 
labored  for  them  and  were  sold  to  pay  for  them,  and  you 
ought  to  have  them." 

The  tendency  of  such  exhortation  was  most  vicious.  In 
their  days  of  serfdom  the  negroes'  besetting  sin  had  been 
thievery.  Now  that  the  opportunities  for  this  were  multiplied, 
the  fear  of  punishment  gone,  and  many  a  carpet-bagger  at 
hand  to  encourage  it,  the  prevalence  of  public  and  private 


120 


BEVERLY  NASH 


NEGRO  VICES 

stealing  was  not  strange.  Larceny  was  nearly 
universal,  burglary  painfully  common.  At 
night  watch  had  to  be  kept  over  property 
with  dogs  and  guns.  It  was  part,  or  at 
least  an  effect,  of  the  carpet-bag  policy  to 
aggravate  race  jealousies  and  sectional  mis 
understandings.  The  duello,  still  good  form 
all  over  the  South,  induced  disregard  of  law 
and  of  human  life.  "  The  readiness  of 
white  men  to  use  the  pistol  kept  the  colored 
people  respectful  to  some  extent,  though  they  fearfully 
avenged  any  grievances  from  whites  by  applying  the  torch  to 
out-buildings,  gin-houses,  and  often  dwellings.  To  white 
children  they  were  at  times  extremely  insolent  and  threatening. 
White  ladies  had  to  be  very  prudent  with  their  tongues,  for 
colored  domestics  gave  back  word  for  word,  and  even  followed 
up  words  with  blows  if  reprimanded  too  cuttingly.  It  was 
also,  after  emancipation,  notoriously  unsafe  for  white  ladies  to 
venture  from  home  without  an  escort.  .  .  If  a  white  man 
shot  a  colored  man,  an  excited  mob  of  blacks  would  try 
to  lynch  him.  His  friends  rallied  to  the  rescue,  and  a  riot 
often  resulted.  The  conditions  were  reversed  if  a  white  man 
was  shot  by  a  negro."  Negro  militia  at  the  governors'  beck 
and  call  alarmed  the  whites.  White  companies  formed  and 
offered  themselves  for  service,  swearing  to  keep  the  peace,  but 
were  made  to  disband.  To  the  Union  and  Loyal  Leagues 
on  the  reconstructionists'  side  answered  the  Ku-Klux  Klan,  al 
ready  described,  on  the  other. 

Colored  men  were  quite  too  unintelligent  to  make  laws 
or  even  to  elect  those  who  were  to  do  so.  At  one  time  doz 
ens  of  engrossed  bills  were  passed  back  and  forth  between  the 
two  Houses  of  the  Alabama  Legislature  that  errors  in  them 
might  be  corrected.  According  to  contemporary  reports  the 
Lower  House  expelled  one  of  its  clerks  for  bad  orthography 
and  appointed  a  specialist  to  rectify  the  errors.  Upon 


THE  UNITED  STATES  IN  OUR  OWN  TIME 

exposure  of  clerical  mistakes  the  Upper  House  could  not  fix 
the  blame,  some  Senators  being  unable  to  write  three  lines 
correctly,  others  wholly  ignorant  even  of  reading.  One 
easily  imagines  how  intolerable  the  doings  of  such  public  ser 
vants  must  have  been. 

The  colored  legislators  of  South  Carolina  furnished  the 
State  House  with  gorgeous  clocks  at  $480  each,  mirrors  at 
1750,  and  chandeliers  at  $650.  Their  own  apartments  were 
a  barbaric  display  of  gewgaws,  carpets  and  upholstery.  The 
minority  of  a  congressional  committee  recited  that  "  these 
ebony  statesmen  "  purchased  a  lot  of  imported  china  cuspi 
dors  at  $8  apiece,  while  Senators  and  representatives  cc  at  the 
glorious  capital  of  the  nation  "  had  to  be  "  content  with  a 
plain  earthenware  article  of  domestic  manufacture." 

Of  the  Palmetto  State  Solons  in  1873  an  eye-witness 
wrote  :  "  They  are  as  quick  as  lightning  at  points  of  order, 
and  they  certainly  make  incessant  and  extraordinary  use  of 
their  knowledge.  No  one  is  allowed  to  talk  five  minutes 
without  interruption,  and  one  interruption  is  the  signal  for 
another  and  another,  until  the  original  speaker  is  smothered 
under  an  avalanche  of  them.  Forty  questions  of  privilege 
will  be  raised  in  a  day.  At  times  nothing  goes  on  but  alter 
nating  questions  of  order  and  of  privilege.  The  inefficient 
colored  friend  who  sits  in  the  Speaker's  chair  can  not  suppress 
this  extraordinary  element  in  the  debate.  Some  of  the  black 
est  members  exhibit  a  pertinacity  in  raising  these  points  of 
order  and  questions  of  privilege  that  few  white  men  can 
equal.  Their  struggles  to  get  the  floor,  their  bellowings  and 
physical  contortions,  baffle  description.  The  Speaker's  ham 
mer  plays  a  perpetual  tattoo,  all  to  no  purpose.  The  talking 
and  interruptions  from  all  quarters  go  on  with  the  utmost 
license.  Everyone  esteems  himself  as  good  as  his  neighbor 
and  puts  in  his  oar,  apparently  as  often  for  love  of  riot  and 
confusion  as  for  anything  else." 

Around  the  State-house,  during  the  session  of  a  Legis- 


FREEDMEN  AS  LEGISLATORS 


THE   SOUTH  CAROLINA  LEGISLATURE   OF  1873  PASSING  AN    APPROPRIATION  BILL 

lature  in  which  were  colored  representatives,  a  dense  crowd  of 
open-mouthed  negroes  would  stand,  rain  or  shine,  and  stare 
at  the  walls  from  hour  to  hour,  day  after  day.  In  one  State 
election  in  South  Carolina  Judge  Carpenter,  an  old  South 
Carolinian  and  a  Republican,  ran  in  opposition  to  the  carpet- 

123 


THE  UNITED  STATES  IN  OUR  OWN  TIME 

bag  candidate.  Against  him  it  was  charged  that  if  he  were 
elected  he  would  re-enslave  the  blacks,  or  that,  failing  in  this, 
he  would  not  allow  their  wives  and  daughters  to  wear  hoop- 
skirts.  Another  judge  was  threatened  with  impeachment  and 
summoned  before  the  Legislature  above  described,  because  he 
had  "  made  improper  reflections  on  a  colored  woman  of  doubt 
ful  character." 

There  were  said  to  be  in  South  Carolina  alone,  in  Novem 
ber,  1874,  two  hundred  negro  trial  justices  who  could  neither 
read  nor  write,  also  negro  school  commissioners  equally  igno 
rant,  receiving  a  thousand  a  year  each,  while  negro  juries,  decid 
ing  delicate  points  of  legal  evidence,  settled  questions 'involving 
lives  and  property.  Property,  which  had  to  bear  the  burden 
of  taxation,  had  no  voice,  for  the  colored  man  had  no  property. 
Taxes  were  levied  ruinously,  and  money  was  appropriated  with 
a  lavish  hand. 

The  public  debt  of  Alabama  was  increased  between  1868 
and  1874  from  18,356,083.51  to  $25,503,593.30,  including 
straight  and  endorsed  railroad  bonds. :i:  A  large  part  of  this 
went  for  illegitimate  expenses  of  the  Legislature  ;  much  more 
was  in  the  form  of  help  to  railroads ;  much  went  into  the 
hands  of  legislators  and  officials  ;  little  was  returned  to  the 
people  in  any  form.  In  1860  the  expenses  of  the  Florida 
Legislature  were  $17,000;  in  1869  they  were  ^67,000."}"  Bonds 
to  the  amount  of  $4,000,000,  which  this  State  issued  to  sub 
sidize  railroads,  were  marketed  with  difficulty.  For  some 
the  best  terms  obtainable  were  fifty  cents  on  the  dollar. J 
In  less  than  four  months  the  Legislature  of  North  Carolina 
authorized  the  issue  of  more  than  $25,000,000  in  bonds,,  princi 
pally  for  railroads,  $14,000,000  being  issued  and  sold  at  from 
nine  to  forty-five  cents  on  the  dollar.  The  counties  began  to 
exploit  their  credit  in  the  same  way,  and  some  of  the  wealthier 

•^Hilary  A.    Herbert,    "Why  the  Solid  South,"  p.  62. 

•f Samuel  Pasco,  "  Why  the  Solid  South,  p.  150. 

{Ibid. 


124 


EXTRAVAGANT  EXPENDITURES 

had  their  scrip  hawked  about  at  ten  cents  on  the  dollar.*  In 
1871  the  Louisiana  Legislature  made  an  over-issue  of  State 
warrants  to  the  extent  of  $200,000,  some  of  which  were  sold 
at  two  and  a  half  cents  on  the  dollar  and  funded  at  par.f  In 
1873  the  tax  levy  in  New  Orleans  was  three  per  cent. 
Four  and  a  half  years  of  Republican  rule  cost  Louisiana  106 
millions,  to  say  nothing  of  privileges  and  franchises  given 
away.J  Clark  County,  Arkansas,  was  left  with  a  debt  of 
$300,000  and  $500  worth  of  improvements.^  Chicot  County 
spent  §400,000  with  nothing  in  return  ;  and  Pulaski  County, 
including  Little  Rock,  nearly  a  million.  Town,  county  and 
school  scrip  was  worth  ten  to  thirty  cents  on  the  dollar,  and 
State  scrip  with  five  per  cent,  interest  brought  only  twenty-five 
cents.  The  bonded  debt  of  Tennessee,  most  of  it  created  in 
aid  of  railroads  and  turnpikes,  was  increased  by  $16,000,000, 
and  the  bonds  were  sold  at  from  seventeen  to  forty  cents  on 
the  dollar  for  greenbacks. §  In  Nashville,**  when  there 
was  no  currency  in  the  treasury,  checks  were  drawn,  often 
in  the  name  of  fictitious  persons,  made  payable  to  bearer, 
and  sold  by  the  ring  to  note-shavers  for  what  they  would 
bring.  Warrants  on  the  Texas  treasury  brought  forty-five 
cents  a  dollar,  and  the  bonds  of  the  State  were  practically  val- 
ueless.ff 

In  Mississippi  during  1875,  including  $374,119.80, 
vouchers,  etc.,  not  charged  on  the  books,  $2,164,928.22 
were  expended.  In  1893  the  expenditures  were  only  $1,249,- 
193.91.  In  1870  the  State  tax  rate  was  $5  on  the  $1,000. 
In  1871  it  was  $4;  in  1872,  $8.50;  in  1873,  $12.50;  in 

*S.  B.  Weeks,  Political  Science  Quarterly,  Vol.  IX.,  p.  686  et  seq.  Cf.  "Why  the 
Solid  South,"  pp.  80,  82.  Mr.  Weeks  vouches  for  the  truth  of  all  the  above  statements  relating 
to  North  Carolina. 

|B.  J.  Sage,  "Why  the  Solid  South,"  p.  403.  {Ibid.,  406. 

fW.  M.  Fishback,  "Why  the  Solid  South,"  p.  309.  See  ibid,  for  the  other  references  to 
Arkansas. 

gj.  P.  Jones,  "  Why  the  Solid  South,"  p.  214.  **Ibid,  199. 

ffChas.  Stewart,  "Why  the  Solid  South,"  p.  378.  On  all  the  foregoing  debt  state 
ments  see  also  S.  B.  Weeks  in  Political  Science  Quarterly,  Vol.  IX.,  p.  68 1  et  seq. 


THE  UNITED  STATES  IN  OUR  OWN  TIME 


1874,  114.  In  1875  it  feM  to  $9-25-  The  Democrats  came 
in  in  1876,  whereupon  the  rate  fell  to  $6,  decreasing  contin 
ually  until  it  reached  $2.50  (1882-1885),  after  which  time  it 
rose  once  more  in,  1894  standing  at  $6.  The  average  county 
tax  rate  also  fell  from  $13.39,  in  1874,  to  $7.68,  in  1894. 
Comparing  the  average  rate  between  the  years  1870  and  1875, 
inclusive,  with  that  between  1876  and  1894,  inclusive,  we  find 
that  the  State  tax  rate  under  Republican  rule  was  two  and  a 
third  times  higher  than  under  the  Democrats  afterward.  The 
county  tax  rate  for  the  same  six  years  averaged  about  an  eighth 
higher  than  for  the  nineteen  years  after  1875. 

Under  the  Republicans  the  annual  average  of  auditor's 
warrants  issued  for  common  schools  was  $56,184.39.  To 
September,  1895,  the  Democrats  issued  an  average  nearly  six 
times  as  large.  Mississippi's  total  payable  and  interest-bearing 
debt  on  January  i,  1876,  when  the  Democratic  administration 
succeeded  the  Republican,  amounted  to  $984,200,  besides 
$414,958.31  in  unpaid  auditor's  warrants.  The  Republicans' 
expenditures  were  as  in  the  following  table  : 

1870  (Beginning  March  u)       .          .        $     975^455-65 

1871  (For  the  whole  year)          .          .  1,729,046.34 

1872  .  .          .  1,596,828.64 

1873  ...  .  1,450,632.80 

1874  •  •  1,319,281.60 

1875  •  •  1,430,192.83 

Total      .....       $8,501,437.86 
Average  per  annum  .          .        $1,464,480.00 

After  the  downfall  of  the  Republican  order  the  heaviest 
expenditures  were  in  1894  —  $1,378,752.70;  the  lightest, 
$518,709.03,  in  1876.  The  average  annual  expenditure  from 
1876  to  1894  was  between  sixty  and  seventy  per  cent,  of  the 
average  for  reconstruction  times.* 

*The  Mississippi  figures  are  vouched  for  by  J.  J.  Evans,  State  Treasurer  in  October,  1895, 
as  from  the  Mississippi  State  Treasurer's  and  Auditor's  books  and  reports.  The  author  begs  his 
readers'  pardon  for  using  in  the  Magazine  draft  of  this  History  a  table  of  Southern  State  recon 
struction  debts  which  enormously  exaggerated  the  Mississippi  and  also  the  Georgia  debt. 

126 


CORRUPTION  IN  GEORGIA 

When,  in  July,  1868,  Rufus  B.  Bullock  became  Gov 
ernor  of  Georgia,  the  debt  of  that  State  stood  at  $5,827,000. 
All  had  been  created  since  the  war  except  the  Brunswick  and 
Albany  debt  about  to  be  mentioned.  $429,000  of  the  debt, 
perhaps  more,  was  paid  during  Governor  Bullock's  three  years, 
but  the  bonded  indebtedness  of  the  State  was  meantime  in 
creased  by  the  issue  of  $3,000,000  in  gold  bonds  for  the 
State's  own  behoof,  and  of  $1,800,000  gold  bonds  in  pay 
ment  of  a  State  war  debt  to  the  Brunswick  and  Albany  Rail 
road  Company.  Considering  this  sum  the  State's  debt  at  the 
end  of  the  war,  its  actual  debt  on  January  i,  1874,  being 
$8,343,000,  we  may  place  the  debt  incurred  during  recon 
struction  at  about  six  and  a  half  millions.  The  outstanding 
bonds  of  defaulted  railroads  the  validity  of  which  was  acknowl 
edged  by  the  State,  are  not  included  in  this  amount. 

The  contingent  liabilities  of  the  State  were  also  increased 
during  the  Bullock  administration  by  the  endorsement  of  rail 
road  bonds  to  a  total  of  $6,923,400.  The  Georgia  Air  Line 
returned  $240,000,  which  should  be  deducted  from  the  above 
total.  On  the  other  hand,  the  total  must  be  enlarged  by  $400,- 
ooo  in  bonds  of  the  Macon  and  Brunswick  Railroad  Com 
pany,  endorsed,  as  it  would  seem,  though  no  official  record 
was  made,  by  Governor  Jenkins.  It  was  charged  and  almost 
universally  believed,  but  not  proved,  that  State  endorsement 
was  often,  if  not  regularly,  secured  before  the  beneficiary  roads 
had  built  and  equipped  the  required  number  of  miles.  The 
Cartersville  and  Van  Wert  secured  $275,000  of  endorsed 
bonds;  then,  changing  its  name  to  the  Cherokee  Railroad  and 
agreeing  to  withdraw  these  bonds,  obtained  a  new  issue  of 
endorsed  bonds  to  the  amount  of  $300,000.  The  first  issue 
was  not,  after  all,  withdrawn,  and  color  was  thus  given  to  insin 
uations  against  Governor  Bullock's  integrity.  Such  insin 
uations  were  also  made  in  the  case  of  the  Bainbridge  and 
Columbus  road,  but  fell  flat.  $240,000  in  bonds  for  this  road 
the  Governor  endorsed  before  leaving  the  State  on  a  temporary 

127 


THE  UNITED  STATES  IN  OUR  OWN  TIME 


CHARLES  HATES 
OF  ALABAMA 


visit,  but  the  guarantee  could  not  be  valid 
without  the  State  seal.  The  Secretary  of 
State  was  to  affix  this  in  case  the  road  com 
plied  with  the  conditions,  which  was  not 
done,  and  the  bonds  were  never  issued. 

The  Georgia  railroad  bonds  were  bought 
partly  by  Northerners,  partly  by  a  German 
syndicate.  At  home  they  were  ceaselessly 
denounced  as  cc  bogus  "  and  "  fraudulent," 
on  the  ground  that  they  had  been  issued  con 
trary  to  the  conditions  of  the  authorizing  statutes,  as  well  as, 
in  some  cases,  to  the  Constitution  of  the  State.  The  State,  how 
ever,  refused  to  submit  the  question  to  her  courts,  but  re 
pudiated  the  bonds,  and,  to  assure  herself  against  payment,  in 
1877  embodied  the  repudiation  in  her  Constitution.* 

The  first  South  Carolina  Legislature  under  the  recon 
structed  Constitution,  an  excellent  instrument,  by  the  way, 
consisted  of  seventy-two  white  and  eighty-five  colored  mem 
bers,  containing  only  twenty-one  white  Democrats.  At  that 
date  the  State's  funded  debt  amounted  to  $5,407,306. 27.  At 
the  close  of  the  four  years  of  Governor  R.  K.  Scott's  admin 
istration,  December,  1872,  though  no  public  works  of  appreci 
able  importance  had  been  begun  or  completed,  that  debt, 
with  past-due  interest,  amounted  to  $18,515,033.91.  This 
increase  represented  "  only  increased,  extravagant  and  prof 
ligate  current  expenditures."  In  December,  1873,  an  Act 
was  passed  declaring  invalid  $5,965,000  of  the  bonds  known 
as  "  conversion  "  bonds,  recognizing  as  valid  $11,480,033.91 
in  principal  and  accrued  interest,  and  providing  for  refunding 
the  debt  in  new  bonds  at  50  per  cent,  of  the  par  value  of 
the  old.  Between  1868  and  December,  1874,  the  total  cost 
of  sessions  of  the  Legislature,  six  regular  and  two  special, 

*The  direct  gold  bonds  to  the  Brunswick  and  Albany  were  among  the  repudiated.  The 
only  railroad  bonds  recognized  as  valid  amounted  to  $2,688,000  to  four  different  roads,  one  of 
which  was  paying  its  interest.  Tenth  Census,  Vol.  VII.,  p.  585. 


128 


EXAGGERATED  STORIES  OF  VIOLENCE 

was  $2,147,  43°-97)  to  say  nothing  of  bills  payable  for  legis 
lative  expenses,  amounting  to  $192,275.15.*  The  total  cost 
of  State  printing  and  advertising  during  the  period  named  was 
$1,104,569.91,  and  during  the  last  three  years  thereof  $918,- 
629.86.  Running  deficiencies  were  simply  enormous.  For 
the  single  fiscal  year  ending  October  31,  1874,  they  were 
$472,619.54.  Warrants,  orders  and  certificates  for  public 
money  were  issued  when  no  funds  were  on  hand  to  pay  them. 
There  was  thus,  in  addition  to  the  bonded  debt,  a  floating 
indebtedness  of  nearly  or  quite  a  million  dollars.^ 

By  1874,  in  most  of  the  Southern  States,  the  carpet-bag 
governments  had  succumbed.  Such  States  were  well  on  the 
way  to  order  and  prosperity,  though  breaches  of  the  peace 
still  occurred  there  with  distressing  frequency.  From  Ala 
bama,  in  particular,  came  startling  reports  of  terrorism. 
They  had  some  foundation,  but  were  greatly  exaggerated  by 
interested  or  ill-informed  persons.  In  a  letter  to  Hon. 
Joseph  R.  Hawley,  Hon.  Charles  Hayes  wrote  of  one  Allen 
as  having  been  beaten  by  ruffians  and  threatened  with  death 

if  he  "  didn't  keep  his  mouth  shut  about  that  d d  Yankee, 

Billings,"  who  had  been  assassinated.  To  a  New  York  Tribune 
correspondent  Allen  said  he  had  been  assaulted  by  a  solitary 
gentleman,  armed  only  with  the  weapons  of  nature,  who 
scratched  his  face.  Some  "  massacred  "  persons  denied  that 
they  had  been  hurt  at  all.  Such  violence  as  did  occur  by  no 
means  always  proceeded  from  whites.  It  is  well  authenticated 
that  colored  Democrats  were  maltreated  by  colored  Republi 
cans.  The  blacks  were  often  unfriendly  to  whites  even  when 
these  were  Republicans.  It  is  quite  true  that  where  negroes 
were  thought  to  be  politically  dangerous  or  were  otherwise 
obnoxious  to  the  whites  they  received  little  consideration. 
Sixteen  were  taken  from  a  jail  in  Tennessee  and  shot  by  a 
band  of  masked  horsemen,  their  bodies  being  left  in  the  road, 

^Governor  Chamberlain's  Administration  in  South  Carolina,  p.  17. 
flbid.,    p.   1 8  et  seq. 

129 


THE  UNITED  STATES  IN  OUR  OWN  TIME 

The  Governor  offered  a  reward  for  the  apprehension  of  the 
murderers,  when  one  turned  State's  evidence  and  told  every 
thing.  The  others  were  at  once  arrested ;  whether  punished 
does  not  appear. 


130 


CHAPTER   VI 

DECLINE    OF    THE    TRANSITIONAL    GOV 
ERNMENTS    IN    SOUTH    CAROLINA, 
ARKANSAS,    MISSISSIPPI,    AND 
LOUISIANA 

GEN.  SHERMAN  ON  THE  SOUTHERN  PROBLEM. RECKLESS  LEGIS 
LATION  IN  SOUTH  CAROLINA.- — APPEAL  OF  THE  TAXPAYERS' 
UNION. — GOV.  CHAMBERLAIN'S  REFORMS. — THE  CONFLICT  IN  AR 
KANSAS. FACTIONS. THE  STAKE  FOUGHT  FOR. A  NEW  CON 
STITUTION. GOV.  GARLAND  ELECTED. REPORT  OF  THE  POLAND 

COMMITTEE. THE  VICKSBURG  "WAR." MAYOR  VERSUS  GOVER 
NOR. PRESIDENT  GRANT  WILL  NOT  INTERFERE. SENATOR  REVELS 

ON  THE  SITUATION. THE   MISSISSIPPI  RECONSTRUCTIONISTS. THE 

KELLOGG-McENERY     IMBROGLIO    IN    LOUISIANA  METROPOLITANS 

AND     WHITE     LEAGUERS     FIGHT. THE     KELLOGG     GOVERNMENT 

OVERTHROWN  BUT  RE-ESTABLISHED  BY  FEDERAL  ARMS. PRO 
TESTS. THE  ELECTION  OF  NOV.  2,  1874. METHODS  OF  THE 

RETURNING  BOARD. GEN.  SHERIDAN  IN  COMMAND. LEGISLATURE 

ORGANIZED   AMID    BAYONETS. MEMBERS   REMOVED    BY   FEDERAL 

SOLDIERS. — SHERIDAN'S  VIEWS. — ALLEGATIONS  CONTRA. — PUBLIC 
OPINION  AT  THE  NORTH. THE  "WHEELER  ADJUSTMENT." 

SOUTH   Carolina,  Arkansas,   Mississippi,  and  Louisiana 
were  in  1874  still  under  carpet-bag  sway.    Their  nearly 
complete  deliverance  therefrom  during  this  year  and  the  next 
forms  an    interesting  chapter  in    the  recent   history   of   our 
country. 

In  a  letter  written  so  early  as  1869,  after  an  extended 
Southern  trip,  General  Sherman  said :  "  I  do  think  some  po 
litical  power  might  be  given  to  the  young  men  who  served  in 
the  rebel  army,  for  they  are  a  better  class  than  the  adventurers 
who  have  gone  South  purely  for  office."  Again,  in  1871,  he 
wrote  :  "  I  told  Grant  plainly  that  the  South  would  go  against 
him  en  masse,  though  he  counts  on  South  Carolina,  Louisiana, 


THE  UNITED  STATES  IN  OUR  OWN  TIME 

and  Arkansas.  I  repeated  my  conviction  that  all  tnat  was 
vital  in  the  South  was  against  him  ;  that  negroes  were  gene 
rally  quiescent  and  could  not  be  relied  on  as  voters  when  local 
questions  became  mixed  up  with  political  matters."  This  was 
an  exact  forecast  of  the  actual  event  in  all  the  States  named. 
In  each  a  reform  faction  of  white  Republicans  grew  up,  dis 
gusted  with  carpet-bag  corruption  and  unwilling  longer  to 
limit  their  political  creed  to  the  single  article  of  negro  rights. 
In  the  face  of  this  quarrel  negroes  became  bewildered,  so  that 
they  either  scattered,  withheld  or  traded  their  votes,  in  a  way  to 
replace  political  power  in  the  hands  of  the  Democrats. 

The  carpet-bag  legislature  of  South  Carolina  guaranteed 
$6,000,000  in  railroad  bonds  to  subsidize  the  Greenville  & 
Columbia  and  the  Blue  Ridge  Railroads',  taking  mortgages  on 
the  roads  to  cover  the  amount.  Rings  of  carpet-baggers  and 
native  speculators  obtained  legislation  releasing  the  mortgages 
but  continuing  the  State's  liabilities.  Seven  hundred  and  filty 
thousand  dollars  or  more  in  fraudulent  State  bank-notes  were 
approved  and  assumed  by  the  State.  Though  property  in 
general  had  lost  two-thirds  of  its  ante-bellum  value,  it  paid  on 
the  average  five  times  heavier  taxes.  In  1872,  288,000  acres 
of  land  with  buildings  were  said  to  have  been  forfeited  for  the 
tax  of  twelve  cents  an  acre.  As  in  Arkansas  and  in  Louisiana, 
the  Governor  had  dangerously  great  patronage.  Negro  felons 
were  pardoned  by  wholesale  for  political  purposes.  Undeserv 
ing  white  convicts  could  be  ransomed  for  money.  Of  the 
three  justices  on  the  Supreme  Bench  one  was  a  carpet-bagger 
and  one  a  negro.  Juries  were  composed  of  illiterate  and  de 
graded  men. 

In  March,  1874,  a  committee  of  the  South  Carolina  Tax 
payers'  Union  waited  on  President  Grant  with  complaints. 
He  expressed  regret  at  the  anarchic  condition  of  South  Caro 
lina,  but  said  that  as  the  State  government  was  in  complete 
working  order  the  federal  authority  was  powerless.  This  ap 
peal,  however,  favorably  affected  public  opinion.  "  It  shows," 

132. 


THE  BEGINNING  OF  THE   CONFLICT  IN  FRONT  OF  THE  ANTHONY  HOUSE,  LITTLE 
ROCK,  SUBSEQUENT  TO  BAXTER'S  SPEECH  TO  THE  COLORED  REGIMENT 


CHAMBERLAIN    IN   SOUTH    CAROLINA 


EL  IS  HA  BAXTER 


JOSEPH  BROOKS 


said  one  journal,  "  that  the  South  cherishes 
no  sullen  hostility."  Antipathy  toward  South 
erners  slowly  changed  to  sympathy.  The 
doings  of  the  South  Carolina  Republicans 
could  not  but  be  disapproved  by  the  party  in 
the  Nation.  Democrats  and  non-partisans  de 
nounced  them  as  travestying  free  institutions. 
In  1 874  the  South  Carolina  Republicans 
quarrelled.  After  a  hot  contest  the  regular 
convention  nominated  Hon.  D.  H.  Cham 
berlain  for  Governor,  Moses,  his  predecessor 
being  set  aside.  Chamberlain  was  a  native  of 
Massachusetts,  a  graduate  of  Yale  and  of  the 
Harvard  Law  School.  He  was  a  polished 
gentleman  and  an  able  lawyer.  During  the 
War  he  had  been  First  Lieutenant  and  then 
Captain  in  the  Fifth  Massachusetts  Cavalry. 
His  principal  service  in  the  army  was  in  the 
way  of  staff  duty  as  Judge-Advocate  and  as 
Assistant  Adjutant-General.  War  ended,  he 
became  a  citizen  of  South  Carolina  in  time  to 
sit  in  its  Constitutional  Convention.  The 
Independent  Republicans  bolted  Chamber 
lain's  nomination  and  put  up  for  Governor 
Judge  John  T.  Green,  a  native  South  Caro 
linian,  to  whose  standard  rallied  the  entire  "reform"  ele 
ment  of  the  State,  whether  Conservative  or  Republican. 

The  Chamberlain  ticket  was  elected.  In  his  inaugural 
address  Governor  Chamberlain  marked  out  an  able  scheme  of 
retrenchment  and  reform,  soon  showing,  to  the  astonishment 
of  many  and  to  the  dismay  of  some  among  his  leading  support 
ers  that  he  was  in  earnest  with  it.  The  enormous  power  given 
the  Executive,  apparently  that  he  might  abuse  it,  enabled 
Chamberlain,  spite  of  his  party  allies,  to  effect  sweeping  im 
provements.  He  supplanted  dishonest  officials  with  men  of 

'35 


CHIEF -JUSTICE 
JOHN  Me C LURE 


THE  UNITED  STATES  IN  OUR  OWN  TIMF 

integrity,  Republicans  if  such  were  available,  if  not,  Demo 
crats.  He  vetoed  corrupt  jobs  and  firmly  withheld  pardons. 
Ex-Governor  Moses  and  the  infamous  Whipper,  elected  by 
the  legislature  to  the  Circuit  Bench,  he  refused  to  commis 
sion.  Good  jurors  were  selected,  and  crime  and,  race  hatred 
wonderfully  diminished.  Like  the  English  in  Ireland,  Gov 
ernor  Chamberlain  learned  that  an  abstractly  good  govern 
ment  over  a  community  may  fit  the  community  very  ill. 
Carpet-bagger,  scalawag,  and  negro,  however  well  intentioned 
and  wisely  led,  could  not  in  the  nature  of  the  case  rule  South 
Carolina  well.  Nevertheless  his  praiseworthy  effort  hastened 
the  advent  of  order  by  revealing  the  nature  of  the  evils  which 
needed  reforming. 

Arkansas  was  another  of  the  States  where  exotic  govern 
ment  died  extremely  hard.  Its  persistence  there  was  due  to 
the  strong  Union  sentiment  which  had  always  existed  north  of 
the  Arkansas  River.  The  State's  colored  vote  was  only  a 
quarter  of  the  whole,  but  was  potent  in  combination  with  the 
large  white  vote  which  remained  Republican  till  shamed  into 
change.  In  this  State,  so  stubborn  were  the  traditions  and 
temper  of  its  citizens,  neither  faction  readily  gave  way. 

The  conflict  in  Arkansas  was  between  the  Liberal- 
Republicans,  called  "  brindle-tails,"  led  by  James  Brooks,  and 
the  Radical-Republicans,  headed  by  Baxter.  Chief  Justice 
McClure,  nicknamed  "  Poker  Jack,"  and  the  United  States 
Senators,  Clayton  and  Dorsey,  sided  with  Baxter.  The  re 
turns  of  the  1872  election  seemed  to  make  Baxter  Governor, 
but  Brooks  alleged  fraud  and  sought  by  every  means  to  change 
the  result.  He  appealed  to  the  United  States  Court  for  a 
quo  warranto  against  Baxter,  but  it  declined  to  assume  juris 
diction  in  the  case.  The  State  Supreme  Court  also  declined. 
The  legislature  could  have  authorized  a  contest,  but  refused  to 
do  so.  Not  disheartened,  Brooks  sued  for  and  secured  from 
the  Circuit  Court  of  Pulaski  County,  April  15,  1874,  a  judg 
ment  of  "ouster"  against  Baxter,  took  forcible  possession  of 

136 


Painted  by  Howard  Py'.e 
THE    BROOKS  FORCES    EVACUATING   THE    STATE-HOUSE    AT  LITTLE   ROCK 


BROOKS   AND    BAXTER   IN   ARKANSAS 

the    State-house,  and  held  it  with  cannon 

and  some  hundred  and  fifty  men.       Next 

day  Baxter  proclaimed  martial  law,  marched 

two  hundred  partisans   of  his  into    Little 

Rock    and    surrounded     the    State-house. 

The  federal  forces,  while  neutral,  enjoined 

both  parties    from   precipitating  an  armed 

collision.     Re-inforcements  from  both  sides 

constantly   came  in,   making    Little    Rock        AUGUSTUS  H.  GAR. 

for  the  time  a  military  camp. 

A  body  of  Baxter's  colored  supporters,  applauding  some 
utterance  of  his,  were  fired  into — accidentally,  as  was  said. 
Indiscriminate  shooting  ensued,  with  sanguinary  results. 
Federal  forces  had  to  quell  the  disturbance.  Excitement 
was  undiminished  until  the  end  of  April,  breaches  of  the 
peace  being  frequent,  though  no  general  engagement  occur 
red.  On  April  joth  took  place  an  action  in  which  Brooks 
suffered  the  loss  of  twenty-five  men  killed  and  wounded  ;  some 
accounts  say  seventy-one.  A  week  later,  and  again  two  days 
later  still,  there  were  sharp  skirmishes.  The  streets  of  Little 
Rock  were  barricaded,  and  communication  with  the  outside 
world  much  impeded.  Meantime  the  agents  of  the  two  parties 
in  Washington  were  engaged  in  legal  and  diplomatic  fencing, 
but  effort  after  effort  at  compromise  proved  abortive. 

Neither  side  had  an  inspiring  cause.  In  that  poverty- 
stricken  State  offices  were  perhaps  more  numerous  and  fat 
than  in  any  other  commonwealth  of  the  Union.  Each  side 
hungered  for  these.  A  cartoon  of  the  period  figured  Arkansas 
as  a  woman  gripped  between  two  remorseless  brigands  with 
pistols  levelled  at  each  other.  By  the  Constitution  of  1868 
the  Governor  appointed  to  five  hundred  and  twenty-six  sal 
aried  posts,  besides  creating  all  the  justices  of  the  peace 
and  constables.  Public  expenditures,  which,  in  six  years, 
had  amounted  to  $  17,000,000,  might,  if  properly  looked 
after,  be  made  a  rich  source  of  revenue  to  many.  The 

139 


THE   UNITED  STATES  IN  OUR  OWN  TIME 

following  instance  is  well  authenticated  and  where  there 
can  be  one  such  there  are  certain  to  be  many  :  In  Fort 
Smith  in  1873  a  widow  who  made  a  living  by  sewing  was 
taxed  $60  on  a  lot  fronting  in  a  back  alley  and  a  house 
which  could  be  built  for  from  $300  to  $400.  It  was  more 
money  than  she  ever  had  at  one  time  in  her  life.  Moved  to 
tears  over  this  woman's  deep  distress  at  the  prospective  loss 
of  her  home,  a  benevolent  lady  persuaded  her  husband  to  pay 
the  taxes  as  an  act  of  charity.* 

The  legislature,  convened  by  Baxter  on  the  iith  of 
May,  telegraphed  for  federal  interposition.  Grant  at  once 
recognized  Baxter  and  his  legislature,  and  ordered  "  all  turbu 
lent  and  disorderly  persons  to  disperse."  But  the  end  was 
yet  remote.  The  Poland  Committee  on  Arkansas  Affairs, 
appointed  by  the  National  House  of  Representatives,  elicited 
the  fact  that  Baxter  and  the  leaders  of  his  party,  notably 
Clayton  and  Dorsey,  were  no  longer  on  good  terms.  His 
disappointing  integrity  had  lost  Baxter  his  "  pull "  with  the 
Senators  and  with  the  Arkansas  Supreme  Court,  presided  over 
by  McClure.  The  following  is  from  the  evidence  laid  before 
the  committee  during  the  summer  of  1874: 

"  Q.  State  what  you  know  in  regard  to  the  origin  of  the 
difficulties  between  Governor  Baxter  and  the  leaders  of  the 
party  that  elected  him. 

"  A.  As  I  understood  it,  in  the  time  of  it,  it  originated 
with  an  effort  made  on  the  part  of  the  Republican  party 
proper  to  carry  through  the  railroad  bill.  It  originated  with 
his  opposition  to  this  bill,  or  with  his  declaring  that  he  would 
defeat  the  bill. 

"  Q.  What  was  the  nature  of  the  bill? 

"  A.  There  had  been  $5,200,000  State-aid  bonds  issued, 
and  the  object  of  the  bill  was  for  the  State  to  assume  that 
indebtedness  and  take  in  lieu  of  it  railroad  bonds. 

that  considered  as  any  fair  equivalent? 

*W.  M.  Fishback.      "Why  the  Solid  South,"  p.  308. 
140 


ARKANSAS  CONSTITUTIONAL  CONVENTION 

"A.  It  was  considered  that  that  would  be  of  no  value 
at  all. 

c<  Q.  What  was  the  general  opinion  in  relation  to  those 
bonds  ;  was  it  that  the  State  had  any  benefit  from  them,  or 
the  roads,  or  individuals  who  pocketed  the  bonds  ? 

"  A.  The  impression  on  the  public  mind  is  that  the 
bonds  were  divided  up  between  the  managers  of  the  different 
roads/'* 

Baxter's  new  attitude  surprisingly  quickened  the  Supreme 
Court's  sense  of  jurisdiction.  Two  of  its  judges  were  kid 
napped,  but  escaped,  and  four  days  before  the  legislature  con 
vened,  four  of  the  five,  though  "  feeling  some  delicacy  "  in 
doing  so,  reversed  the  former  denial  of  jurisdiction,  and  on 
May  7,  1874,  affirmed  the  decision  of  the  Circuit  Court  in 
Brooks's  favor. 

The  legislature  provided  for  a  Constitutional  Convention 
to  convene  on  July  14,  1874,  an  action  overwhelmingly  in 
dorsed  by  the  people  at  the  next  election.  The  new  Consti 
tution,  ratified  78,000  to  24,000  in  October,  swept  the  Gov 
ernor's  enormous  patronage  away,  as  also  his  power  to  declare 
martial  law  and  to  suspend  habeas  corpus.  The  tax-levying 
and  debt-contracting  functions  of  the  legislature  were  strictly 
hedged  about.  The  number  of  offices  was  to  be  diminished 
and  all  were  to  be  elective.  Disfranchisements  were  abol 
ished.  The  most  important  of  all  the  changes  related  to 
the  Returning  Board.  The  old  Constitution  had  vested 
in  this  body  extraordinary  authority,  like  that  given  it  by 
statute  in  Florida,  South  Carolina,  and  Louisiana.  It  desig 
nated  three  officers  who  were  to  receive  all  election  returns, 
compile  and  count  them,  reject  fraudulent  and  illegal  votes, 
and  in  case  of  irregularities  in  the  election,  occasioned  by 
fraud  or  fear  in  any  county  or  precinct,  to  correct  the  return 

*House  Committee  Reports,  ist  Session  43d  Congress,  Vol.  V.,  Report  No.  771, 
p.  149  5  Testimony  of  Ex-Circuit  Judge  Liberty  Bartlett. 

141 


THE  UNITED  STATES  IN  OUR  OWN  TIME 

or  to  reject  it  and  order  a  new  election. 
The  judicial  part  of  this  fearful  sov 
ereignty  was  now  annulled. 

The  State  Democracy  endorsed  these 
changes  as  "just,  liberal,  and  wise,"  and 
offered  Baxter  the  nomination  for  Gov 
ernor,  which  he  refused.  The  opposition 
cried  out  that  the  State  was  betrayed  into 
the  hands  of  the  Ku-klux  and  White 
Leagues,  that  Brooks  was  the  true  Governor,  and  that  the  new 
Constitution  was  revolutionary  and  void.  They  made  no  nom 
inations  under  it,  so  that  at  the  election  Garland,  the  Demo 
cratic  nominee,  was  elected  by  a  majority  of  75,000  votes. 

Early  in  1875  tne  Poland  Committee  submitted  to  the 
House  its  report  upon  the  Arkansas  imbroglio.  It  stated 
that  the  new  Arkansas  Constitution  was  Republican  in  form 
and  recommended  non-interference,  saying  that  while  negro 
citizenship  was  not  relished  by  the  Southern  people,  few,  ex 
cept  certain  lawless  youths,  who  should  be  sternly  dealt  with, 
would  do  aught  to  disturb  it.  A  minority  report  was  signed 
by  Jasper  D.  Ward,  of  Illinois,  who  had  gone  to  Little  Rock 
in  company  with  Dorsey,  and  had  during  his  entire  stay  re 
mained  at  Dorsey's  house,  where  he  met  few  but  Brooksites. 
The  President  took  issue  with  the  Poland  Committee.  In  a 
special  message,  two  days  after  its  report,  he  expressed  the 
opinion  that  Brooks  was  the  legal  Governor  of  Arkansas  and 
the  new  Constitution  revolutionary.  Spite  of  this,  however, 
the  House  adopted  the  Poland  report,  thus,  in  effect,  ending 
the  long  broil  and  suspense.  Governor  Garland  at  once  pro 
claimed  Thursday,  March  25,  1875,  a  day  of  thanksgiving. 

Before  light  one  morning  in  the  winter  of  1874—75,  the 
white  citizens  of  Vicksburg,  Miss.,  were  roused  by  the  news 
that  armed  negroes  were  approaching  the  city.  They  sprang 
to  arms  and  organized.  Just  outside  the  city  limits  a  detach 
ment  of  whites  met  a  body  of  two  hundred  negroes  and  soon 

142 


RACE    HOSTILITIES    IN    MISSISSIPPI 


THE  SCENE  OF  THE   CONFLICT  AT  THE   PEMBERTON  MONUMENT,  NEAR 

VICKSBURG,   DECEMBER  7,1874 
The  negroes  were  entrenched  in  the  old  federal  breastworks  at  the  top  of  the  hill 


put  them  to  rout,  killing  six,  wounding  several,  and  taking 
some  prisoners.  Almost  at  the  same  time  a  similar  engagement 
was  in  progress  near  the  monument  where  Pemberton  surren 
dered  to  Grant  in  1863.  The  man  who  headed  the  citizens 
said  that  the  conflict  lasted  only  a  few  minutes.  The  negroes 
fled  in  wild  disorder,  leaving  behind  twenty  killed  and 
wounded.  At  still  other  points  negro  bands  were  charged 
upon  and  routed.  Three  whites  were  killed  and  three 
wounded,  while  of  the  colored  about  seventy-five  were  killed 
and  wounded  and  thirty  or  forty  made  prisoners.  By  noon 
the  war  was  over,  and  on  the  following  day  business  was 
resumed  amid  quiet  and  order. 

The  causes  of  this  bloody  affair  were  differently  recited. 
An  address  published  by  the  citizens  of  Vicksburg  a  few  days 
later  alleged  a  series  of  frauds  by  certain  colored  county 

143 


THE  UNITED  STATES  IN  OUR  OWN  TIME 


officials.  Some  of  these  had  been  indicted  by  a  grand  jury 
composed  often  colored  and  seven  white  men.  Among  the 
accused  was  George  W.  Davenport,  Clerk  of  the  Court  of 
Chancery  and  a  member  of  the  Board  of  Supervisors.  The 
citizens  further  declared  that  the  bonds  of  Sheriff  and  Tax 
Collector  Crosby  were  worthless,  and  also  that  he  had  made 
away  with  incriminating  records  to  save  comrades  of  his  who 
were  under  indictment.  A  mass-meeting  was  held,  and  the 
accused  officials  asked  to  resign.  Davenport  fled  the  county; 
Crosby  yielded.  Soon,  however,  by  an  inflammatory  hand 
bill,  over  Crosby's  name,  in  which  the  <£  Taxpayers "  were 
named  a  mob  of  ruffians,  barbarians  and  political  banditti,  the 
colored  people  of  the  county  were  called  upon  to  support  him. 
It  was  rumored  that  a  rising  of  blacks  was  imminent,  though 
Crosby  had  disowned  the  pamphlet  and  promised  to  bid  his 
adherents  disperse.  Governor  Ames  proclaimed  a  state  of 
riot  and  disorder,  and  invoked  the  aid  of  all  citizens  in  up 
holding  the  laws.  Upon  receipt  of  the  Governor's  proclama 
tion  the  Mayor  of  Vicksburg  issued  a  counter-manifesto 
asserting  that  the  mass-meeting,  which  the  Governor  had 
denounced  as  riotous  and  as  having  driven  the  sheriff  from  his 
office,  was  a  quiet  and  orderly  gathering  of  taxpayers  who, 
without  arms  or  violence,  had  u  requested  the  resignation  of 
irresponsible  officials."  His  Honor  con 
tinued  :  "  Whereas  the  Governor's  pro 
clamation  has  excited  the  citizens  of  the 
county,  and  I  have  this  moment  received 
information  that  armed  bodies  of  colored 
men  have  organized  and  are  now  marching 
on  the  city,"  I  command  such  "  unlawful 
assemblages  and  armed  bodies  of  men  to 
disperse." 

Spite  of  his  Honor's  denial,  Gover 
nor  Ames  ascribed  the  trouble  to  violence 
and  intimidation  against  blacks  by  whites, 


RICHARD    O'LEART 
Mayor  of  Vicksburg  in  2874 


144 


Drawn  by  B.  W.  Clinedin^ 


THE  MISSISSIPPI  LEGISLATURE    PASSING  A  RESOLUTION  ASKING  FOR    FEDERAL   AID 

AFTER   THE  ATTACK   ON   VICKSBURG 

Scene  in  the  Senate  Chamber 


FEDERAL    INTERVENTION    REFUSED 

constituting  a  reign  of  terror,  and  convened  the  legislature  in 
extra  session.  This  body  called  upon  President  Grant  to 
awaken  what  Sumner  called  "the  sleeping  giant  of  the  Con 
stitution"  and  protect  the  State  against  domestic  violence. 
Grant  was  reluctant  to  interpose.  In  his  annual  message  hardly 
a  fortnight  before  he  had  said :  "  The  whole  subject  of  execu 
tive  interference  with  the  affairs  of  a  State  is  repugnant  to  public 
opinion."  "  Unless  most  clearly  on  the  side  of  law  such 
interference  becomes  a  crime."  He  therefore  merely  is 
sued  a  proclamation  commanding  all  disorderly  bands  in 
Mississippi  to  disperse.  But  breaches  of  the  peace  con 
tinued.  At  a  public  meeting  in  Yazoo  City  one  man  was 
killed  and  three  or  four  wounded.  The  speaker  of  the  even 
ing,  a  Republican  office-holder,  left  the  county,  professing  to 
believe  his  life  in  danger.  In  Clinton,  three  days  later,  at  a 
Republican  barbecue,  where  there  was  a  discussion  between  a 
Republican  and  a  Democrat,  a  personal  quarrel  sprang  up, 
during  which  two  negroes  were  shot.  This  was  the  signal  for 
a  general  attack  by  blacks  upon  whites,  in  the  course  of 
which  three  white  men  were  killed  and  several  wounded. 
Later  in  the  night  seven  or  eight  negroes  were  killed,  when 
the  armed  men  dispersed  and  quiet  was  restored.  Another 
outbreak  at  Friar's  Point,  a  month  afterward,  was  clearly  in 
cited  by  a  colored  sheriff,  who  had  called  together  a  body  of 
armed  negroes  to  support  him  in  the  County  Convention. 

Ames  now  renewed  his  petition  for  United  States 
troops,  but  met  with  a  chilling  response  from  the  new  Attor 
ney-General,  Edwards  Pierrepont,  a  Democrat  till  Seymour's 
nomination,  thereafter  a  conservative  Republican.  He  de 
clared  that  the  General  Government  could  aid  Mississippi  only 
when  all  the  resources  of  the  State  Executive  had  been  ex 
hausted.  He  accompanied  this  utterance  with  words  from 
Grant's  despatches  :  "The  whole  public  are  tired  out  with  these 
annual  autumnal  outbreaks  in  the  South,  and  the  great  majority 
now  are  ready  to  condemn  any  interference  on  the  part  of  the 

147 


THE  UNITED  STATES  IN  OUR  OWN  TIME 

Government."  Failing  to  secure  assistance  from  Washington, 
Governor  Ames's  party  finally  made  an  arrangement  with  the 
Conservatives,  which  assured  a  peaceable  election. 

This  resulted  in  Republican  defeat,  whereupon  Mr. 
Revels,  the  colored  Senator  from  Mississippi,  wrote  to  the 
President  the  following  :  "  Since  reconstruction  the  masses  of 
people  have  been,  as  it  were,  enslaved  in  mind  by  unprincipled 
adventurers.  A  great  portion  of  them  have  learned  that  they 
were  being  used  as  mere  tools,  and  determined,  by  casting 
their  ballots  against  these  unprincipled  adventurers,  to  over 
throw  them.  The  bitterness  and  hate  created  by  the  late  civil 
strife  have,  in  my  opinion,  been  obliterated  in  this  State, 
except,  perhaps,  in  some  localities,  and  would  have  long  since 
been  entirely  effaced  were  it  not  for  some  unprincipled  men 
who  would  keep  alive  the  bitterness  of  the  past  and  inculcate 
a  hatred  between  the  races  in  order  that  they  may  aggrandize 
themselves  by  office  and  its  emoluments  to  control  my  people, 
the  effect  of  which  is  to  degrade  them.  If  the  State  admin 
istration  had  advanced  patriotic  measures,  appointed  only 
honest  and  competent  men  to  office,  and  sought  to  restore 
confidence  between  the  races,  bloodshed  would  have  been 
unknown,  peace  would  have  prevailed,  federal  interference 
been  unthought  of,  and  harmony,  friendship,  and  mutual  con 
fidence  would  have  taken  the  place  of  the  bayonet."  This 
"  Yea,  yea,"  as  it  was  called,  "  of  a  colored  brother  who  never 
said  nay,"  was  corroborated  by  testimony  from  other  promi 
nent  Republicans,  white  and  black. 

On  the  other  hand,  it  was  warmly  urged  that,  as  a 
class,  the  Northern  men  in  Mississippi  were  noble  ex-sol 
diers,  possessing  virtues  equal  to  those  of  their  old  associates, 
worthy  sons  of  the  fathers  who  founded  this  republic,  and  that 
they  went  to  Mississippi  with  the  same  commendable  motives 
under  which  their  kinsmen  have  populated  the  continent  from 
ocean  to  ocean — to  establish  homes  and  to  improve  society- 
taking  all  their  capital  and  urging  others  to  follow  them. 

148 


DraiL-n  by  C.  K.  Lin  so 
GENERAL    BADGER    IN    FRONT   OF    THE    GEM    SALOON,    NEH'    ORLEANS 

On  January  JO,  1872,  General  A.  S.  Badger,  under  orders  from  Governor  If'armoth,  marched  to  the  Gem 
Saloon  in  Royal  Street,  and  demanded  the  surrender  of  the  Carter  Legislature  which  had  made  its  headquarters 
there. 


GOVERNOR  AMES'S  VIEWS 

"  The  Southern  man  had  a  motive  in  slandering  the 
reconstructionists.  He  committed  crimes  upon  crimes  to 
prevent  the  political  equality  of  the  negro,  and  found  his  jus 
tification,  before  the  world,  in  the  conduct  of  those  who  were 
obeying  the  laws  of  the  land.  The  debts  of  South  Carolina 
were  made  to  do  duty  in  Mississippi,  where  there  were  no 
debts.  In  fact  violence  began  at  once,  before  there  was  time 
to  contract  debts  in  any  of  the  States. 

"  At  first  there  was  no  political  question.  At  first  the 
enmity  of  a  conquered  people  did  not  manifest  itself.  It  was 
left  for  the  Union  soldiers  practically  to  solve  the  problem  of 
reconstruction  put  upon  them  by  a  Union  Congress — a  Con 
gress  whose  laws  they  had  always  obeyed  and  the  wisdom  of 
whose  decisions  it  never  occurred  to  them  to  doubt.  Their 
only  offense  against  the  State  of  Mississippi  was  an  honest 
effort  to  obey  the  laws  of  the  United  States.  They  incor 
porated  into  the  organic  laws  of  the  State,  to  its  great  benefit, 
some  of  the  best  features  found  in  the  constitutions  of  North 
ern  States.  They  especially  sought  to  build  up,  or  rehabilitate 
educational  and  eleemosynary  institutions.  They  would  have 
liked  to  help  by  legislation  the  material  condition  of  the  State 
in  its  railroads  and  levees,  but  wiser  counsels  prevailed  and 
the  errors  of  other  reconstructed  States  were  avoided. 

"The  offense  of  the  Northern  soldier  was  in  reconstructing 
at  all — in  giving  (under  the  law)  the  negro  the  ballot.  Political 
equality  for  the  negro  meant,  to  the  whites,  negro  supremacy. 
Physical  resistance  followed.  The  few  Union  soldiers  and 
their  allies  in  Mississippi  soon  fell  before  the  Mississippians 
and  their  re-inforcements  from  Louisiana  and  Alabama."1 

Whatever  the  faults  of  Republican  administration  in  the 
State,  the  only  serious  assault  on  the  finances  of  Mississippi 
during  the  stormy  era  of  reconstruction  was  an  effort  to  repay 
some  of  the  millions  which  Mississippi  had  repudiated  years 
before.  But  this  effort  was  not  made  by  Union  soldiers  or  by 

*Ex-Governor  Adelbert  Ames. 


THE  UNITED  STATES  IN  OUR  OWN  TIME 

Southern  unionists,  or  by  freedmen,  but  by  an  old  Confederate ; 
and  the  scheme  was  defeated  by  a  carpet-bagger  official.  It  is 
well  known  that  while  Governor  of  Mississippi  General  Ames 
saved  that  State  in  the  case  of  the  Confederate  General  Tuck 
er's  railroad  about  one  million  dollars,  and  in  the  case  of  the 
Vicksburg  and  Ship  Island  road  some  seven  or  eight  hun 
dred  thousand  dollars  more.  But  for  General  Ames's  timely 
antagonism  and  the  use  of  counsel  to  resist  the  diversion  of 
the  State's  funds,  the  State  would  have  lost  largely  over  a  mil 
lion  dollars.  The  intelligent  people  of  Mississippi  to  this 
day  appreciate  Governor  Ames's  action  in  this  matter. 

In  Louisiana,  because  of  the  peculiarity  of  its  social  struc 
ture,  the  color-line  was  drawn  even  more  sharply  than  in  South 
Carolina.  In  South  Carolina  there  were  three  distinct  castes 
of  whites — the  aristocracy,  the  bourgeoisie,  and  the  poor  whites 
or  "  sand-hillers,"  while  the  Louisiana  white  people  were  a 
thorough  democracy,  the  only  caste  division  in  the  State  being 
founded  on  color.  The  best  families  used  no  coats-of-arms  ; 
their  coachmen  and  servants  wore  no  livery.  The  splendors 
attending  vulgar  wealth  were  eschewed.  "There  was  a  nobility 
in  the  white  skin  more  sacred  and  more  respected  than  the  one 
derived  from  the  letters-patent  of  kings."  Such  solidarity 
among  the  whites  rendered  the  feud  precipitated  by  the  negro's 
enfranchisement  peculiarly  bitter.  White  and  black  children 
no  longer  played  together  as  of  yore.  To  avoid  seeming  in 
feriority  colored  servants  refused  to  sleep  under  the  same  roofs 
with  their  old  masters. 

It  will  be  remembered  that  in  November,  1872,  Kellogg 
and  McEnery  each  claimed  to  be  elected  Governor  of  Lou 
isiana,  that  President  Grant  recognized  Kellogg,  but  that 
McEnery  and  his  supporters  energetically  protested.  This 
contest  had  never  been  quieted.  McEnery's  government 
retained  its  organization  though  deprived  of  all  power.  Near 
the  close  of  August,  1874,  the  troubles  grew  menacing.  The 
two  parties  had  met  in  convention,  when  the  country  was 

'5* 


THE  MASS-MEETING  OF  SEPTEMBER   14,  1874,   <**   rii 


Drawn  by  C.  K.  Lins 
TATUE,  NEU'  ORLEANS 


KELLOGG  AND  McENERY  IN  LOUISIANA 

startled  by  the  news  of  the  arrest  and  deliberate  shooting  of 
six  Republican  officials.  As  in  all  such  cases  the  reports  were 
conflicting,  one  side  declaring  it  a  merciless  war  of  whites  upon 
blacks,  the  other  an  uprising  of  the  blacks  themselves. 

The  wealth  of  Louisiana  made  the  State  a  special  tempta 
tion  to  carpet-baggers.  Between  1866  and  1872  taxes  had 
risen  five  hundred  per  cent.  Before  the  war  a  session  of  the 
legislature  cost  from  $  100,000  to  $200,000;  in  1871  the  reg 
ular  session  cost  between  $800,000  and  $900,000.  Judge 
Black  considered  it  "safe  to  say  that  a  general  conflagration, 
sweeping  over  all  the  State  from  one  end  to  the  other  and 
destroying  every  building  and  every  article  of  personal  property, 
would  have  been  a  visitation  of  mercy  in  comparison  to  the 
curse  of  such  a  government."  This  statement  is  not  extravagant 
if  his  other  assertion  is  correct,  that,  during  the  ten  years  pre 
ceding  1 876  New  Orleans  paid,  in  the  form  of  direct  taxes,  more 
than  the  estimated  value  of  all  the  property  within  her  limits  in 
the  year  named,  and  still  had  a  debt  of  equal  amount  unpaid. 

Kellogg  had  a  body  of  Metropolitan  Police,  mostly  col 
ored,  paid  for  by  the  city  of  New  Orleans  but  under  his  per 
sonal  command,  which  formed  a  part  of  his  militia.  Over 
against  this  was  the  New  Orleans  White  League,  which  again 
is  to  be  distinguished  from  the  White  League  of  the  State. 
On  September  I4th  a  mass-meeting  was  called  in  New  Orleans 
to  protest  against  the  Governor's  seizure  of  arms  shipped  to 
private  parties.  By  1 1  A.  M.  the  broad  sidewalks  were  filled 
for  several  squares,  and  there  was  a  general  suspension  of 
business.  A  committee  was  appointed  to  wait  upon  the  Gov 
ernor  and  request  him  to  abdicate.  He  had  fled  from  the 
Executive  Office  to  the  Custom-house,  a  great  citadel,  gar 
risoned  at  that  time  by  United  States  troops.  From  his 
retreat  he  sent  word  declining  to  entertain  any  communication. 
Their  leaders  advised  the  people  to  get  arms  and  return  to 
assist  the  White  League  in  executing  plans  that  would  be 
arranged.  A  large  number  formed  in  procession  and  marched 

•55 


THE  UNITED  STATES  IN  OUR  OWN  TIME 

up  Poydras  Street.  By  3  p.  M.  armed  men  were  posted  at 
street-crossings  south  of  Canal  Street.  Soon  a  strong  position 
was  taken  in  Poydras  Street,  the  streets  between  Poydras  and 
Canal  being  barricaded  with  cars  turned  sideways.  General 
Ogden  commanded  the  citizens  and  superintended  these 
arrangements.  Five  hundred  Metropolitans,  with  cavalry  and 
artillery,  took  their  station  at  the  head  of  Canal  Street,  while 
General  Longstreet,  their  leader,  rode  up  and  down  Canal 
Street  calling  upon  the  armed  citizens  to  disperse.  About  4 
p.  M.  the  Metropolitans  assaulted  the  citizens'  position.  A 
sharp  fight  ensued.  General  Ogden's  horse  was  shot  under  him, 
as  was  General  Badger's,  on  the  Kellogg  side.  The  colored 
Metropolitans  broke  at  the  first  fire,  deserting  their  white  com 
rades.  The  citizens'  victory  was  soon  complete,  General  Long- 
street  and  others  seeking  refuge  in  the  Custom-house.  Next 
morning,  at  seven,  the  State-house  was  in  the  citizens'  hands  ; 
two  hours  later  the  whole  Metropolitan  force  surrendered.  The 
barricades  were  torn  down  and  street-cars  resumed  their  trips. 

Lieutenant-Governor  Penn  hastened  to  assure  the  blacks 
that  no  harm  was  meant  toward  them,  their  property  or  their 
rights.  "  We  war,"  said  he,  "  only  against  the  thieves,  plun 
derers  and  spoilers  of  the  State."  All  the  morning  Perm's 
residence  was  filled  with  congratulatory  crowds.  Throughout 
Louisiana  the  coup-d'etat  roused  delirious  enthusiasm.  At  the 

same  time  leading  citizens  counseled 
moderation,  especially  urging  that  no 
violence  toward  colored  people  should 
be  permitted.  Penn,  in  a  speech,  said  : 
"  If  you  have  any  affection  for  me,  if 
you  have  any  regard  for  me,  if  you 
have  any  respect  for  me,  as  I  believe 
you  have,  for  God's  sake  and  my  sake 
do  nothing  to  tarnish  the  fair  fame  of 
the  State  of  Louisiana  or  to  diminish 
WILLIAM  PITT  KELLOGG  the  victory  you  have  achieved."  The 

156 


FEDERAL  AID   FOR   KELLOGG 


M  *#m 


JOHN  McENERT 


Mayor's  proclamation  ran  :  "  Let  me 
advise  extreme  moderation ;  resume 
your  vocations  as  soon  as  dismissed. 
Seek  no  revenge  for  past  injuries,  but 
leave  your  fallen  enemies  to  the  tor 
ture  of  their  own  consciences  and  to  the 
lasting  infamy  which  their  acts  have 
wrought  for  them."  No  deeds  of  vio 
lence  were  reported, though  McEnery's 
officials  were  installed  all  over  the  State. 
About  2  P.  M.,  as  three  thousand  of 
General  Ogden's  militia  marched  past 
the  Custom-house,  the  United  States  troops  gathered  in  the 
windows,  took  off  their  hats  and  gave  the  citizens  three  hearty 
cheers,  which  were  returned.  At  3  P.  M.  ten  thousand  un 
armed  citizens,  preceded  by  a  band  of  music,  escorted  Penn  to 
the  State-house. 

The  triumph  was  short-lived.  The  resort  to  arms  dis 
pleased  President  Grant.  He  commanded  the  insurgents  to 
disperse  in  five  days — half  the  time  he  had  allowed  in  Arkan 
sas  and  one-fourth  the  time  he  had  allowed  in  his  Louisiana 
proclamation  of  1873.  Troops  and  men-of-war  were  ordered 
to  New  Orleans,  and  General  Emory  was  instructed  under  no 
circumstances  to  recognize  the  Penn  government.  A  Cabinet 
meeting  concluded  that  "  it  was  important  to  adopt  measures 

for  maintaining,  if  not   the  de  jure^  at  least       ._ — . 

the  de  facto  government  in  Louisiana." 
Attorney-General  Williams  compared  the 
case  with  that  of  Arkansas,  where,  he  con 
fessed,  he  always  believed  Brooks  had  a 
majority,  but  said  :  "  The  question  is  not 
who  ought  to  be  Governor,  but  who  is." 
Emory  received  positive  directions  to  rec 
ognize  the  Kellogg  government,  and  on 
the  next  day  Kellogg  was  induced  to  venture 


GENERAL  DE  TRO- 
BRIAND 


'57 


THE  UNITED  STATES  IN  OUR  OWN  TIME 

from  his  asylum  and  resume  his  office.  Not  all  the  Mc- 
Enery  officials  were  turned  out,  as  several  of  the  Kellogg 
placemen  had  fled  upon  the  news  of  Penn's  success  and  could 
not  be  found.  The  new  city  police,  under  Mr.  Boylan,  a 
well-known  detective,  were  retained,  owing  to  the  demoraliza 
tion  of  the  Metropolitans.  For  a  time  United  States  soldiers 
were  employed  on  police  duty.  On  an  election  day  as  much 
as  six  weeks  later,  to  remove  apprehension  caused  by  the  in 
efficiency  of  the  Metropolitans,  a  detail  of  the  McEnery 
militia  was  made  to  preserve  the  peace  at  each  polling-place. 

McEnery  and  Penn  advised  cheerful  submission,  and 
while  surrendering  the  State-house  to  Colonel  Brooks  showed 
him  every  courtesy.  The  only  excess  reported  was  an  unsuc 
cessful  attack  by  negroes  upon  Bayou  Sara.  In  answer  to 
Attorney-General  Williams's  pronunciamento  Penn  asserted 
that  the  McEnery  government  had  been  organized  ever  since 
1872  ;  that  McEnery's  armed  supporters  were  not  insurgents, 
but  militia ;  that  the  sole  reason  why  the  McEnery  govern 
ment  Was  not  de  facto  in  function  in  the  whole  State  was  that  it 
was  overpowered  by  the  United  States  forces,  but  for  which  it 
could  assert  its  authority  and  would  be  universally  obeyed. 
The  Kellogg  government,  he  said,  could  be  placed  and  kept 
in  power  by  the  United  States  army,  but  in  no  other  way 
whatever.  "  Is  this,"  he  asked,  "  the  Republican  form  of 
government  guaranteed  to  every  State  under  the  Constitu- 

•  3  » 

tion  r 

Happily  the  army  had  no  command  to  repress  free  speech, 
which  was  usefully  employed  in  appeals  to  the  country.  Some 
of  these  papers  were  written  with  unusual  clearness  and  force. 
Besides  describing  anew  the  corruptions  already  alluded  to, 
they  accused  the  Kellogg  faction  of  altering  the  registration  laws 
in  its  own  interest.  "  Many  white  citizens  clearly  entitled  to 
registry  were  refused  arbitrarily,  while  the  colored  people  were 
furnished  registration  papers  on  which,  in  many  instances,  they 
could  vote  in  different  wards  ;  and  colored  crews  of  steamboats 

158 


BREAK   IN  THE  COLORED    VOTE 


GENERAL   PHILIP  H.   SHERIDAN 

From  a  photograph  in  the  historical  collection  of 
H.  V.  Fay 


transiently  visiting  this  port  were 
permitted  to  swell  the  number  of 
voters."  The  White  League, 
which,  outside  New  Orleans, 
seems  not  to  have  been  an  armed 
body,  was  declared  a  necessary 
measure  of  defence  against  a 
formidable  oath-bound  order  of 
blacks. 

Governor  Kellogg  sought  to 
explain  the  uprising.  He  said  : 
"  They  first  want  the  offices, 
and  that  is  the  meaning  of  this 
outburst.  The  Governor  of 
Louisiana  wields  an  enormous 
amount  of  patronage,  for  which 
McEnery  and  his  friends  hun 
ger."  However,  at  his  instance  an  Advisory  Board,  con 
sisting  of  two  men  from  each  party  and  an  umpire  chosen 
by  them,  was  arranged  to  supervise  and  carry  on  the  registra 
tion  for  the  next  election.  Though  perhaps  honestly  con 
ceived,  this  plan  amounted  to  little.  About  the  middle  of 
October  the  umpire  resigned,  and  the  functions  of  the  Board  vir 
tually  came  to  an  end.  Further,  the  Conservatives  were  to  cause 
all  violence  to  cease,  and  were  permitted  to  fill  two  vacancies  on 
the  Returning  Board  created  by  resignation  for  this  purpose. 

The  election  of  November,  1874,  was  quiet.  Indica 
tions  seemed  to  point  to  Democratic  success.  A  break  in  the 
colored  vote  was  foreshadowed,  among  other  things,  by  an 
address  of  leading  colored  men  in  New  Orleans,  setting  forth 
that  the  Republican  party  in  the  State  had,  since  reconstruc 
tion,  been  managed  and  controlled  by  men  in  all  respects  as 
bad  as  "  the  most  rampant  White  Leaguer,"  that  they  had 
shut  out  the  colored  wealth  and  intelligence  and  put  in  office 
"  illiterate  and  unworthy  colored  men."  The  colored  people, 

159 


THE  UNITED  STATES  IN  OUR  OWN  TIME 

it  said,  "  are  ready  to  adopt  any  honorable  adjustment  tending 
to  harmonize  the  races/'  to  further  law  and  order  and  a  higher 
standard  of  administration  in  public  offices. 

Of  course  the  Returning  Board  played  an  important  part 
in  this  election.  One  example  will  illustrate  its  methods. 
The  parish  of  Rapides  chose  three  legislators.  The  United 
States  Supervisor  certified  that  the  election  was  in  all  respects 
full,  fair,  and  free.  In  the  parish  itself  no  one  knew  that  any 
contest  existed.  At  one  of  its  last  sittings  the  Board,  upon  an 
affidavit  of  its  President,  Wells,  alleging  intimidation,  counted 
in  all  three  Republicans.  This,  like  other  acts  of  the  kind, 
was  done  in  secret  or  cc  executive  "  session.  The  Counsel  of 
the  Democratic  Committee  declared  that  they  had  no  chance 
to  answer.  It  came  out  that  Wells  was  not  present  at  Rap- 
ides,  and  he  declined,  though  given  the  opportunity,  to  explain 
to  the  Congressional  Committee  his  action.  The  Rapides 
change  alone  sufficed  to  determine  the  complexion  of  the 
lower  house. 

After  recounting  instances  of  illegal  action  and  fraud  on 
the  part  of  the  Returning  Board,  the  Inspecting  Committee 
appealed  to  the  nation  :  "  We,  the  down-trodden  people  of 
once  free  Louisiana,  now  call  upon  the  people  of  the  free 
States  of  America,  if  you  would  yourselves  remain  free  and 
retain  the  right  of  self-government,  to  demand  in  tones  that 
cannot  be  misunderstood  or  disregarded,  that  the  shackles  be 
stricken  from  Louisiana,  and  that  the  power  of  the  United 
States  army  may  no  longer  be  used  to  keep  a  horde  of  adven 
turers  in  power." 

Toward  the  end  of  1874,  the  Returning  Board  completed 
its  labors.  It  gave  the  treasury  to  the  Republicans,  and  al 
lowed  them  a  majority  of  two  in  the  Legislature,  five  seats 
being  left  open.  These  changes  from  the  face  of  the  returns 
were  made  on  the  ground  of  alleged  fraud,  intimidation,  or 
other  irregularity  at  the  polls,  or  in  making  the  returns.  The 
Board  dismissed  as  preposterous  all  complaints  of  intimidation 

1 60 


MEETING    OF  THE  LEGISLATURE 

by  United  States  soldiery,  though  at  least  one  case  is  reported 
of  a  federal  officer  making  out  affidavits  against  citizens,  and 
arresting  them  upon  these  affidavits.  He  was  stopped  later 
by  orders  from  his  superior. 

The  Congressional  Investigating  Committee,  composed 
of  two  Republicans  and  one  Democrat,  after  citing  three  or 
four  instances  of  fraud  on  the  part  of  the  Returning  Board, 
unanimously  found  itself  "  constrained  to  declare  that  the  ac 
tion  of  the  Returning  Board  on  the  whole,  was  arbitrary,  un 
just,  and  illegal ;  and  that  this  arbitrary,  unjust,  and  illegal 
action  alone  prevented  the  return  of  a  majority  of  the  Con 
servative  members  to  the  lower  house." 

A  few  days  before  the  assembling  of  the  legislature  one 
of  the  Republican  members  was  arrested  and  confined  till 
after  the  opening.  The  Conservatives  alleged  that  this  was 
for  embezzlement ;  the  Republicans  charged  that  it  was  for 
political  purposes,  and  that  their  opponents  were  attempting 
to  kidnap  and  even  threatening  to  assassinate  Republican  leg 
islators  to  wipe  out  the  majority.  So  threatening  an  aspect  of 
affairs  induced  Grant  to  give  Sheridan  command  of  the  Mili 
tary  Department  of  the  Gulf  in  addition  to  his  own.  Sheri 
dan  started  on  telegraphic  notice. 

The  legislature  convened  on  January  4th.  Suppressed 
excitement  could  be  seen  in  every  eye.  Of  the  memorable 
and  unprecedented  events  of  this  day  there  are  four  varying 
accounts — General  Sheridan's  statement,  two  reports  to  Con 
gress  by  committees  of  the  two  political  parties  in  the  Louis 
iana  House  of  Representatives,  and  a  recital  incorporated  in 
the  Congressional  Committee's  report  above  referred  to.  The 
last,  of  which  we  give  a  resume,  is  the  most  trustworthy. 

The  State-house  was  filled  and  surrounded  by  Metro 
politans  and  federal  soldiers;,  and  no  one  permitted  to  enter 
save  by  Governor  Kellogg's  orders.  At  noon  the  clerk  of  the 
preceding  House,  Mr.  Vigers,  called  the  Assembly  to  order 
and  proceeded  to  call  the  roll.  Fifty  Democrats  and  fifty-two 

161 


THE  UNITED  STATES  IN  OUR  OWN  TIME 

Republicans  answered  to  their  names.  Instantly  a  Conserva 
tive  member,  Mr.  Billieu,  nominated  L.  A.  Wiltz  as  tempo 
rary  chairman.  The  clerk  interposed  some  objection,  but 
Mr.  Billieu,  disregarding  him,  hurriedly  put  the  motion  and 
declared  it  carried  upon  a  viva  voce  vote.  Wiltz  sprang  to 
the  platform,  pushed  the  clerk  aside,  and  seized  the  gavel. 
Justice  Houston  then  swore  in  the  members  en  bloc.  In  the 
same  hurried  fashion  a  new  clerk  was  elected,  also  a  sergeant- 
at-arms  ;  then,  from  among  gentlemen  who  had  secured  en 
trance  under  one  pretext  or  another,  a  number  of  assistant 
sergeants-at-arms  were  appointed.  These  gentlemen  at  once 
opened  their  coats  and  discovered  each  his  badge  bearing  the 
words  "  Assistant  Sergeant-at-Arms."  Protests,  points  of  or 
der,  calls  for  the  yeas  and  nays,  were  overridden.  The  five 
contesting  Democrats  were  admitted  and  sworn  in.  The  Re 
publicans  now  adopted  their  opponents'  tactics.  Someone 
nominated  Mr.  Lowell  for  temporary  chairman,  and  amid 
great  confusion  declared  him  elected,  but  he  declined  to  serve. 
The  organization  of  the  House  was  completed  by  the  election 
of  Wiltz  as  Speaker.  Several  Republican  members  attempt 
ing  to  leave  were  prevented  by  the  assistant  sergeants-at-arms. 
Pistols  were  displayed,  and  the  disorder  grew  so  great  that  the 
House  requested  Colonel  de  Trobriand,  commanding  the 
forces  at  the  State-house,  to  insist  upon  order  in  the  lobby. 
This  he  did,  and  the  House  proceeded  with  the  election  of 
minor  officers,  uninterrupted  for  an  hour.  At  length  de  Tro 
briand  received  word  from  Governor  Kellogg,  which  his  gen 
eral  orders  bound  him  to  obey,  to  remove  the  five  members 
sworn  in  who  had  not  been  returned  by  the  Board.  Speaker 
Wiltz  refusing  to  point  them  out,  General  Campbell  did  so,  and 
in  spite  of  protest  they  were  removed  by  federal  soldiers.  Wiltz 
then  left  the  hall  at  the  head  of  the  Conservative  members. 
The  Republicans,  remaining,  organized  to  suit  themselves. 

General  Sheridan  reported  the  matter   somewhat  differ 
ently.     He  reached  Louisiana  in  no  judicial  frame  of  mind. 

162 


Drawn  by  W.  R.  Leigh 

L.   A.   WILTZ  TAKING   POSSESSION   OF  THE   SPEAKER'S   CHAIR    IN  THE    LOUISIANA   STATE- 
HOUSE,   JANUARY  4,  1875 


or  THE 
UNIVERSITY 

OF 


SHERIDAN'S   ASSERTIONS    DENIED 

Conservative  chagrin  and  humiliation  often  took  form  in  foolish 
threats,  which  were  at  once  seized  upon  by  the  carpet-baggers 
and  scalawags  to  fan  his  wrath.  The  very  air  seemed  to  him 
impregnated  with  assassination.  He  suggested  that  Congress 
or  the  President  should  declare  the  "  ringleaders  of  the  armed 
White  Leagues  "  banditti ;  he  could  then  try  them  by  military 
commission  and  put  an  end  to  such  scenes  as  had  occurred. 
The  New  Orleans  Cotton  Exchange,  a  meeting  of  Northern 
and  Western  residents  of  New  Orleans,  and  other  bodies 
passed  resolutions  denying  the  correctness  of  Sheridan's  im 
pressions.  In  an  appeal  to  the  American  people  a  number  of 
New  Orleans  clergymen  condemned  the  charges  lodged  by 
Sheridan  with  the  Secretary  of  War  as  "unmerited,  unfounded, 
and  erroneous."  General  Sheridan  reiterated  them,  and  ac 
cused  Bishop  Wilmer,  one  of  the  signers  of  the  appeal,  of 
having  admitted  before  the  Congressional  Committee  "  that 
the  condition  of  affairs  was  substantially  as  bad  as  reported." 
The  Bishop  agreed  that  Louisianians  were  more  prone  than 
others  to  acts  of  violence,  saying  "  there  is  a  feeling  of  inse 
curity  here,"  an  expression  which  he  interpreted  as  meaning, 
"  no  security  in  the  courts  against  theft." 

General  Sherman  commented  on  the  case  as  follows  :  "  I 
have  all  along  tried  to  save  our  officers  and  soldiers  from  the 
dirty  work  imposed  on  them  by  the  city  authorities  of  the 
South  ;  and  may  thereby  have  incurred  the  suspicion  of  the 
President  that  I  did  not  cordially  sustain  his  forces.  .  .  I 
have  always  thought  it  wrong  to  bolster  up  weak  State  gov 
ernments  by  our  troops.  We  should  keep  the  peace  always  ; 
but  not  act  as  bailiff  constables  and  catch-thieves  ;  that  should 
be  beneath  a  soldier's  vocation.  I  know  that  our  soldiers  hate 
that  kind  of  duty  terribly,  and  not  one  of  those  officers  but 
would  prefer  to  go  to  the  plains  against  the  Indians,  rather 
than  encounter  a  street  mob  or  serve  a  civil  process.  But  in 
our  government  it  is  too  hard  to  stand  up  in  the  face  of  what 
is  apparent,  that  the  present  government  of  Louisiana  is  not 


THE  UNITED  STATES  IN  OUR  OWN  TIME 


.  5.  Marshall 


G.  F.  H 


William  A.  Wheeler  William  P.  Ft 


THE   COMMITTEE  WHICH  FORMULATED  THE  "WHEELER  ADJUSTMENT" 

the  choice  of  the  people,  though  in  strict  technical  law  it  is  the 
State  government." 

Public  opinion  at  the  North  sided  with  the  appellants. 
The  press  gave  a  cry  of  alarm  at  such  military  interference  in 
civil  affairs.  A  staunch  Republican  sheet  uttered  the  senti 
ment  of  many  when  it  said,  "  Unless  the  Republican  party  is 
content  to  be  swept  out  of  existence  by  the  storm  of  indignant 
protest  arising  against  the  wrongs  of  Louisiana  from  all  por 
tions  of  the  country,  it  will  see  that  this  most  shameful  outrage 
is  redressed  wholly  and  at  once."  Numerous  indignation 
meetings  were  held  in  Northern  cities.  Republicans  like  Wil 
liam  Cullen  Bryant,  William  M.  Evarts,  Joseph  R.  Hawley 
and  Carl  Schurz  openly  condemned  the  use  which  had  been 
made  of  the  troops.  Legislatures  passed  resolutions  denounc 
ing  it,  and  it  was  understood  that  Fish,  Bristow  and  Jewell,  of 
the  Cabinet,  disapproved.  Yet  patience  was  urged  upon  the 
people  of  Louisiana.  "  Whatever  injustice,"  said  Carl  Schurz, 
"  you  may  have  to  suffer,  let  not  a  hand  of  yours  be  lifted,  let 
no  provocation  of  insolent  power,  nor  any  tempting  oppor 
tunity  seduce  you  into  the  least  demonstration  of  violence. 
As  your  cause  is  just,  trust  to  its  justice,  for  surely  the  time 
cannot  be  far  when  every  American  who  truly  loves  his  liberty 
will  recognize  the  cause  of  his  own  rights  and  liberties  in  the 
cause  of  constitutional  government  in  Louisiana." 

166 


THE  WHEELER  ADJUSTMENT 

Under  a  resolution  introduced  by  Mr.  Thurman  the 
Senate  called  upon  President  Grant  for  explanation.  A  special 
message  was  the  response,  defending  the  end  which  had  been 
had  in  view  but  really  leaving  undefended  the  means  em 
ployed.  Early  in  1875  a  sec°nd  committee,  George  F.  Hoar, 
Chairman,  was  appointed  to  investigate  Louisiana  affairs.  The 
result  of  their  labors  was  known  as  the  "Wheeler  Adjustment," 
which  embraced  on  the  one  hand  submission  to  the  Kellogg 
government,  and  on  the  other  arbitration  by  the  committee 
of  contested  seats  in  the  legislature.  This  arbitration  seated 
twelve  of  the  contestants  excluded  by  the  Returning  Board. 
Mr.  Hahn  vacated  the  Speaker's  chair,  Mr.  Wiltz  withdrew 
as  a  candidate  therefor,  and  Mr.  Estilette,  a  Conservative,  was 
elected.  This  settlement  marked  the  beginning  of  the  end  of 
carpet-baggery  in  Louisiana. 


167 


CHAPTER   VII 
INDIAN  WARS  AND   THE  CUSTER  DEATH 

CIVILIZED     INDIANS     IN      1874. GRANT'S      POLICY     FOR     THE    WILD 

TRIBES. DIFFICULTIES    OF  THE    INDIAN    COMMISSIONERS.  —  INDIANS' 

WRONGS     AND     DISCONTENT. TROUBLES     IN     ARIZONA.  —  GOV.      SAF- 

FORD'S    DECLARATION. MASSACRE    OF    APACHES  IN     1871. REPORT 

OF    FEDERAL    GRAND  JURY. THE    APACHES    SUBDUED. GRIEVANCES 

OF    THE     SIOUX. THE    MODOC    WAR     AND    GEN.     CANBY's    DEATH. 

TROUBLES  IN  1874. THE  'MILL  RIVER  DISASTER  IN  MASSACHU 
SETTS. THE  SIOUX  REBELLION. THE  ARMY'S  PLAN  OF  CAM 
PAIGN. — CUSTER' s  PART. — HIS  DEATH. — HOW  THE  BATTLE  WENT. 

—  ''REVENGE    OF    RAIN-IN-THE-FACE.  " CUSTER    CRITICISED. — AND 

DEFENDED. 

EARNESTLY  as  President  Grant  strove  to  improve  the 
Indian  service  it  was  no  credit  to  the  nation  during  his 
term.  In  1874  the  Indian  Territory  contained  not  far  from 
90,000  civilized  Indians.  The  Cherokees,  17,000  strong  and 
increasing,  who  had  moved  hither  from  Alabama,  Tennessee, 
and  Georgia,  now  possessed  their  own  written  language,  con 
stitution,  laws,  judges,  courts,  churches,  schools,  and  academ 
ies,  including  three  schools  for  their  former  negro  slaves. 
They  had  500  frame  and  3,500  log-houses.  They  yearly 
raised  much  live-stock,  3,000,000  bushels  of  corn,  with  enor 
mous  crops  of  wheat,  potatoes  and  oats — an  agricultural 
product  greater  than  New  Mexico's  and  Utah's  combined. 
Similarly  advanced  were  the  Choctaws,  with  17,000  people 
and  forty-eight  schools;  the  Creeks,  with  13,000  people 
and  thirty  schools ;  and  the  Seminoles,  General  Jackson's 
old  foes,  having  2,500  people  and  four  schools. 

These  facts  inspired  the  President  with  a  desire  to  im 
prove  the  wilder  tribes.  Deeming  clemency  and  justice,  with 
firmness,  certain  to  effect  this,  he  proposed  to  transfer  the 

169 


THE  UNITED  STATES  IN  OUR  OWN  TIME 

Indian  bureau  to  the  War  Department;  but  Congress,  army 
officers,  and  the  Indians  themselves,  opposed.  He  then  gave 
the  supervision  of  Indian  affairs  to  a  Commission  made  up 
from  certain  religious  bodies.  This  kindly  policy  being  an 
nounced,  two  powerful  Indian  delegations,  one  of  them  headed 
by  Red  Cloud,  the  Sioux  chief,  visited  the  Great  Father  at 
Washington,  evidently  determined  henceforth  to  keep  the 
peace. 

Few  of  the  wild  Indians  did  this,  however.  Perhaps  only 
the  Apaches,  always  our  most  troublesome  wards,  have  ever 
pursued  murder  and  rapine  out  of  pure  wantonness  ;  yet  most 
of  the  red  men  still  remained  savages,  ready  for  the  war-path 
on  slight  provocation.  If  the  frontier  view — no  good  Indian 
but  a  dead  one — is  severe,  many  Eastern  people  were  hardly 
less  extreme  in  the  degree  of  nobility  with  which  their  imagin 
ation  invested  the  aborigines.  Moreover,  despite  the  Commis 
sion's  exertions,  the  Indian  service,  though  its  cost  increased 
from  three  and  a  quarter  million  in  1866  to  nearly  seven  mil 
lion  in  1874,  sank  in  character.  The  Commissioners  were 
partly  ignored,  partly  subjected  to  needless  embarrassment  in 
their  work.  Members  of  the  Indian  Ring  secured  positions 
and  contracts  in  preference  to  people  recommended  by  the 
Commission,  and  the  Interior  Department  often  paid  bills  ex 
pressly  disallowed  by  the  Commission,  which  was  charged  with 
the  auditing. 

Contractors  systematically  swindled  the  Indians.  Pro 
fessor  Marsh,  of  Yale  University,  wishing  to  engage  in  scien 
tific  research  upon  Red  Cloud's  Reservation,  that  chief,  while 
protecting  his  life,  forbade  him  to  trespass  till  he  promised  to 
show  the  Great  Father  samples  of  the  wretched  rations  fur 
nished  his  tribe.  "  I  thought,"  naively  confessed  the  chief, 
"  that  he  would  throw  them  away  before  he  got  there."  But 
the  "man  who  came  .to  pick  up  bones"  was  better  than  his 
word.  He  exhibited  the  specimens  to  the  President,  who  was 
deeply  incensed  and  declared  that  justice  should  be  done. 

170 


DISCONTENT  OF  THE  INDIANS 


RED    CLOUD 

After  a.  photograph  by  Bell 


Marsh  drew  up  ten  specific  charges, 
to  the  effect  that  the  agent  was  incom 
petent  and  guilty  of  gross  frauds, 
that  the  number  of  Indians  was  over 
stated  to  the  Department,  and  that 
the  amount  of  food  and  clothing 
actually  furnished  them  was  insuffi 
cient  and  of  wretched  quality.  Army 
testimony  was  of  like  tenor.  "  The 
poor  wretches,"  said  one  officer, 
"have  been  several  times  this  winter 
on  the  verge  of  starvation  owing  to 

O  O 

the  rascality  of  the  Indian  Ring. 
They  have  been  compelled  to  eat 
dogs,  wolves,  and  ponies."  It  was  urged  in  excuse  that  the 
supply-wagons  had  been  delayed  by  snow.  March  18,  1875, 
General  Sherman  wrote  from  St.  Louis  :  "  To-morrow  Gene 
rals  Sheridan  and  Pope  will  meet  here  to  discuss  the  Indian 
troubles.  We  could  settle  them  in  an  hour,  but  Congress 
wants  the  patronage  of  the  Indian  bureau,  and  the  bureau 
wants  the  appropriations  without  any  of  the  trouble  of  the 
Indians  themselves." 

The  Indians'  discontent  was  intensified  by  the  progress 
ive  invasion  of  their  preserves  by  white  men,  often  as  lawless 
as  the  worst  Indians,  and  invariably  bringing  intemperance 
and  licentiousness.  Frontiersmen  looked  jealously  at  the  un 
improved  acres  of  the  reservations  as  an  Eden  which  they  were 
forbidden  to  enter,  while  a  horde  of  thriftless  savages  were  in 
idle  possession.  Violence  against  the  red  men  seemed  justifi 
able  and  was  frequent. 

The  first  troubles  were  in  Arizona.  In  1871  the  legis 
lature  of  the  Territory,  seconded  by  the  California  legislature, 
prayed  Congress  for  protection.  Affidavits  were  submitted 
declaring  that  within  two  years  166  persons  had  been  killed, 
801  horses  and  mules  and  2,437  cattle  killed  or  stolen.  In 

171 


THE  UNITED  STATES  IN  OUR  OWN  TIME 

November  Governor  A.  P.  K.  Safford  gave  out  an  impas 
sioned  letter,  of  which  we  reproduce  the  substance.  He  said 
that  with  natural  resources  unsurpassed,  with  gold  and  silver 
mines  that  ought  to  be  yielding  annually  $20,000,000,  the 
people  of  his  Territory  were  in  poverty,  and  had  undergone 
for  years  scenes  of  death  and  torture  unparalleled  in  the  settle 
ment  of  our  new  countries.  Instead  of  receiving  sympathy  and 
encouragement  from  their  countrymen  they  were  denounced 
as  border  ruffians,  though  nowhere  were  the  laws  more  faith 
fully  obeyed  or  executed  than  in  Arizona.  In  but  one  in 
stance  had  the  people  taken  the  law  into  their  own  hands. 
That,  as  the  facts  showed,  was  done  under  the  most  aggravat 
ing  circumstances.  In  the  possession  of  the  Indians  killed 
was  found  property  belonging  to  men  and  women  who  had 
been  murdered  while  the  Indians  were  fed  at  Camp  Grant. 
For  this  attack  on  the  red  men  the  whites  were  indicted  by  a 
grand  jury,  showing  that  Arizona  courts  and  judges  did  not 
screen  any.  The  Territory  was  out  of  debt,  and  was  soon  to 
have  a  free  school  in  every  district,  indicating  the  law-abiding 
character  of  the  population  ;  yet  men  who  were  making  money 
at  the  cost  of  the  lives  and  property  of  the  Arizona  peo 
ple  denounced  them  as  everything  bad,  and  represented  the 
Apache  Indians,  who  had  for  four  hundred  years  lived  by 
murder  and  robbery,  as  paragons  of  moral  excellence  The 
people  of  Arizona  wanted  peace  and  cared  not  how  it  was  ob 
tained  ;  but  they  knew  by  years  of  experience  that  to  feed  In 
dians  and  let  them  roam  over  large  tracts  of  lands  simply  placed 
them  in  a  secure  position  to  raid  the  settlers  and  return  to 
their  reservations  for  safety  and  rest.  Though  possessing 
one  of  the  richest  Territories,  all  the  Arizonians  felt  dis 
couraged.  At  least  five  hundred  had  been  killed,  a  large 
number  of  these  horribly  tortured.  Those  left,  after  fighting 
for  years  to  hold  the  country,  found  themselves  in  poverty  and 
looked  upon  as  barbarians.  General  Crook  struck  the  key 
note  when  he  enlisted  Indians  against  Indians.  It  threw  con- 


172 


THE  APACHE  MASSACRE  AND  ITS  CAUSES 

sternation  among  them  such  as  was  never  seen  before.  Had 
he  been  allowed  to  pursue  this  policy  it  would  have  taken  but 
a  few  months  to  conquer  a  lasting  peace.  But  Peace  Commis 
sioner  Colyer  had  countermanded  the  order  and  millions  would 
have  to  be  expended  and  hundreds  of  lives  lost  before  the  end 
could  be  reached. 

The  massacre  of  Indians  referred  to  by  Governor  Saf- 
ford  occurred  in  April,  1871.  A  few  hundred  Apaches  had 
been  gathered  at  Camp  Grant,  being  fed  on  condition  of  keep 
ing  the  peace,  which  condition  seemed  to  have  been  broken. 
A  party  of  whites  with  a  hundred  Papago  Indians  fell  upon 
the  Indian  camp,  killed  eighty-five  men  and  women,  and  car 
ried  away  twenty-eight  children  as  prisoners.  A  Federal  grand 
jury  which  found  indictments  against  several  of  the  attacking 
party  reported  upon  a  number  of  important  points.  They 
found  that  the  hostile  Indians  in  the  Territory,  led  by  many 
different  chiefs,  generally  adopted  the  policy  of  making  the 
point  where  the  Indians  were  fed  the  base  of  their  supplies  of 
ammunition,  guns,  and  recruits  for  their  raids,  each  hostile 
chief  usually  drawing  warriors  from  other  bands  when  he  un 
dertook  an  important  raid,  whether  upon  Arizona  citizens  or 
upon  the  neighboring  state  of  Sonora,  where  they  were  contin 
ually  making  depredations.  With  few  marked  exceptions  the 
habit  of  drunkenness  prevailed  among  the  officers  at  Camps 
Grant,  Goodwin,  and  Apache,  where  the  Apache  Indians 
were  fed.  The  rations  issued  to  the  Indians  at  these  camps 
were  frequently  insufficient  for  their  support ;  also  unjustly 
distributed.  Bones  were  sometimes  issued  instead  of  meat. 
One  United  States  quartermaster  acknowledged  that  he  had 
made  a  surplus  of  twelve  thousand  pounds  of  corn  in  issuing 
rations  to  the  Indians  at  Camp  Goodwin.  An  officer  com 
manding  at  Camp  Apache,  besides  giving  liquor  to  the  Apache 
Indians,  got  beastly  drunk  with  them  from  whiskey  belonging 
to  the  United  States  Hospital  Department.  Another  United 
States  Army  officer  gave  liquor  to  Indians  at  the  same  camp. 

173 


THE  UNITED  STATES  IN  OUR  OWN  TIME 


The  Region  Occupied  by  the  Modocs,  showing  the  "Lava  Beds  " 

United  States  Army  officers  at  those  camps  where  the  In 
dians  were  fed  habitually  used  their  official  position  to  break 
the  chastity  of  the  Indian  women.  The  regulations  of  Camp 
Grant,  with  the  Apache  Indians  on  the  reservation,  were  such 
that  the  whole  body  of  Indians  might  leave  the  reservation 
and  be  gone  many  days  without  the  knowledge  of  the  com 
manding  officer.  In  conclusion  this  United  States  grand  jury 
reported  that  five  hundred  of  their  neighbors,  friends,  and  fel 
low-citizens  had  fallen  by  the  murdering  hand  of  the  Apache 
Indians,  clothing  in  the  garb  of  mourning  family  circles  in  many 
hamlets,  towns  and  cities  of  different  States.  "  This  blood," 
they  said,  "  cried  from  the  ground  to  the  American  people  for 
justice — justice  to  all  men." 

Pacific  overtures  and  presents  were  made  to  the  Indians 
by  Peace  Commissioner  Colyer,  but  his  efforts  were  unpopular 
and  proved  futile.  By  the  severer  policy  which  the  whites 
urged  and  by  pitting  friendly  Indians  against  them,  the  Apa 
ches  were  at  last  subdued  and  kept  thenceforth  under  strict  reg 
istry  and  surveillance. 

During  the  autumn  of  1874  gold  was  found  in  the  Black 
Hills  Sioux  Reservation,  between  Wyoming  and  what  is  now 
South  Dakota.  General  Sheridan  prohibited  exploration,  but 
gold-seekers  continually  evaded  his  order.  Said  Red  Cloud  : 
"  The  people  from  the  States  who  have  gone  to  the  Black 
Hills  are  stealing  gold,  digging  it  out  and  taking  it  away,  and 
I  don't  see  why  the  Great  Father  don't  bring  them  back. 
Our  Great  Father  has  a  great  many  soldiers,  and  I  never  knew 

174 


SAVAGES  GO  UPON  THE  WARPATH 

him,  when  he  wanted  to  stop  anything  with  his  soldiers  but  he 
succeeded  in  it."  A  still  worse  grievance  was  the  destruc 
tion  of  buffaloes  by  hunters  and  excursionists.  Thousands  of 
the  animals  were  slaughtered  for  their  hides,  which  fell  in  price 
from  three  dollars  each  to  a  dollar.  In  one  locality  were  to 
be  counted  six  or  seven  thousand  putrefying  carcasses.  Hunt 
ers  boasted  of  having  killed  two  thousand  head  apiece  in  one 
season.  Railroads  ran  excursion  trains  of  amateur  hunters, 
who  shot  their  victims  from  the  car  windows.  The  creatures 
were  at  last  well-nigh  exterminated,  so  that  in  1894  buffalo 
robes  cost  in  New  York  from  $75  to  $175  each. 

Rasped  to  frenzy  in  so  many  ways,  tribe  after  tribe  of 
savages  resolutely  took  up  arms.  The  Klamath  Indians  and 
the  Modocs,  hereditary  enemies,  were  shortly  after  the  civil 
war  placed  upon  a  common  reservation  in  Oregon.  The 
Modocs,  suffering  many  annoyances  from  the  Klamaths,  and 
indulging  in  some  retaliation,  were  at  last  permitted,  leaving 
their  uncongenial  corral,  to  roam  abroad.  Captain  Jack  headed 
the  seceders,  who  were  believed  by  many  to  have  been  for  the 
most  part  inoffensive.  Among  them,  however,  eight  or  ten 
turbulent  spirits,  led  by  Curly-headed  Doctor,  were  accused  of 
such  depredations  that  a  new  superintendent,  appearing  in 
1872,  made  unfavorable  report  of  the  whole  wandering  tribe, 
and  recommended  what  General  E.  R.  S.  Canby,  commanding 
the  Department  of  the  Columbia,  deprecated,  a  resort  to  force 
to  bring  them  back  to  their  reservation.  Surprised  in  camp  at 
gray  dawn  of  November  29,  1872,  the  chiefs  refused  to  sur 
render  and  escaped,  leaving  eight  or  nine  dead  warriors,  and 
killing  or  wounding  about  the  same  number  of  soldiers,  besides 
three  citizen  auxiliaries.  Curly-headed  Doctor's  band  now 
went  upon  the  war-path,  killing  eighteen  men,  though  sparing 
all  women  and  children.  While  Captain  Jack  and  his  faction 
had  no  hand  in  this,  the  two  chiefs,  with  about  50  warriors  and 
175  camp  followers,  united  for  defence  in  the  Lava  Beds,  or 
"  pedregal,"  of  northern  California,  over  which  rocks  of  all 

175 


THE  UNITED  STATES  IN  OUR  OWN  TIME 

shapes  and  sizes  Jay  where  the  last  ancient  volcanic  eruption 
left  them,  presenting  crevices,  chasms,  and  subterranean  pas 
sages  innumerable,  with  occasional  verdant  patches  of  an  acre 
or  two.  Against  these  hostiles  were  sent  400  soldiers  and  a 
battery  of  howitzers.  After  nearly  a  month  of  preparation 
and  skirmishes,  on  the  lyth  of  January,  1873,  300  soldiers  with 
twenty  scouts  entered  the  "  pedregal."  The  stumbling  ad 
vance  exposed  not  a  redskin,  but  man  after  man  fell  as  the 
cracks  and  crannies  of  the  gray  rocks  above  them  kept  spit 
ting  spiteful  puffs  of  smoke.  At  night,  thirty  having  been 
wounded  and  ten  killed,  they  retreated,  and  Colonel  Wheaton, 
commanding,  asked  for  300  more  men  and  four  mortars. 
Meantime  the  Modocs,  by  capture  or  otherwise,  secured 
guns,  ammunition,  and  perhaps  some  reinforcements. 

Now  two  Peace  Commissioners,  succeeding  each  other, 
endeavored  in  vain  to  induce  the  Indians  to  remove  to  a  reser 
vation  in  Arizona  or  the  Indian  Territory,  far  from  the  perse 
cutions  of  the  Klamaths  and  from  the  vengeance  of  Oregon 
whites.  The  eight  or  ten  most  desperate  Modocs,  known  as 
"  the  murderers,"  urged  the  continuance  of  the  war.  Lest  his 
tribal  kindred  should  be  betrayed  to  the  hangman  or  some 

*  O 

other  treachery  practiced,  Captain  Jack  wished  the  soldiers 
sent  away  and  the  Lava  Beds  made  a  reservation.  Finding 
that  neither  of  these  dangerous  boons  could  be  granted,  he 
began  to  lend  ear  to  his  tempters,  who  surrounded  him 
as  he  sat  despondent  on  a  rock.  Hooker  Jim  said:  "You 
are  like  an  old  squaw ;  you  have  never  done  any  fight 
ing.  You  are  not  fit  to  be  a  chief."  In  like  strain  George  : 
"  What  do  you  want  with  a  gun  ?  You  don't  shoot  anything 
with  it.  You  don't  go  any  place  or  do  anything.  You  are  sitting 
around  on  the  rocks."  Scar-faced  Charley  took  up  the  taunt: 
"  I  am  going  with  Hooker  Jim.  I  can  fight  with  him.  You 
are  nothing  but  an  old  squaw."  They  decked  him  with  a 
squaw's  dress  and  bonnet  and  further  jeered  him.  Thus  stirred, 
the  savage  in  Captain  Jack  triumphed.  He  turned  on  them 


GEN.  CANBY'S  CONFERENCE  WITH  MODOCS 


and  cried :  "  I  will  show  you  that  I  am  no  squaw.  We  will 
have  war,  and  Keint-poos  will  not  be  the  one  to  ask  for  peace. " 
It  is  recorded  of  Captain  Jack  that  subsequently,  with  Scar- 
faced  Charley,  he  all  night  watched  over  a  white  emissary,  an 
old-time  friend  of  the  tribe,  to  prevent  his  murder  by  the  In 
dians.  Upon  returning  he  assured  the  Commissioners  that  the 
Modocs  meant  treachery.  The  interpreter's  squaw  wife,  Toby, 
also  warned  them,  being  herself  told  by  Modoc  "  Whim  " 
to  keep  away  and  to  keep  the  Commissioners  away.  A  parley 
appointed  for  April  8th  fell  through  because  of  the  timely 
discovery  of  an  Indian  ambush.  Nevertheless,  when  Bogus 
Charley  came  and  proposed  at  the  council  tent  near  the  edge 
of  the"  pedregal  "  an  unarmed  conference  of  the  Commission 
ers  and  General  Canby  with  an  equal  number  of  Modocs,  say 
ing  that  after  this  they  would  surrender,  General  Canby  and  Dr. 
Thomas,  of  the  Commission,  thought  that  the  importance  of 
the  object  justified  the  risk.  The  scout  Riddle,  as  well  as 
Meacham  and  Dyar,  the  other  Peace  Commissioners,  urged 
that  it  was  a  hazardous  enterprise,  but  all  three  said  they 
would  go  rather  than  be  chargeable  with  cowardice.  Before 

O  D 

starting,  Meacham  and  Dyar  provided  themselves  with  pocket 
pistols,  gave  up  their  valuables  to  a  friend,  and  indicated  their 
last  wishes. 

The  embassy  took  seats  on  stones  around  a  small  fire 
of  brush.  Only  Dr.  Thomas  reclined 
on  the  ground.  Captain  Jack  made 
a  speech.  As  he  closed,  Hooker 
Jim  took  Meacham's  overcoat  and 
put  it  on,  insolently  remarking,  "  I 
am  Meacham."  Meacham  said : 
"  Take  my  hat,  too."  "  I  will,  pres 
ently,"  was  the  response,  in  Modoc. 
Perceiving  that  treachery  was  con 
templated,  General  Canby  told  how 
he  had  earned  the  name  of  "  the 


GENERAL  E.  R.  S.  CANBT 


177 


THE  UNITED  STATES  IN  OUR  OWN  TIME 

Indian's  friend,"  expressing  hope  that  the  Modocs,  as  others 
had  done,  would  some  day  thank  him  for  getting  them 
happy  homes.  He  could  not  send  away  the  Great  Father's 
soldiers,  but  what  the  Commissioners  promised  should  be 
done,  and  the  citizens  should  not  interfere.  Dr.  Thomas, 
too,  rising  to  his  knees,  with  head  uncovered  and  with  his 
hand  on  Meacham's  shoulder,  said :  "  I  believe  the  Great 
Spirit  put  it  into  the  heart  of  the  President  to  send  us  here 
to  make  peace.  I  have  known  General  Canby  fourteen  years, 
Mr.  Meacham  eighteen  years,  and  Mr.  Dyar  four  years. 
I  know  their  hearts  are  good,  and  I  know  my  own  heart.  We 
want  no  more  war.  I  believe  that  God  sees  what  we  do  ;  that 
he  wishes  us  all  to  be  at  peace ;  that  no  more  blood  should  be 


THE  LAVA  BEDS 

Looking  east,  showing  the  Soldiers'1  Cemetery  in  the  foreground 
From  a  photografh  by  Taker 

shed."  Captain  Jack  said  he  did  not  wish  to  leave  that  coun 
try  for  a  strange  one.  "  Jack,"  said  Meacham,  "  let  us  talk 
like  men  and  not  like  children.  You  are  a  man  that  has  com- 

178 


GEN.  CANBY  KILLED 

mon-sense  ;  isn't  there  any  other  place  that  will  do  you  except 
Willow  Creek  and  Cottonwood  ?  "  Here,  while  Jack  stepped 
back  to  the  horses,  Sconchin  broke  in  :  "  Give  us  Hot  Creek 
for  a  home,  and  take  away  your  soldiers,"  repeating,  excitedly, 
"  Take  away  the  soldiers  and  give  us  Hot  Creek,  or  stop  talk 
ing."  Just  then  two  Indians  with  three  guns  apiece  came  run 
ning  from  their  hiding  place  not  far  off.  Steamboat  Frank  and 
a  third  brave  also  soon  appeared.  "  What  does  this  mean, 
Captain  Jack  ?  "  said  some  one.  The  chief,  close  to  Canby, 
levelled  his  revolver,  said  "  Atwe"  "  all  ready,"  and  pressed 
the  trigger.  The  cap  snapped.  In  an  instant  he  cocked  it 
again  and  fired.  Canby  fell,  struck  under  the  eye.  Boston 
Charley  shot  Dr.  Thomas  in  the  left  breast.  He  rose  and  ran, 
but  Bogus  Charley  finished  the  work  with  a  rifle  ball.  Scon- 


THE   SCENE    OF   THE    CANBT  MASSACRE 
The  cross  indicates  the  spot  where  General  Canby  sat  when  Captain  Jack 

fired  the  first  shot 
From  a  photograph  by  Taker 

chin  missed  Meacham,  who  ran,  drew  his  pistol  and  fired 
back,  but  soon  fell  senseless  with  a  bullet  in  his  head.  Gen 
eral  Canby  recovered  his  footing  and  sought  to  flee.  Ellen's 

179 


THE  UNITED  STATES  IN  OUR  OWN  TIME 


Man  brought  him  to  the  earth,  while  Jack  dispatched  him 
with  a  stab  in  the  neck.  Pressed  by  Hooker  Jim,  Dyar  faced 
about  with  his  pistol  and  the  redskin  fled.  Riddle,  the  inter 
preter,  hounded  by  three,  managed  to  escape  with  a  mere 
scratch.  His  wife,  Toby,  was  struck  down,  but  her  life  was 
spared.  As  the  murderers  proceeded  to  the  usual  savage  con 
summation  of  their  deed,  she  cried  out :  "  Soldiers  !  soldiers  !  " 
whereat  they  fled.  By  this  ruse  did  the  faithful  squaw  save  the 
bodies  from  mutilation. 

At  another  place  Lieutenants  Doyle  and  Sherwood  had 
just  before  been  attacked  under  a  flag  of  truce,  and  Sherwood 
mortally  wounded.  The  camp  force,  thus  apprised  of  treach 
ery,  hastened,  too  late,  to  the  scene  of  Canby's  death.  Only 
Riddle  and  Dyar  reached  their  advancing  lines.  The  stripped 
bodies  of  Canby  and  Thomas  were  first  found.  Near  by  lay 
Meacham,  also  stripped,  shot  under  his  right  eye,  in  the  side 
of  the  head,  and  through  the  right  arm.  A  temple  was 
grazed,  a  finger  lost,  an  ear  cut,  while  a  long  gash  gaped 
where  Boston  Charley  had  begun  to  scalp  his  victim.  Mea 
cham  still  breathed,  however,  and,  after  the  bullets  had  been 
extracted,  rapidly  recovered. 

Attack  upon  the  Indians  was  now  begun  in  earnest,  and 
their  stronghold  shelled,  but  in  vain.  Not  till  early  summer, 
when  the  "  murderers "  had  rebelled  and  both  factions  left 
the  lava  beds,  Jack  making  for  the 
coveted  Willow  Creek,  seeking,  per 
haps,  a  union  with  disaffected  Sho- 
shones,  did  General  Jefferson  C.  Davis, 
who  took  Canby's  place,  scatter  and 
capture  the  bloody  pack.  The  Mo- 
docs  lost  a  few  warriors,  besides  wom 
en  and  children.  Of  citizens  and  the 
military  and  Indian  allies,  sixty-five 
were  killed,  sixty-three  wounded.  The 
war  cost  half  a  million  dollars.  Captain 


GENERAL    GEORGE  A, 
CUSTER 


180 


TWO  VIEWS  OF  THE  MODOC  WAR 


SITTING    BULL  GALL 

After  a  photograph  by  Notman  After  a  photograph  by  Barry 

TWO    FAMOUS   SIOUX    CHIEFS 

Jack,  Sconchin,  Black  Jim,  Boston  Charley,  One-Eyed  Jim, 
and  Slolox  were  tried  by  a  military  commission  for  murder. 
The  first  four  were  hanged,  the  other  two  imprisoned  for  life 
on  Alcatraz  Island,  San  Francisco  Harbor. 

The  above  account  of  the  Modoc  War  is  substantially 
that  of  those  inclined  to  lay  the  main  guilt  of  the  uprising  to 
the  whites  and  to  think  well  of  the  Indians.  What  may  in  a 
sense  be  called  the  Oregon  view  differs  from  it  in  certain  more 
or  less  important  particulars,  mainly  (i)  in  ascribing  the  pro 
vocation  to  war  to  the  Modocs  rather  than  to  the  Klamaths  or 
the  whites,  and  to  the  whole  of  Jack's  band  rather  than  to  a 
turbulent  part  of  it ;  (2)  in  setting  down  as  foolish  the  efforts 
of  peace  men  to  deal  with  savages,  considering  these  as,  prac 
tically  without  exception,  heartless  and  treacherous. 

The  Cheyennes  and  allied  tribes,  in  reprisal  for  the  loss 
of  their  buffaloes,  made  many  cattle  raids.  In  1874  the  set 
tlers  retaliated,  but  were  soon  flying  from  their  farms  in  panic. 
The  Indians,  as  the  papers  had  it,  were  at  once  "  handed  over 
to  the  secular  arm,"  the  army  being  set  to  deal  with  them  in 
stead  of  the  Peace  Commission.  Resistance  was  brief,  en- 


181 


THE  UNITED  STATES  IN  OUR  OWN  TIME 


tirely  collapsing  when  at  one  stroke  sixty-nine  warriors  and 
two  thousand  ponies  were  captured  on  Elk  Creek.  In  1874  a 
massacre  by  the  Sioux  was  barely  averted.  The  agent  at  the 
Red  Cloud  agency  erected  a  staff,  and,  on  Sunday,  unfurled 
the  national  flag  "to  let  the  Indians  know  what  day  it  was." 
Viewing  the  emblem  as  meaning  hostility,  the  Sioux  belea 
guered  the  agency,  and,  but  for  Sitting  Bull,  would  have  mas 
sacred  all  the  whites  there  as  well  as  the  handful  of  soldiers 
sent  to  their  rescue. 

While  the  catastrophes  just  narrated  were  occurring  a 
worse  horror  withdrew  public  attention  for  a  moment  from  the 
Indian  hostilities  at  the  remote  West  to  a  far  Eastern  locality 
over  which  King  Philip's  own  braves  had  ranged  in  the  first 
great  Indian  war  of  American  history. 


GENERAL    GEORGE    A.    CUSTER 
After  a  photograph  by  Gardner  at  Falmouth,  Va.^  in  1863 

182 


THE  WILLIAMSBURG,  MASS.,  FLOOD 

On  May  16,  1874,  the  rupture  of  a  reservoir  dam  in  the 
town  of  Williamsburg,  Mass.,  caused  a  disastrous  flood,  cost 
ing  140  lives  and  the  loss  of  $1,500,000  in  property.  The 
basin  which  collapsed  was  300  feet  above  the  level  of  Wil 
liamsburg  village,  and  from  three  to  four  miles  farther  up 
Mill  River.  It  covered  109  acres  to  a  depth  averaging  24 
feet,  its  650,000,000  gallons  of  water  forming  a  reserve  supply 
for  the  factories  of  Williamsburg,  Skinnerville,  Haydenville, 
Leeds,  and  Florence.  The  gate-keeper,  one  George  Cheney, 
made  the  tour  of  the  premises  as  usual,  early  on  the  fatal  morn 
ing,  but  discovered  nothing  out  of  order.  He  went  home  to 
breakfast.  The  meal  was  just  ending  when  Cheney's  father, 
happening  to  glance  through  a  window,  exclaimed  :  "  For 
God's  sake,  George,  look  there  !  "  A  vast  block,  fifty  feet 
long,  was  shooting  out  from  the  bottom  of  the  dam.  Cheney 
was  an  old  soldier  and  had  presence  of  mind.  Rushing  to 
the  gate  he  opened  it  to  its  full  width,  hoping  thus  to  re 
lieve  the  pressure  at  the  break.  He  then  made  for  the  barn. 
Bridling  his  horse  while  his  father  cut  him  a  stick,  he 
mounted,  just  as  the  whole  dam  gave  way,  and  dashed  head 
long  down  the  valley,  warning  the  population  below.  He 
covered  the  distance  to  Spellman's  button  factory,  three  miles 
away,  in  fifteen  minutes,  the  thundering  avalanche  of  waters 
close  behind. 

It  was  about  half  after  seven  when  the  brave  herald 
reached  Spellman's,  himself  spent  with  excitement  and  shout 
ing,  his  horse  worsted  in  the  unequal  race.  D.  Collins  Graves, 
a  milkman,  here  took  up  the  news.  Saying  "  If  the  dam 
is  breaking  the  folks  must  know  it,"  he  lashed  his  horse 
at  a  breakneck  pace  to  Haydenville,  shouting :  "  The  reser 
voir  is  right  here  !  Run  !  It's  all  you  can  do  !  "  Spell 
man's  factory,  the  first  building  to  test  the  torrent's  power, 
was  tossed  from  its  base  and  dashed  in  pieces  like  a  child's 
block-house.  The  help,  heeding  Cheney's  warning,  sped  to 
the  hills — too  late,  for  many  were  caught  and  borne  down  to 

183 


THE  UNITED  STATES  IN  OUR  OWN  TIME 


death.  The  Skinnerville  silk  operatives  had  just  begun  the 
day's  work.  When  the  warning  reached  them  the  superin 
tendent  was  incredulous,  and  only  the  roar  of  the  waters, 
drowning  the  courier's  cry,  wrung  from  him  the  order  to  quit. 
All  hands  dashed  toward  the  high  land,  and  but  three  were 
lost.  Of  these  one  had  hurried  home  to  save  his  family,  ar 
riving  just  in  time  to  perish  with  them.  Many  other  families 
were  hurried  to  death  together,  amid  noble  efforts  of  the 
strong  to  save  the  weak,  whose  groans  and  cries  formed  an 
agonizing  appeal  for  aid.  The  loss  of  life  must  have  been  far 
greater  but  for  Cheney's  and  Graves's  brave  riding. 

Many  hair-breadth  escapes  occurred,  accounts  of  which, 
related  afterward,  sounded  like  miracle  stories.  One  man 
sailed  half  a  mile  on  the  very  crest  of  the  deluge,  borne  upon 
a  raft  of  debris,  saving  himself  at  last  by  grasping  a  limb  of 
one  of  the  few  trees  stout  enough  to  stem  the  flood.  Large 
parts  of  Williamsburg  and  Skinnerville,  including  several 
mills  and  factories,  were  laid  in  hopeless  ruin.  The  great 
brass  works  at  Haydenville  were  totally  demolished.  A 
couple  of  mill-stones,  weighing  a  ton  each,  were  wafted  a  dis 
tance  of  half  a  mile.  Almost  the  entire  village  of  Leeds  was 
destroyed.  Much  damage  was  done  so  far  down  as  Florence, 

where  vast  fertile  tracks  were  covered 

beneath  feet  of  sand. 

Relief  work  for  the  hundreds  left 
homeless  and  destitute  was  at  once 
begun  and  nobly  prosecuted.  Sup 
plies  came  from  nearly  all  parts  of 
Massachusetts  and  from  other  States. 
The  Massachusetts  legislature  was 
in  session  and  instituted  a  competent 
and  searching  investigation  of  the 
accident.  Public  sorrow  turned  to 
public  indignation  when  the  calamity 
was  discovered  to  be  due  entirely  to 


RAIN-IN-THE-FACE 
After  a  photograph  by  Barry 


184 


BAD  CONSTRUCTION  OF  THE  RESERVOIR 


THE  INDIAN  TRADERS'  STORE  AT  STANDING  ROCK,  DAKOTA* 

After  a  photograph  by  Barry 

culpable  negligence  on  the  part  of  those  originating,  planning, 
constructing  and  approving  the  reservoir.  The  wall  of  the 
dam  was  too  weak.  It  was  built  mainly  of  irregular  instead 
of  cut  stone.  Save  at  the  middle,  where  it  was  re-enforced  by 
about  a  foot,  it  was  not  over  5^  feet  thick.  Also  the  earth 
above  the  stone  was  not  properly  placed  or  rammed. 

*It  was  here,  in  the  spring  of  1875,  ^at  Rain-in-the-Face  was  arrested  by  Captain  Tom 
Custer,  in  revenge  for  which  he  threatened  to  eat  the  latter1  s  heart — a  threat  said  to  have  been  ful 
filled  at  the  fight  on  the  Little  Big  Horn. 

185 


THE  UNITED  STATES  IN  OUR  OWN  TIME 

In  1875  there  was  pretence  of  investigating  affairs  at  the 
Red  Cloud  post,  but  with  scant  result.  Much  of  the  testi 
mony  was  by  casual  observers  or  interested  parties,  and  none 
of  it  under  oath.  The  Indians  did  not  testify  freely,  and  con 
tradicted  each  other ;  Sitting  Bull  told  one  story,  Red  Cloud 
another.  What  became  clear  was  that,  in  Red  Cloud's  phrase, 
the  Indians  were  "succeeding  backward." 

A  large  portion  of  the  Sioux,  under  Sitting  Bull,  had  re 
fused  to  enter  into  a  treaty  surrendering  certain  lands  and  con 
senting  to  confine  themselves  within  a  new  reservation.  Notice 
was  served  upon  these  non-treaty  Sioux  that,  unless  they  moved 
to  the  reservation  before  January  i,  1 876,  they  would  be  treated 
as  hostiles.  Sitting  Bull  refused  to  stir,  and  early  in  the  spring 
the  army  assumed  the  offensive.  The  chief  chose  his  position 
with  rare  skill,  in  the  wild  hunting  country  of  southern  Mon 
tana,  now  Custer  County,  near  a  quarter-circle  of  agencies, 
whence  would  join  him  next  summer  a  great  troop  of  discon 
tented  and  ambitious  young  "  Reservation  "  braves.  The  Bad 
Lands  around  made  defense  easy  and  attack  most  arduous. 

It  was  determined  to  close  upon  the  hostiles  in  three  col 
umns,  General  Gibbon  from  the  west,  General  Crook  from 
the  south,  and  General  Terry,  with  a  somewhat  larger  body 
of  troops,  including  the  Seventh  United  States  Cavalry,  six 
hundred  strong,  under  Lieutenant-Colonel  Custer,  from  the 
east.  Crook  was  delayed  by  unexpected  attacks.  The  other 
two  columns  met  without  interference.  Terry  followed  the 
Yellowstone  up  as  far  as  the  Rosebud,  where  he  established  a 
supply  camp.  Here  Custer  with  his  cavalry  left  him,  June 
22d,  to  make  a  detour  south,  up  the  Rosebud,  get  above  the 
Indians,  and  drive  them  down  the  Little  Big  Horn  into  the 
army's  slowly  closing  grip.  Three  days  later,  June  25th, 
Custer  struck  Sitting  Bull's  main  trail,  and  eagerly  pursued  it 
across  the  divide  into  the  Little  Big  Horn  Valley.  Expecting 
battle,  he  detached  Major  Reno  with  seven  of  his  twelve  com 
panies,  to  cross  the  Little  Big  Horn,  descend  it,  and  strike  the 

186 


THE  OUSTER  MASSACRE 

foe  from  the  west ;  but  Reno  was  soon  attacked  and  held  at 
bay,  being  besieged  in  all  more  than  twenty-four  hours.  Mean 
time,  suddenly  coming  upon  the  lower  end  of  the  Indians'  im 
mense  camp,  the  gallant  Custer  and  his  braves,  without  an 
instant's  hesitation,  advanced  into  the  jaws  of  death.  That 
death  awaited  every  man  was  at  once  evident,  but  at  the  awful 
sensation,  the  sickening  horror  attending  the  realization  of 
that  fact,  not  a  soul  wavered.  Balaklava  was  pastime  to  this, 
for  here  not  one  "  rode  back."  "  All  that  was  left  of  them," 
after  perhaps  twenty-five  minutes,  was  so  many  mostly  unre 
cognizable  corpses. 

"  Two  hundred  and  sixty-two  were  with  Custer,  and  two 
hundred  and  sixty-two  died  overwhelmed.  With  the  last  shot 
was  silence.  The  report  might  have  been  written  :  £  None 
wounded ;  none  missing  ;  all  dead.'  No  living  tongue  of  all 
that  heroic  band  was  left  to  tell  the  story.  The  miserable 
half-breed  scout,  Curley,  who  might  years  later  be  seen  hang 
ing  around  Fort  Custer,  claimed  to  have  been  with  Custer  when 
the  engagement  began,  but  he  pulled  a  Sioux  blanket  over  his 
head,  mingled  with  the  enemy,  and  ran  away  at  the  first  fire. 
He  could  only  tell  that  there  had  been  a  battle."  "  Near  the 
high  ground  and  not  far  from  where  the  Custer  monument 
was  erected,  the  body  of  Kellogg,  special  correspondent  of  the 
New  York  Herald,  was  found.  He  was 
bravely  following  the  gallant  Custer.  The 
guide  points  out  the  little  wooden  slab 
which  marks  the  spot,  for  he  died  like  a 
hero,  too,  in  the  line  of  his  duty." 

After  harrassing  Reno,  the  Indians 
slipped  off  under  cover  of  night.  As 
cending  the  Big  Horn  and  the  Little  Big 
Horn,  Gibbon  and  Terry,  on  the  2yth, 
discovered  the  bodies  of  Custer  and  his 
five  devoted  companies.  Custer  alone 

r  CAPTAIN  E.S.GODSRET 

was    not  mutilated.      He  had  been  shot       Afttr  *  fb*t*grafb  by  **rr, 

187 


THE  UNITED  STATES  IN  OUR  OWN  TIME 


Comanche 

THE    ONLT   SURFIFORS    OF 

After  a  photograph 


in  the  left  temple, 
the  remainder  of 
his  face  wearing 
in  death  a  natural 
look.  Years  sub 
sequently  a  care 
ful  survey  of  the 
field  and  talks  with 
savages  enabled 
Captain  Godfrey, 
who  was  with  Re 
no  on  the  fatal 
day,  to  see  what 
course  the  Custer 
fight  had  taken 

Finding  himself  outnumbered  twelve  or  more  to  one — 
the  Indians  mustered  about  2,500  warriors,  besides  a  caravan 
of  boys  and  squaws — Custer  had  dismounted  his  heroes,  who, 
planting  themselves  mainly  on  two  hills  some  way  apart,  the 
advance  one  held  by  Custer,  the  other  by  Captains  Keogh 
and  Calhoun,  prepared  to  sell  their  lives  dearly.  The  red 
skins  say  that  had  Reno  maintained  the  offensive  they  should 
have  fled,  the  chiefs  having,  at  the  first  sight  of  Custer,  or 
dered  camp  broken  for  this  purpose.  But  when  Reno  drew 
back  this  order  was  countermanded,  and  the  entire  army  of 
the  savages  was  concentrated  against  the  doomed  Custer.  By 
waving  blankets  and  uttering  their  hellish  yells,  they  stam 
peded  many  of  the  cavalry  horses,  which  carried  off  precious 
ammunition  in  their  saddle-bags.  Lining  up  just  behind  a 
ridge,  they  would  rise  quickly,  fire  at  the  soldiers,  and  drop, 
exposing  themselves  little,  but  drawing  Custer's  fire,  so  caus- 

"*Comanche  was  the  horse  ridden  by  Captain  Keogh,  and  was  afterward  found  with  seven 
wounds  at  a  distance  of  several  miles  from  the  battle-field.  The  Secretary  of  War  subsequently 
issued  an  order  forbidding  any  one  to  ride  him,  and  detailing  a  soldier  to  take  care  of  him  as  long 
as  he  lived.  Curley,  a  Crow  Indian,  was  Custer's  scout,  and  is  said  to  have  made  his  escape  by 
wrapping  himself  in  a  Sioux  blanket  when  the  battle  began. 

188 


THE  REVENGE  OF  RAIN-IN-THE-FACE 


Curley,  the  Scout 
THE  CUSTER  MASSACRE 
by  Barry 


ing  additional  loss  of  sorely  needed 
bullets.  The  whites'  ammunition 
spent,  the  dismounted  savages  rose, 
fired,  and  whooped  like  the  demons 
they  were;  while  the  mounted  ones, 
lashing  their  ponies,  charged  with 
infinite  venom,  overwhelming  Cal- 
houn  and  Keogh,  and  lastly  Custer 
himself.  Indian  boys  then  pranced 
over  the  fields  on  ponies,  scalping 
and  re-shooting  the  dead  and  dy 
ing.  At  the  burial  many  a  stark 
visage  wore  a  look  of  horror. 
"  Rain-in-the-Face,"  who  mainly 
inspired  and  directed  the  battle  on 
the  Indian  side;  boasted  that  he  cut  out  and  ate  Captain  Tom 
Custer's  heart.  Most  believe  that  he  did  so.  "Rain-in-the- 
Face"  was  badly  wounded,  and  used  crutches  ever  after.  Brave 
Sergeant  Butler's  body  was  found  by  itself,  lying  on  a  heap  of 
empty  cartridge  shells  which  told  what  he  had  been  about. 

Sergeant  Mike  Madden  had  a  leg  mangled  while  fight 
ing,  tiger-like,  near  Reno,  and  for  his  bravery  was  promoted 
on  the  field.  He  was  always  over-fond  of  grog,  but  long  ab 
stinence  had  now  intensified  his  thirst.  He  submitted  to  am 
putation  without  anaesthesia.  After  the  operation  the  surgeon 
gave  him  a  stiffhorn  of  brandy.  Emptying  it  eagerly  and  smack 
ing  his  lips,  he  said  :  "  M-eh,  Doctor,  cut  off  the  other  leg." 

This  distressing  catastrophe,  which  whelmed  the  country 
in  grief  many  days,  called  forth  Longfellow's  poem,  "  The 
Revenge  of  Rain-in-the-Face,"  ending  with  the  stanza: 

Whose  was  the  right  and  the  wrong  ? 
Sing  it,  O  funeral  song, 
With  a  voice  that  is  full  of  tears, 
And  say  that  our  broken  faith 
Wrought  all  this  ruin  and  scathe 
In  the  Year  of  a  Hundred  Years. 

189 


THE  UNITED  STATES  IN  OUR  OWN  TIME 


This  poem  mistakenly  represents  "  Rain-in-the-Face  "  as 
having  mutilated  General  Custer  instead  of  his  brother,  the 
Captain.  Also  it  is  based  on  the  "  ambush  "  theory  of  the 
battle,  which  at  first  all  shared.  We  now  know,  however, 
that  Custer  fought  in  the  open,  from  high  ground,  not  in  a 
ravine.  His  surprise  lay  not  in  finding  Indians  before  him, 
but  in  finding  them  so  fatally  numerous.  Some  of  General 
Terry's  friends  charged  Custer  with  transgressing  his  orders 
in  fighting  as  he  did.  That  he  was  somewhat  careless,  almost 

rash,  in  his  prepara 
tions  to  attack  can 
perhaps  be  main 
tained,  though  good 
authority  declares  the 
"  battle  fought  tacti 
cally  and  with  intel 
ligence  on  Custer's 


THE   CUSTER   MONUMENT 

ERECTED   ON  THE  BATTLEFIELD 

After  a.  photograph  by  Barry 


part,"  and  calls  it 
unjust  "to  say  that 
he  was  reckless  or 
foolish."  Bravest  of 
the  brave,  Custer 
was  always  anxious 
to  fght,  and,  just 
now  in  ill  favor  with 
President  Grant,  he  was  eager  to  make  a  record  ;  but  that 
he  was  guilty  of  disobedience  to  his  orders  is  not  shown. 

It,  indeed,  came  quite  directly  from  General  Terry  that 
had  Custer  lived  to  return  "  he  would  at  once  have  been  put 
under  arrest  and  court-martialled  for  disobedience."  This 
might  have  been  the  best  way  to  elicit  all  the  facts,  and  does 
not  prove  that  even  General  Terry  would  have  been  sure  of 
Custer's  conviction. 

The  present  head  of  the  army,  General  Miles,  is  strongly 
of  the  opinion  that  Custer  was  not  guilty  of  disobeying  any 

190 


DID  CUSTER  DISOBEY  ORDERS  ? 

orders.  The  late  General  Fry  expressed  himself  with  equal 
emphasis  in  the  same  tenor.  Colonel  R.  P.  Hughes,  how 
ever,  who  was  General  Terry's  chief  of  staff  during  the  Sioux 
campaign,  sought,  in  an  able  article  in  the  Journal  of  the  Mili 
tary  Service  Institution  for  January,  1896,  to  defend  the 
contrary  proposition.  He  adduced  many  interesting  consid 
erations,  but  seemed  to  the  present  writer  not  at  all  to  justify 
his  view. 

Custer's  expressed  hope  to  "  swing  clear "  of  Terry  is 
worked  too  hard  when  made  to  bear  the  meaning  that  he  de 
liberately  purposed  to  disregard  Terry's  orders.  To  have  a 
superior  at  his  elbow  seemed  to  him  queer  and  unpleasant;  he 
liked,  especially  in  righting  Indians,  to  be  trusted.  Had  he 
been  minded  disobediently  to  meet  the  Indians  without  Gib 
bon,  getting  a  victory  and  all  its  glory  for  himself  alone,  he 
would  have  marched  faster  during  his  first  days  out  from  the 
Rosebud  mouth.  He  in  fact  moved  but  108  miles  in  four 
days. 

Much  turns  on  the  force  of  Custer's  written  orders, 
which,  judged  by  usual  military  documents  of  the  kind,  cer 
tainly  gave  Custer  a  much  larger  liberty  than  Colonel  Hughes 
supposed.  There  is  an  affidavit  of  a  witness  who  heard 
Terry's  and  Custer's  last  conversation  together  at  the  mouth 
of  the  Rosebud,  just  before  Custer  began  his  fatal  ride. 
Terry  said :  "  Use  your  own  judgment  and  do  what  you 
think  best  if  you  strike  the  trail ;  and  whatever  you  do,  Cus 
ter,  hold  on  to  your  wounded."  Even  his  written  orders  gave 
Custer  leave  to  depart  from  his  written  orders  if  he  saw 
reason  for  doing  so,  /'.  e.,  if,  in  his  judgment,  the  end  of  the 
campaign  could  be  best  attained  in  that  way.  Hughes  argues 
that  because  he,  Hughes,  can  see  no  reason  for  any  such  de 
parture,  Custer  could  have  seen  none.  But  how  can  we  know 
this  ?  Custer,  who  alone  could  tell,  cannot  be  interrogated  ; 
and  the  purposes  and  plans  that  governed  his  course  during 
his  eventful  last  days  men  can  only  surmise. 

191 


THE  UNITED  STATES  IN  OUR  OWN  TIME 

Hughes's  contention,  in  opposition  to  General  Fry,  that 
Terry  had  and  had  communicated  to  Custer  a  perfectly  definite 
plan  of  campaign,  explicitly  involving  Gibbon's  co-operation 
in  the  attack,  seems  still  to  lack  proof;  but  the  observations 
here  made  are  little  dependent  on  the  decision  of  that  point.  A 
remark  or  two,  however.  Colonel  Hughes,  it  seems,  wishes  us 
to  think  that  Terry  all  along  knew  the  exceeding  strength  of 
the  Indian  force,  accounting  it  much  too  numerous  for  Custer 
safely  to  attack  alone.  Was  it  not,  then,  rash  and  cruel  to  send 
Custer  out  on  that  far  detour,  crowding  him  so  well  to  the 
south,  where,  let  Gibbon  hurry  as  he  might,  the  savages  would 
have  Custer  at  their  mercy  !  He  could  not  hope  to  conceal 
his  march  very  long.  "  It  is  folly  to  suppose  that  either  a 
small  or  a  large  band  of  Indians  would  remain  stationary 
and  allow  one  body  of  troops  to  come  up  on  one  side  of  it 
while  another  body  came  up  on  the  other  side  and  engaged  it 
in  battle.  .  .  .  When  Custer's  command  was  ordered  to  move 
out  as  it  did  it  left  the  Indians,  who  were  acting  on  interior 
lines,  absolutely  free  to  attack  either  one  of  the  commands 
thus  separated,  or  fight  them  in  detail,  as  might  be  preferred." 

Hughes  makes  the  point  that  Custer  did  not  report  to 
Gibbon  whether  he  found  Indians  in  Tulloch  Creek  Valley. 
General  Fry  seems  justified  in  calling  this  a  purely  formal  and 
immaterial  neglect.  The  valley  up  and  down  was  completely 
empty  of  Indians,  and  Custer  doubtless  considered  it  a  needless 
diminution  of  his  scout  force  to  detach  a  man  to  report  this. 
That  he  did  not  send  word  to  Gibbon  at  any  later  time  may 
seem  strange,  but  he  certainly  was  not  commanded  to  do  so. 

Hughes  charges  it  as  disobedience  that  Custer  did  not 
ride  southward  when  he  ascertained  that  the  Indian  trail  turned 
toward  the  Little  Big  Horn.  But  his  orders  did  not  command 
him  to  go  southward  the  moment  he  ascertained  the  course  of 
the  trail,  or  at  any  other  particular  moment.  Moreover,  what 
Hughes  does  not  observe,  the  purpose  of  veering  southward 
was  simply  to  see  that  the  hostiles  did  not  escape  around  his 

192 


HAD  RENO  PRESSED  FORWARD! 

left.  The  configuration  of  the  country,  as  Custer  saw  it,  must 
have  assured  him  that  when  the  hostiies  made  for  the  Little 
Big  Horn  Valley  they  gave  up  all  purpose  of  marching  south 
and  were  bent  upon  going  down  that  valley.  It  would  have 
been  foolish  for  him  to  have  proceeded  south  after  he  felt  ab 
solutely  convinced  of  the  enemy's  purpose.  He  would  simply 
have  wasted  the  strength  of  his  command. 

Hughes  deems  it  blameworthy  that  from  the  moment 
when  Custer  found  the  trail  leading  toward  the  Little  Big 
Horn  he  quickened  his  speed.  In  this  he  seems  to  overlook 
the  fact  that  Custer's  discovery  may  well  have  led  him  to  fear 
for  Gibbon's  command.  The  redskins  had  gone  to  the  Little 
Big  Horn  on  purpose  to  go  down  that  stream.  Custer  could 
not  know  how  far  down  it  they  by  this  time  were,  or  how  far 
up  it  Gibbon  might  possibly  have  come.  Had  he  not  made 
the  best  of  his  way  on  he  would  certainly  have  been  censur 
able.  At  the  same  time,  it  obviously  would  not  do  for  him 
when  he  came  upon  the  foe  to  wait  before  attacking  to  ascer 
tain  Gibbon's  whereabouts.  As  General  Fry  observes,  had 
he  hesitated,  either  he  would  have  been  attacked  himself,  or 
else  his  foe  would  have  withdrawn  to  attack  Gibbon  or  to  get 
away  entirely. 

Small  as  was  Custer's  total  force,  yet  had  Reno  sup 
ported  him  as  had  been  expected,  the  fight  would  have  been 
a  victory,  the  enemy  killed,  captured,  driven  down  upon  Gib 
bon,  or  so  cut  to  pieces  as  never  to  have  reappeared  as  a 
formidable  force.  In  either  of  these  cases  Custer,  living  or 
dead,  would  have  emerged  from  the  campaign  with  undying 
glory  and  there  would  have  been  no  thought  of  a  court- 
martial  or  of  censure. 


193 


OLD   SWEDES'    CHURCH,    PHILADELPHIA,    BUILT   IN   1700 
After  a  photograph  by  Rau 


CHAPTER   VIII 

"THE   YEAR    OF    A    HUNDRED    YEARS"— 

THE    CENTENNIAL    EXPOSITION    AND 

THE    HAYES-TILDEN    IMBROGLIO 


ORIGIN  OF  THE  CENTENNIAL  EXPOSITION. PHILADELPHIA  LAND 
MARKS. THE  EXPOSITION  BUILDINGS. THE  OPENING. THE  VARI 
OUS  EXHIBITS. ATTENDANCE. A  POLITICAL  CRISIS. GRANT  AND 

JEWELL. THE  BELKNAP  DISGRACE. ANOTHER  REFORM    MOVEMENT. 

FEAR     OF     A     THIRD     TERM     FOR    GRANT. ISSUES     BETWEEN     THE 

PARTIES. HAYES    AND    TILDEN      NOMINATED. THEIR      LETTERS    OF 

ACCEPTANCE.  —THE      CAMPAIGN.  —  PROPHECY     OF      TROUBLE     OVER 

THE  PRESIDENTIAL    COUNT. THE     TWENTY-SECOND    JOINT    RULE. — 

RESULT     OF     THE     ELECTION     IN     DOUBT. CIPHER      DESPATCHES. — 

qUEER    WAYS     OF     RETURNING      BOARDS FEARS    AND    HOPES. THE 

ELECTORAL    COMMISSION. THE    CASE    OF    FLORIDA,     OF    LOUISIANA, 

OF    OREGON,    OF    SOUTH    CAROLINA. HAYES    DECLARED  ELECTED. — 

AN   ELECTORAL  COUNT    LAW. 

READERS  will  rejoice  that  racial  feuds  at  the  South  and 
the  West  during  President   Grant's  second   term  did 
not  make  up  the  entire  history  of  these  years.      Despite  those 
and   all   its  other   troubles,  the   American   body  politic   was 


THE  UNITED  STATES  IN  OUR  OWN  TIME 

about  to  round  the  first  century  of  its  life  in  satisfactory  and 
increasing  vigor. 

What  could  be  more  fitting  than  that  the  hundredth 
anniversary  of  the  world's  greatest  Republic  should  be  kept 
by  a  monster  celebration  ?  Such  a  question  was  publicly 
raised  in  1870  by  an  association  of  Philadelphia  citizens,  and 
it  set  the  entire  nation  thinking.  At  first  only  a  United 
States  celebration  was  proposed,  but  reflection  developed  the 
idea  of  a  Mammoth  Fair  where  the  arts  and  industries  of  the 
whole  world  should  be  represented.  Congress  took  up  the 
design  in  1871—2.  In  1873  President  Grant  formally  pro 
claimed  the  Exposition,  and  in  1874  foreign  governments 
were  invited  to  participate  in  it.  Thirty-three  cordially  re 
sponded,  including  all  the  civilized  nations  except  Greece,  a 
larger  number  than  had  ever  before  taken  part  in  an  event 
like  this. 

Philadelphia  was  naturally  chosen  as  the  seat  of  the  Ex 
position.  Here  the  nation  was  born,  a  fact  of  which  much 
remained  to  testify.  Among  the  ancient  buildings  were  the 
"Old  Swedes'  "  Church,  built  in  1700,  Christ  Church,  begun 
only  twenty-seven  years  later,  still  in  perfect  preservation, 
St.  Peter's,  built  in  1758—1761,  and  the  sequestered  Friends' 
Meeting-house,  built  in  1808.  The  Penn  Treaty  Monu 
ment,  unimpressive  in  appearance,  marked  the  site  of  the  elm 
under  which  Penn  made  his  famous  treaty  with  the  Indians. 
Carpenters'  Hall,  still  owned  by  the  Carpenters'  Company 
which  built  it,  had  been  made  to  resume  the  appearance  it 
bore  when,  in  1774,  the  first  Continental  Congress  assembled 
under  its  roof.  In  the  centre  of  a  line  of  antique  edifices 
known  as  State-house  Row,  stood  Independence  Hall, 
erected  1732—1735.  The  name  specifically  applied  to  the 
large  first-floor  east  room,  in  which  the  second  Continental 
Congress  adopted  the  Declaration  of  Independence.  In 
1824  Lafayette  held  a^great  reception  here,  and  six  years 
later  it  was  consecrated  to  the  past.  Revolutionary  portraits 

196 


THE  EXPOSITION  BUILDINGS 

and  relics  were  placed  in  it,  and  the  building  restored  to  its 
original  condition.  In  1854  the  old  Liberty  Bell  was  taken 
down  from  the  tower  into  the  hall  and  the  walls  enriched 
by  a  large  number  of  portraits  from  the  Peale  Gallery.  A 
keeper  was  then  appointed  and  the  hall  opened  to  visitors. 
In  Fairmount  Pa/k,  beyond  the  Schuylkill,  a  level  plat 
of  over  200  acres  was  inclosed,  and  appropriate  buildings 
erected.  Five  enormous  structures,  the  Main  Building,  with 
Machinery,  Agricultural,  Horticultural,  and  Memorial  Halls, 
towered  above  all  the  rest.  Several  foreign  governments 
built  structures  of  their  own.  Twenty-six  States  did  the 
same.  Thirty  or  more  buildings  were  put  up  by  private 
enterprise  in  order  the  better  to  present  industrial  processes 


STATE-HOUSE  ROM',   PHILADELPHIA 
After  a  photograph  by  Rau 


and  products.      In  ail  more  than  two  hundred  edifices  stood 
within  the  inclosure. 

The  Exposition  opened  on  May  loth,  with  public  exer 
cises,  a  hundred  thousand  people  being  present.    Wagner  had 


THE  UNITED  STATES  IN  OUR  OWN  TIME 

composed  a  march  for  the  occasion.  Whittier's  Centennial 
Hymn,  a  noble  piece,  was  sung  by  a  chorus  of  one  thousand 
voices. 

Our  fathers'  God  !   from  out  whose  hand 
The  centuries  fall  like  grains  of  sand, 
We  meet  to-day,  united,  free, 
And  loyal  to  our  land  and  Thee, 
To  thank  Thee  for  the  era  done, 
And  trust  Thee  for  the  opening  one. 

Here,  where  of  old,  by  Thy  design, 
The  fathers  spake  that  word  of  Thine, 
Whose  echo  is  the  glad  refrain 
Of  rended  bolt  and  fallen  chain, 
To  grace  our  festal  time,  from  all 
The  zones  of  earth  our  guests  we  call. 

The  restored  South  chanted  the  praises  of  the  Union  in 
the  words  of  Sidney  Lanier,  the  Georgia  poet.  President 
Grant  then  declared  the  Exposition  open.  Further  simple 
but  impressive  ceremonies  were  held  on  July  4th,  in  the  pub 
lic  square  at  the  rear  of  Independence  Hall.  On  temporary 
platforms  sat  5,000  distinguished  guests,  and  a  chorus  of  1,000 
singers.  The  square  and  the  neighboring  streets  were  filled 
with  a  dense  throng.  Richard  Henry  Lee,  grandson  of  the 
mover  of  the  Declaration  of  Independence,  came  to  the  front 
with  the  original  document  in  his  hands.  At  sight  of  that 
yellow  and  wrinkled  paper  the  vast  throng  burst  into  pro 
longed  cheering.  Mr.  Lee  read  the  Declaration,  Bayard  Tay 
lor  recited  an  ode,  and  Hon.  William  M.  Evarts  delivered  an 
oration. 

In  the  Main  Building,  erected  in  a  year,  at  a  cost  of 
$1,700,000,  manufactures  were  exhibited,  also  products  of  the 
mine,  along  with  innumerable  other  evidences  of  scientific  and 
educational  progress.  More  than  a  third  of  the  space  was  re 
served  for  the  United  States,  the  rest  being  divided  among 
foreign  countries.  The  products  of  all  climates,  tribes,  and 
times  were  here.  Great  Britain,  France,  and  Germany  exhib- 

198 


THE   VARIOUS  EXHIBITS 


JL 


iJiOSSS^ 


The  Opening  Ceremonies  on  May  70, 

exhibited  the  work  of  their 

myriad  roaring  looms  side  by 

side  with   the  wares    of  the 

Hawaiian    Islands    and    the 

little     Orange     Free     State. 

Here  were  the  furs  of  Rus 
sia,  with  other  articles  from  the  frozen  North ;  there  the  flash 
ing  diamonds  of  Brazil,  and  the  rich  shawls  and  waving 
plumes  of  India.  At  a  step  one  passed  from  old  Egypt  to 
the  latest  born  South  American  republic.  Chinese  conser 
vatism  and  Yankee  enterprise  confronted  each  other  across 
the  aisle. 

From  the  novelty  of  the  foreign  display  the  American 
visitor  turned  proudly  to  the  handiwork  of  his  own  land. 
Textiles,  arms,  tools,  musical  instruments,  watches,  carriages, 
cutlery,  books,  furniture — a  bewildering  display  of  all  things 
useful  and  ornamental — made  him  realize  as  never  before  the 
wealth,  intelligence,  and  enterprise  of  his  native  country,  and 
the  proud  station  to  which  she  had  risen  among  the  nations  of 
the  earth.  Three-fourths  of  the  space  in  Machinery  Hall 
was  taken  up  with  American  machinery. 

199 


THE  UNITED  STATES  IN  OUR  OWN  TIME 


GENERAL   JOSEPH  R. 
HAMLET 

President    of  the    Centennial     Com- 


Memorial  Hall,  a  beautiful  perma 
nent  building  of  granite,  erected  by 
Pennsylvania  and  Philadelphia  at  a  cost 
of  $1,500,000,  was  given  up  to  art. 
This  was  the  poorest  feature  of  the  Ex 
position,  though  the  collection  was  the 
largest  and  most  notable  ever  till  then 
seen  this  side  the  Atlantic.  America 
had  few  art  works  of  the  first  order  to 
show,  while  foreign  nations,  with  the 
exception  of  England,  which  contri 
buted  a  noble  lot  of  paintings,  including 
works  by  Gainsborough  and  Reynolds, 
feared  to  send  their  choicest  products  across  the  sea.  All 
through  the  summer  and  early  autumn,  spite  of  the  unusual 
heat  that  year,  thousands  of  pilgrims  from  all  parts  of  the 
country  and  the  world  filled  the  fair  grounds  and  the  city. 
Amid  the  crowds  of  visitors  Philadelphians  became  strang 
ers  in  their  own  streets.  On  September  28th,  Pennsylvania 
day,  275,000  persons  passed  the  gates.  During  October  the 
visitors  numbered  over  two  and  a  half  millions.  From 
May  loth  to  November  loth,  the  closing  day,  the  total 
admissions  were  9,900,000.  The  aggregate  attendance  was 
larger  than  at  any  previous  international  exhibition,  except 
that  of  Paris  in  1867.  The  admissions  there  reached  10,200,- 
ooo,  but  the  gates  were  open  fifty-one  days  longer  than  in 
Philadelphia.  At  Vienna,  in  1873,  there  were  but  7,255,000 
admissions  in  186  days,  against  159  days  at  Philadelphia. 

Full  of  peace  and  promise  as  was  this  Philadelphia  pag 
eant,  in  politics  these  same  months  saw  the  United  States  at 
a  serious  crisis.  The  best  interests  of  the  country  seemed  to 
depend  on  the  party  in  power,  yet  a  large  and  influential  sec 
tion  of  that  party  was  in  all  but  open  revolt.  Many  base  men 
to  whom  honest  and  enterprising  public  servants  were  unwel 
come  were  tolerated  near  the  President.  Secretary  Bristow's 


JEWELL  AND  THE  POST-OFFICE  DEPARTiMENT 

noble  fight  against  the  Whiskey  Ring,  his  victory,  and  his 
resignation  from  the  Cabinet  are  described  in  another  Chapter. 
Ex-Governor  Marshall  Jewell,  of  Connecticut,  was  a  most  effi 
cient  Postmaster-General.  Upon  taking  his  office  he  avowed 
the  purpose  to  conduct  it  on  business  principles.  He  at  once 
began  to  attack  the  notorious  "  straw  bids  "  and  other  corrupt 
practices  connected  with  carrying  the  mails  in  Texas  and  Ala 
bama.  It  was  he  who  introduced  the  Railway  Post-office  Sys 
tem,  by  which  the  postal  matter  for  a  State,  instead  of  first 
going  to  the  capital  or  to  one  or  two  central  cities  and  being 
slowly  distributed  thence,  was  sent  to  its  destination  directly,, 
by  the  shortest  routes  and  in  the  "most  expeditious  manner. 
Yet  in  1876,  two  years  from  the  time  of  his  appointment,, 
much  to  the  surprise  of  the  public,  Jewell  left  the  Cabinet. 
An  officeholder  explained  that  "  they  didn't  care  much  for 
Jewell  in  Washington  ;  why,  he  ran  the  Post-office  as  though 
it  was  a  factory  !  "  The  ring  politicians  were  a  unit  against 
him,  and  finally  succeeded  in  displacing  him.  In  a  speech 
before  the  Senate  during  the  impeachment  trial  of  Belknap> 
Grant's  War  Secretary,  Hon.  George  F.  Hoar  declared  that 
he  had  heard  the  taunt  from  friendliest  lips  that  "  the  only 
product  of  the  United  States'  institutions  in  which  she  sur 
passed  all  other  nations  beyond  question  was  her  corruption." 
The  Sherman  Letters  threw  much  light  on  the  Belknap 
disgrace.  July  8,  1871,  General  Sherman  wrote  :  "  My  office 
has  been  by  law  stript  of  all  the  influence  and  prestige  it 
possessed  under  Grant  (as  General),  and  even  in  matters  of 
discipline  and  army  control  I  am  neglected,  overlooked,  or 
snubbed."  Later,  Sherman  wrote  :  "  Belknap  has  acted  badly 
by  me  ever  since  he  reached  Washington.  General  Grant 
promised  me  often  to  arrange  and  divide  our  functions,  but 
he  never  did,  but  left  the  Secretary  to  do  all  those  things  of 
which  he  himself,  as  General,  had  complained  to  Stanton." 
"  The  President  and  Belknap  both  gradually  withdrew  from 
me  all  the  powers  which  Grant  had  exercised  in  the  same 


THE  UNITED  STATES  IN  OUR  OWN  TIME 

office,  and  Congress  capped  the  climax  by  repealing  that  law 
which  required  all  orders  to  the  army  to  go  through  the  Gen 
eral."  "  I  have  no  hesitation  in  saying  that  if  the  Secretary 
of  War  has  the  right  to  command  the  army  through  the  Ad 
jutant-General,  then  my  office  is  a  sinecure  and  should  be  abol 
ished." 

Why  the  General  of  the  Army  had  been  thus  extruded 
from  the  authority  and  functions  properly  attending  his  office, 
was  clear  when,  on  February  29th,  1876,  Caleb  P.  Marsh, 
one  of  a  firm  of  contractors  in  New  York  City,  testified  before 
a  Congressional  Committee  that,  in  1870,  Belknap  had 
offered  him  the  control  of  the  post-tradership  at  Fort  Sill,  In 
dian  Territory,  for  the  purpose  of  enabling  him  to  extort 
from  the  actual  holder  of  the  place,  one  John  S.  Evafhs, 
$3,000  four  times  a  year  as  the  price  of  continuing  in  it. 
The  Secretary  and  his  family  appeared  to  have  received 
^24,450  in  this  way.  Belknap's  resignation  was  offered  and 
accepted  a  few  hours  before  the  House  passed  a  unanimous 
vote  to  impeach  him.  Other  dubious  acts  of  Belknap's  came 
to  light,  notably  a  contract  for  erecting  tombstones  in  national 
cemeteries,  from  which,  as  was  charged,  he  realized  $90,000. 
In  the  fall  of  1874,  General  Sherman  actually  transferred  his 
headquarters  to  St.  Louis,  to  remove  himself  from  official  con 
tact  with  Belknap,  who  was  issuing  orders  and  making  ap 
pointments  without  Sherman's  knowledge.  Two  years  later, 
after  Belknap's  resignation,  the  office  of  General  of  the  Army 
was  re-invested  with  the  powers  which  had  formerly  belonged 
to  it.  Then  the  General  moved  back  to  Washington. 

Belknap  demurred  to  the  Senate's  jurisdiction,  but  on 
May  29th  the  Senate  affirmed  this,  37  to  29,  Morton  and 
Conkling  voting  nay,  Cameron,  Edmunds,  Morrill  and  Sher 
man  aye.  Thurman  moved  the  resolution  of  impeachment. 
Belknap's  counsel  refused  to  let  him  plead,  urging  that  the 
vote  to  assume  jurisdiction,  not  being  a  two-thirds  vote,  was 
equivalent  to  an  acquittal.  The  Senate,  however,  proceeded, 


THE  NEW  REFORM  MOVEMENT 

as  on  a  plea  of  "  not  guilty,"  to  try  him.  He  was  acquitted, 
one  Democrat  voting  for  acquittal.  Morton  was  among  the 
Republicans  who  voted  for  conviction. 

.  After  the  above  recitals  one  is  not  surprised  that  in 
April,  1876,  over  the  signatures  of  William  Cullen  Bryant, 
Theodore  D.  Woolsey,  Alexander  H.  Bullock,  Horace  White, 
and  Carl  Schurz,  was  issued  a  circular  call  for  a  conference  of 
Republicans  dissatisfied  at  the  "  wide-spread  corruption " 
with  which  machine  politics  had  infected  our  public  service. 
The  conference  organized  about  five  weeks  later,  electing 
Theodore  D.  Woolsey  for  president,  and  for  secretaries, 
among  others,  Henry  Cabot  Lodge,  Francis  A.  Walker  and 
Henry  Armitt  Brown.  A  Committee  on  Business  next  re 
ported  "An  Address  to  the  American  people,"  by  which  the 
assemblage,  after  recounting  the  threatening  growth  of  official 
corruption  hand  in  hand  with  the  spoils  system,  invoked  all 
good  citizens  to  join  them  in  a  pledge  to  support  no  presi 
dential  aspirant  not  known  "  to  possess  the  moral  courage  and 
sturdy  resolution  to  grapple  with  abuses  which  had  acquired 
the  strength  of  established  customs,  and  to  this  end  firmly  to 
resist  the  pressure  even  of  his  party  friends." 

The  New  York  Herald  had  in  1874  started  a  cry  that 
Grant  would  not  be  averse  to  breaking  the  canon  set  by 
Washington  against  a  third  presidential  term.  Democratic 
journals  took  up  the  alarm  and  soon  the  press  all  over  the 
land  was  vocal  with  denunciations  of  "  Grantism,"  "  Caesar- 
ism,"  "  Third  Termism  !  "  So  nervous  did  the  din  make  Re 
publicans,  that  in  1875  tne  Pennsylvania  Republican  Conven 
tion  passed  a  resolution  of  unalterable  "  opposition  to  the 
election  to  the  presidency  of  any  person  for  a  third  term." 
Grant  had  thus  far  been  almost  alone  in  keeping  silence,  but 
he  at  last  felt  called  to  express  himself.  He  wrote  a  letter 
to  the  chairman  of  the  convention.  "  Now  for  the  third 
term,"  said  he,  "  I  do  not  want  it  any  more  than  I  did  the 
first."  Yet  he  remarked  that  the  Constitution  did  not  re- 


205 


THE  UNITED  STATES  IN  OUR  OWN  TIME 


VIEWS 

AT  THE 

PHILADELPHIA: 

CENTENNIAL 


Fountain    Avenu 


strict     a     President  ,V* 

=         ••'  'V3-  S 

to  two  terms,  and 
that  it  might  some 
time  be  unfortunate  to  dismiss  one  so  soon.  However,  he- 
would  not  accept  a  nomination  unless  "  under  such  circum 
stances  as  to  make  it  an  imperative  duty — circumstances  not 
likely  to  arise."  This  was  too  equivocal.  The  National 
House  of  Representatives  therefore  passed  a  resolution,  234. 
to  18,  seventy  Republicans  voting  for  it: 

"  That  in  the  opinion  of  this  House  the  precedent  estab 
lished  by   Washington   and  other   Presidents    of  the   United 


206 


PARTY  PLATFORMS  IN   1876 


States  after  their  second  term,  has  become,  by  universal  con 
currence,  a  part  of  our  Republican  system  of  government, 
and  that  any  departure  from  this  time-honored  custom  would 
be  unwise,  unpatriotic,  and  fraught  with  peril  to  our  free  in 
stitutions." 

The  issues  with  a  view  to  which,  in  1876,  the  two  great 
parties  constructed  their  platforms,  were  mainly  three  :  The 
"  Southern  question,"  specie  resumption,  and  civil  service  re 
form.  The  Republican  party  endorsed  its  own  civil  rights 
arid  force  legislation,  but  called  for  better  administration.  The 
Democracy  had  at  last,  to  use  J.  Q.  Adams's  phrase,  "sneaked 
up  to  its  inevitable  position."  It  reaffirmed  its  faith  in  the 
Union,  and  its  devotion  to  the  Constitution,  with  its  amend 
ments,  universally  accepted,  as  a  final  settlement  of  the  contro 
versy  which  engendered  civil  war.  This  was  a  re-emergence 
of  Vallandigham's  New  Departure  for  the  party.  The  Demo 
cratic  platform  rang  with  the  cry  of  "  Reform,"  which  had 
been  so  effectual  in  New  York  State  in  the  election  of  Tilden 

as  Governor.  The 
catalogue  of  shocking 
Republican  scandals 
was  gone  over  to 
prove  the  futility  of 
attempting  "  reform 
within  party  lines." 
"  President,  Vice- 
President,  Judges, 
Senators,  Represen 
tatives,  Cabinet  Offi 
cers — these  and  all 
others  in  authority 
are  the  people's  ser 
vants.  Their  offices 
are  not  a  private  per 
quisite  ;  they  are  a 


r  of  Horticultural  Hall 


207 


THE  UNITED  STATES  IN  OUR  OWN  TIME 

public  trust."  This  was  the  origin  of  an  expression,  afterward 
usually  referred  to  President  Cleveland,  which  bade  fair  to  be 
immortal. 

While  the  Republicans  favored  a  "  continuous  and  steady 
progress  to  specie  payments,"  the  hard-money  men  failed  to 
get  the  Convention  to  endorse  the  Resumption  Clause  of  the 
Act  of  1875.  The  Democrats  denounced  that  clause  as  a 
hindrance  to  resumption,  but  their  Convention  would  not  com 
mit  itself  to  a  condemnation  of  the  resumption  policy.  The 
Republicans  favored  a  revenue  tariff  with  incidental  protection. 
The  Democrats  repudiated  protection,  and  demanded  <c  that  all 
custom-house  taxation  should  be  only  for  revenue." 

The  Republican  Convention  met  in  Cincinnati  on  June 
I4th.  "Third-termers"  saw  no  hope  for  Grant.  James  G. 
Elaine  was  thought  the  man  most  likely  to  receive  the  nomina 
tion.  His  name  was  placed  before  the  Convention  by  Colonel 
Robert  G.  Ingersoll,  in  one"  of  the  most  eloquent  addresses 
ever  heard  on  such  an  occasion.  When  in  the  roll-call  of 
States  Maine  was  reached,  boundless  enthusiasm  reigned, 
with  cheering  that  died  away  only  to  be  renewed,  closing  with 
three  cheers  for  James  G.  Blaine.  Mr.  Ingersoll  mounted  the 
platform.  As  he  was  then  comparatively  unknown,  the  epi 
grammatic  force  and  the  fervor  of  his  words  took  his  hearers 
by  surprise.  His  concluding  periods  were  not  soon  forgotten, 
and  the  title  of  "  Plumed  Knight "  with  which  he  dubbed  his 
hero  adhered  to  Mr.  Blaine  through  life. 

"  This  is  a  grand  year,"  he  said  :  "  a  year  filled  with  the 
recollections  of  the  Revolution  ;  filled  with  proud  and  tender 
memories  of  the  sacred  past ;  .  .  the  span  is  too  long  filled 
with  legends  of  liberty  ; — a  year  in  which  the  sons  of  freedom 
will  drink  from  the  fountain  of  enthusiasm  ;  a  year  in  which  the 
people  call  for  the  man  who  has  preserved  in  Congress  what 
their  soldiers  won  upon  the  field ;  a  year  in  which  they  call  for 
the  man  who  has  torn  from  the  throat  of  treason  the  tongue  of 
slander  ;  the  man  who  has  snatched  the  mask  of  Democracy 


THE  UNITED  STATES  IN  OUR  OWN  TIME 

from  the  hideous  face  of  the  rebellion  ;  the 

man  who,  like  the  intellectual  athlete,  has 

stood  in  the  arena  of  debate,  challenging 

all  comers,    and  who,  up  to    the  present 

moment,    is    a   total    stranger    to     defeat. 

Like    an    armed    warrior,    like   a   plumed 

knight,   James   G.  Elaine   marched  down 

the  halls  of  the  American   Congress,  and 

threw  his  shining  lance  full  and  fair  against 

the  brazen  forehead  of  every  traitor  to  his  country  and  every 

maligner  of  his  fair  reputation.      For  the  Republican  party  to 

desert  that  gallant  man    now  is  as   though   an   army   should 

desert    its    general   upon   the   field    of  battle.   .  .    James    G. 

Elaine    is   now  and   has    been    for    years    the    bearer    of  the 

sacred    standard   of  the   Republican   party.     I   call   it  sacred 

because  no  human  being  can  stand  beneath  its  folds  without 

becoming  and  without  remaining  free. 

"  Gentlemen  of  the  Convention  :  In  the  name  of  the 
great  Republic,  the  only  Republic  that  ever  existed  upon  the 
face  of  the  earth ;  in  the  name  of  all  her  defenders  and  of  all 
her  supporters  ;  in  the  name  of  all  her  soldiers  living ;  in  the 
name  of  all  her  soldiers  that  died  upon  the  field  of  battle  ;  and 
in  the  name  of  those  that  perished  in  the  skeleton  clutch  of 
famine  at  Andersonville  and  Libby,  whose  sufferings  he  so 
vividly  remembers — Illinois — Illinois — nominates  for  the  next 
President  of  this  country  that  prince  of  parliamentarians,  that 
leader  of  leaders,  James  G.  Elaine." 

Elaine  was  indeed  a  brilliant  parliamentarian,  but  his  pros 
pects  were  weakened  by  alleged  questionable  proceedings,  the 
nature  of  which  we  shall  exhibit  later.  Most  of  the  Southern 
delegates  were  for  Oliver  P.  Morton,  of  Indiana.  Conkling, 
of  New  York,  in  addition  to  the  potent  support  of  his  State, 
enjoyed  the  favor  of  the  Administration.  The  reform  and  anti- 
Grant  delegates  were  enthusiastic  for  the  gallant  destroyer 
of  the  Whiskey  Ring,  ex-Secretary  Bristow,  of  Kentucky. 


GOVERNOR  HAYES 


George  William  Curtis  said  that  at  the 
Attorney-General's  table  he  asked  Jewell 
whom  the  party — not  the  managers — 
would  make  the  candidate,  and  that 
Jewell  instantly  answered,  "  Bristow." 
Pennsylvania,  Connecticut  and  Ohio  all 
appeared  with  favorite  sons  in  their  arms: 
Hartranft,  Jewell  and  Hayes,  respect- 
MARSHALL  JEWELL  ivcly.  The  names  familiar  enough  to 
evoke  cheers  from  one  faction  drew  "  curses  not  loud  but 
deep  "  from  other  cliques.  Upon  the  seventh  ballot,  there 
fore,  the  Convention  united  upon  Governor  Rutherford  B. 
Hayes,  of  Ohio,  a  man  who,  though  little  known,  awakened 
no  antagonism  and  had  no  embarrassing  past,  while  he  had 
made  a  most  creditable  record  both  as  a  soldier  and  as  the 
chief  magistrate  of  his  State. 

When  Hayes  was  nominated  for  Governor  in  1875  m~ 
flation  was  popular  all  over  the  West.  Both  parties  were 
infected,  though  the  Democrats  the  worse.  The  Ohio  Democ 
racy  was  led  that  year  by  William  Allen  and  Samuel  F.  Carey, 
two  of  the  ablest  campaigners  ever  heard  upon  the  stump  in 
this  country.  Hayes  dared  them  to  the  issue.  Spite  of  pro 
tests  from  timid  Republicans,  he  came  out  boldly  for  resump 
tion  and  the  re-establishment  of  the  specie  standard,  turned  the 
tide  against  the  inflationist  hosts,  and  carried  the  State.  From 
that  moment  the  Ohio  Governor  was  seen  by  many  to  be  of 
presidential  stature.  John  Sherman  was  the  first  to  name  him 
for  the  higher  office.  In  a  letter  dated  January  21,  1876,  he 
had  written  :  "  Considering  all  things  I  believe  the  nomination 
of  Governor  Hayes  would  give  us  more  strength,  taking  the 
whole  country  at  large,  than  that  of  any  other  man." 

The  Democratic  Convention  convened  at  St.  Louis  on 
June  28th,  nominating  Samuel  J.  Tilden  on  the  second  ballot. 
Tilden  was  born  in  New  Lebanon,  N.  Y.,  February  9,  1814. 
In  1845  ne  was  elected  to  the  New  York  Assembly;  in  1846 


THE  UNITED  STATES  IN  OUR  OWN  TIME 

and  again  in  1867  to  the  State  Constitutional  Convention. 
He  was  a  keen  lawyer.  By  his  famous  analysis  of  the  Broad 
way  Bank  accounts  during  the  prosecution  of  the  Tammany 
Ring  he  rendered  an  invaluable  service  to  the  cause  of  reform. 
As  Governor,  in  1875,  he  waged  relentless  and  triumphant 
war  against  the  Canal  Ring,  "  the  country  thieves,"  as  they 
were  called  to  distinguish  them  from  Tweed  and  his  coterie. 

In  accepting  the  nomination  Tilden  reiterated  his  pro 
tests  against  "  the  magnificent  and  oppressive  centralism  into 
which  our  government  was  being  converted."  He  also  com 
mended  reform  in  the  Civil  Service,  deprecating  the  notion 
that  this  service  existed  for  office-holders,  and  bewailing  the  or 
ganization  of  the  official  class  into  a  body  of  political  merce 
naries.  Hayes's  letter  emphasized  Civil  Service  reform  even 
more  strongly.  He  zealously  descanted  upon  the  evils  of  the 
spoils  system,  and  pledged  himself,  if  elected,  to  employ  all  the 
constitutional  powers  vested  in  the  President  to  secure  reform, 
returning  to  the  "  old  rule,  the  true  rule,  that  honesty,  capacity 
and  fidelity  constitute  the  only  real  qualifications  for  office/' 
Both  candidates  wished  the  Executive  to  be  relieved  of  the 
temptation  to  use  patronage  for  his  own  re-election.  Mr. 
Hayes  made  <c  the  noble  pledge  "  that  in  no  case  would  he  be 
a  candidate  again.  Mr.  Tilden  disparaged  self-imposed  re 
strictions,  but  recommended  that  the  chief  magistrate  be  con 
stitutionally  disqualified  for  re-election. 

Hayes's  ambiguity  touching  the  Southern  question  gave 
hope  that,  even  if  the  Republicans  succeeded,  a  milder  South 
ern  policy  would  be  introduced.  Tilden,  while  crying  out 
against  the  insupportable  misgovernment  imposed  upon  recon 
structed  States,  frankly  accepted  the  Democrats'  new  departure. 
Before  the  end  of  the  canvass  he  published  a  pledge  that,  if 
elected,  he  would  enforce  the  constitutional  amendments  and 
resist  Southern  claims. 

The  campaign  was  tame.  The  fact  that  both  candidates 
were  of  blameless  character  muffled  partisan  eloquence.  Great 


MORTON  A  PROPHET 


efforts  were  made  to  discredit  Tilden  for  connection  with  cer 
tain  railroad  enterprises,  and  he  was  sued  for  an  income  tax 
alleged  to  be  due.  Retorting,  the  Democrats  sneered  at  Hayes 
as  an  "  obscure  "  man,  and  roundly  denounced  the  extortion 
practiced  upon  office-holders  under  Secretary  Chandler's  eye. 
This  chatter  amounted  to  little.  All  signs  pointed  to  a  close 
election. 

So  early  as  May,  1874,  Mr.  Morton  of  Indiana  had  pro 
posed  in  the  Senate  an  amendment  to  the  Constitution  making 

r  o 

the  President  eligible  by  the  people  directly.  The  proposal 
was  committed  and,  the  next  January,  debated.  Each  State  was 
to  have  as  many  presidential  as  congressional  districts.  The 
presidential  candidate  successful  in  any  district  would  receive 
therefrom  one  presidential  vote,  while  two  special  presidential 
votes  would  fall  to  the  candidate  receiving  the  greatest  num 
ber  of  district  votes  in  the  State. 

In  reviewing  the  need  of  some  such  change  Morton 
spoke  like  a  prophet.  "  No  State,"  he  declared  "  has  pro 
vided  any  method  of  contesting  the  election  of  electors. 
Though  this  election  may  be  distinguished  by  fraud,  notorious 

fraud,  by  violence,  by  tumult,  yet 

there  is  no  method  of  contesting 
it."  Again,  "  It  seems  never  to 
have  occurred  to  the  members  of 
the  Convention  that  there  could 
be  two  sets  of  electors  ;  it  seems 
never  to  have  occurred  to  them 
that  there  would  be  fraud  and  cor 
ruption,  or  any  reason  why  the 
votes  of  electors  should  be  set 
aside.  It  is  clearly  a  casus  omissus, 
a  thing  overlooked  by  the  framers 
of  the  Constitution."  The  subject 
was,  however,  laid  aside,  and  never 
taken  up  again  till  the  dangers 


SAMUEL  j.  TILDEN 


213 


THE  UNITED  STATES  IN  OUR  OWN  TIME 

which  Morton   had  so  faithfully   foretold  were  actually  shak 
ing  the  pillars  of  our  government. 

Morton  also  sought  to  amend  and  render  of  service  the 
twenty-second  joint  rule,  the  substance  of  which  was  that  in 
counting  the  electoral  votes  no  question  should  be  decided 
affirmatively  and  no  vote  objected  to  be  counted,  "  except  by 
the  concurrent  votes  of  the  two  houses."  This  rule  had  been 
passed  in  1865,  being  meant  to  enable  the  radicals  to  reject 
electoral  votes  from  Mr.  Lincoln's  "  ten  per  cent.  States," 
viz.,  those  reconstructed  on  the  presidential  plan.  Morton 
proposed  to  modify  this  rule  so  that  no  vote  could  be  rejected 
save  by  concurrent  vote  of  the  two  houses.  A  bill  providing 
for  such  change  passed  the  Senate,  six  Republicans  opposing. 
It  was  never  taken  up  in  the  House.  Morton  introduced 
the  bill  again  in  the  next  Congress,  only  to  see  it  killed  by 
delays. 

The  election  of  1876  passed  off  quietly,  troops  being  sta 
tioned  at  the  polls  in  turbulent  quarters.  "  The  result  was 
doubtful  up  to  the  day  of  election  ;  it  was  doubtful  after  the 
election  was  over,  and  to  this  day  the  question,  Was  Tilde n  or 
Hayes  duly  elected  ?  is  an  open  one.  The  first  reports  re 
ceived  in  New  York  were  so  decidedly  in  favor  of  the  Demo 
cratic  ticket  that  the  leading  Republican  journals  admitted  its 
success."  The  Times  alone  stood  out,  persistently  declaring 
that  Hayes  was  elected,  which  caused  intense  excitement  among 
the  huge  crowd. gathered  in  the  square  fronting  the  Times  office. 
"1  DON'T  KNOW"  The  next  day  different  reports  were  received, 
and  both  sides  claimed  the  victory.  Hon. 
Hugh  McCulloch,  a  Republican,  but  emi 
nently  free  from  partisan  bias,  was  of  the 
opinion  at  the  time,  and  so  long  as  he  lived, 
that  if  the  distinguished  Northern  men  who 

visited  those  States  had  stayed  at  home,  and 

J 

A  KU-KIUX  Notue  Posted  up     there  had  been  no  outside  pressure  upon  the 

in  Mississippi  During  the  .....  .  _  .    .. 

Election  of  1876  returning    boards,    their     certificates    would 


214 


THE  CIPHER  DESPATCHES 

have  been  in  favor  of  the  Democratic  electors.  This  opin 
ion  was  confirmed  by  a  remark  of  the  President  of  the  Union 
Telegraph  Company  at  the  annual  meeting  of  the  Union 
League  Club  of  New  York,  in  1878.  In  a  conversation  with 
that  gentleman  Mr.  McCulloch  happened  to  speak  of  the 
election  of  Mr.  Hayes,  when  he  interrupted  by  saying:  "'But 
he  was  not  elected.'  c  If  he  was  not,  the  emanations  of  your 
office  failed  to  show  it,'  McCulloch  replied.  c  Oh,  yes,'  he  re 
joined  ;  c  but  that  was  because  the  examiners  did  not  know 
where  to  look.'  .  .  c  Mr.  Tilden,'  said  a  prominent  Repub 
lican,  c  was,  I  suppose,  legally  elected,  but  not  fairly.' '  This 
was  doubtless  the  conclusion  of  a  great  many  other  Republi 
cans,  as  well  as  of  practically  all  the  Democrats. 

Pending  the  meeting  of  the  State  electoral  colleges,  some 
of  Tilden's  warmest  supporters  undertook  negotiations  to  se 
cure  for  him  one  or  more  electoral  votes  from  South  Caro 
lina  or  Florida.  As  their  apologists  put  it,  "  they  seem  to 
have  feared  that  the  corrupt  canvassers  would  declare  "  those 
States  for  Hayes,  "  and  being  convinced  that  the  popular  vote 
had  been  cast  for  Tilden,  to  have  been  willing  to  submit  to 
the  payment  of  moneys  which  they  were  informed  some  of 
the  canvassers  demanded  by  way  of  blackmail."  One  Hardy 
Solomon,  pretending  to  represent  the  South  Carolina  Canvass 
ing  Board,  went  to  Baltimore  expecting  to  receive  $60,000  or 
$80,000  in  this  interest;  but,  upon  applying  to  Mr.  Tilden 
for  the  sum,  he  was  peremptorily  refused.  These  negotiations 
were  authorized  neither  by  Mr.  Tilden,  who,  under  oath, 
denied  all  knowledge  of  them,  nor  by  the  Democratic  National 
Committee.  The  Republican  members  of  the  Clarkson  inves 
tigating  committee  thought  them  traceable  to  Tilden's  secretary, 
Colonel  Pelton,  with  Smith  M.  Weed  and  Manton  Marble; 
but  the  responsibility  for  them  was  never  really  fixed  upon  any 
one.  The  despatches  went  back  and  forth  in  cipher.  Under 
a  subpoena  from  the  Senate  Committee  on  Privileges  and 
Elections,  the  Western  Union  Telegraph  Company  delivered 

215 


THE  UNITED  STATES  IN  OUR  OWN  TIME 

them  to  that  Committee,  and  on  January  25,  1877,  they  were 
locked  in  a  trunk  in  its  room.  When  this  trunk  was  returned 
to  New  York  City  on  the  following  March  ijth  it  was  dis 
covered  that  a  large  number  of  the  cipher  despatches  had 
been  abstracted.  Of  those  missing,  some  seven  hundred 
were,  in  May,  1878,  in  possession  of  G.  E.  Bullock,  messen 
ger  of  the  committee  last  named.  Part  of  these  subsequently 
found  their  way  into  the  office  of  the  New  York  'Tribune^ 
where  they  were  translated  and  published,  causing  much  ex 
citement  and  comment.  There  is  some  evidence  that  Repub 
lican  cipher  despatches  no  less  compromising  than  these  and 
used  for  the  same  purpose,  had  been  filched  from  the  trunk 
and  destroyed. 

Tilden  carried  New  York,  New  Jersey,  Indiana,  and 
Connecticut.  With  a  solid  South  he  had  won  the  day.  But 
the  returning  boards  of  Louisiana,  Florida,  and  South  Caro 
lina,  throwing  out  the  votes  of  several  Democratic  districts  on 
the  ground  of  fraud  or  intimidation,  decided  that  those  States 
had  gone  Republican,  giving  Hayes  a  majority  of  one  in  the 
electoral  college.  The  Democrats  raised  the  cry  of  fraud. 
Threats  were  muttered  that  Hayes  would  never  be  inaugurted. 
Excitement  thrilled  the  country.  Grant  strengthened  the  mili 
tary  force  in  and  about  Washington.  However,  the  people 
looked  to  Congress  for  a  peaceful  solution,  and  not  in  vain. 

The  Constitution  provides  that  the  "  President  of  the 
Senate  shall,  in  presence  of  the  Senate  and  House  of  Repre 
sentatives,  open  all  the  (electoral)  certificates,  and  the  votes 
shall  then  be  counted."  Attending  to  the  most  obvious 
meaning  of  these  words,  a  good  many  Republicans  held  that 
the  power  to  count  the  votes  lay  with  the  President  of  the 
Senate,  the  House  and  Senate  being  mere  spectators.  The 
Democrats  objected  to  this  construction,  since,  according  to  it, 
Mr.  Ferry,  the  Republican  President  of  the  Senate,  could 
count  the  votes  of  the  disputed  States  for  Hayes,  and  was 
practically  certain  to  do  so. 

216 


THE  ELECTORAL  COMMISSION 


THE  WESTERN  UNION  TELEGRAPH  COMPANY. 

ALL  MESSAGES  TAKEN  BY  THIS  COMPANY  SUBJECT  TO  THE  FOLLOWING  TERMS: 


JAS.  GAMBLE,  General  Snp't,  San  Francisco. 


•WILLIAM  OBTON,  Preelden 


£em*  t&e  following  Sfetsaye 


to  the  tOtove  terms,  which 


"  1  shall  decide  every  point  in  the  case  of  post-office  elector  in  favor  of  the  highest  democratic 
elector,  and  grant  the  certificate  accordingly  on  morning  of  the  6th  inst.  Confidential." — CON 
GRESSIONAL  RECORD. 

One  of  the  "Cipher  Despatches,"  sent  During  the  Election  Deadlock,  with  Translation,  as  Put  in  Evi 
dence  Before  the  Congressional  Committee 

The  twenty-second  joint  rule  had,  when  passed,  been- 
attacked  as  grossly  unconstitutional.  Republicans  now  ad 
mitted  that  it  was  so,  and  the  Senate,  since  the  House  was 
Democratic,  voted  to  rescind  it.  As  it  stood,  electoral  certi 
ficates  were  liable  to  be  thrown  out  on  the  most  frivolous 
objections,  as  that  of  Arkansas  had  once  been,  simply  because 
it  bore  the  wrong  seal.  But  now  the  Democrats  insisted  that 
Congress  should  enforce  this  old  rule.  That  done,  the  House, 
rejecting  the  vote  of  one  State,  would  elect  Tilden. 

Only  a  compromise  could  break  the  deadlock.  A  joint 
committee  reported  the  famous  Electoral  Commission  Bill, 
which  passed  House  and  Senate  by  large  majorities.  The 
main  faith  in  the  plan  was  on  the  Democratic  side.  In  a  Sen 
ate  speech,  February  2,  1881,  Blaine  spoke  of  the  commis 
sion  as  "  a  rickety  makeshift."  One  hundred  and  eighty-six 
Democrats  voted  for  it  and  eighteen  against,  while  the  Re 
publican  vote  stood  fifty-two  for,  seventy-five  against.  With 
regard  to  single  returns  the  bill  reversed  the  Rule  of  1865, 
suffering  none  to  be  rejected  save  by  concurrent  action  of  the 


217 


THE  UNITED  STATES  IN  OUR  OWN  TIME 

two  houses.  Double  or  multiple  returns  were,  in  cases  of 
dispute,  to  be  referred  to  a  commission  of  five  Senators,  five 
Representatives,  and  five  Justices  of  the  United  States  Su 
preme  Court,  the  fifth  justice  being  selected  by  the  four 
appointed  in  the  bill.  Previous  to  this  choice  the  Commis 
sion  contained  seven  Democrats  and  seven  Republicans.  The 
five  Senators  on  the  Commission  were  George  F.  Edmunds, 
Oliver  P.  Morton,  Frederick  T.  Frelinghuysen,  Republicans  ; 
and  Allan  G.  Thurrnan  and  Thomas  F.  Bayard,  Democrats. 
The  members  of  the  House  were  Henry  B.  Payne,  Eppa 
Hunton  and  Josiah  G.  Abbott,  Democrats ;  and  James  A. 
Garfield  and  George  F.  Hoar,  Republicans.  Four  Justices 
of  the  Supreme  Court  were  designated  in  the  Act  by  the  cir 
cuits  to  which  they  belonged.  These  were  Nathan  Clifford 
and  Stephen  J.  Field,  Democrats,  and  William  Strong  and 
Samuel  F.  Miller,  Republicans.  These  four  Justices  were  by 
the  Act  to  select  the  fifth.  It  was  expected  that  the  fifth 
Justice  would  be  Hon.  David  Davis,  of  Illinois,  a  neutral 
with  Democratic  leanings,  who  had  been  a  warm  friend  of 
President  Lincoln's  but  an  opponent  of  Grant.  Mr.  Davis's 
unexpected  election  as  Senator  from  his  State  made  Justice 
Bradley  the  decisive  umpire. 

The  Commission  met  on  the  last  day  of  January,  1877. 
The  cases  of  Florida,  Louisiana,  Oregon,  and  South  Carolina 
v/ere  in  succession  submitted  to  it,  eminent  counsel  appearing 
for  each  side.  There  were  double  or  multiple  sets  of  returns 
from  each  State  named.  Three  returns  from  Florida  were 
passed  in.  One  contained  four  votes  for  Hayes,  certified  by 
the  late  Republican  Governor,  Stearns.  One  return  gave  four 
votes  for  Tilden,  bearing  the  certificate  of  the  Attorney-Gen 
eral,  a  member  of  the  returning  board.  Third  was  the  same 
return  reinforced  with  the  certificate  of  the  new  Democratic 
Governor,  Drew,  under  a  State  law  passed  a  few  days  before, 
directing  a  re-canvass  of  the  votes.  Democratic  counsel  urged 
that  the  first  return  should  be  rejected  as  the  result  of  fraud 

218 


THE  FLORIDA  CASE 


RUTHERFORD  B.   H4TES 


and  conspiracy  by  the  returning  board, 
whose  action  the  State  Supreme  Court 
had  held  to  be  ultra  vires  and  illegal. 

In  Baker  County,  which  was  de 
cisive  of  the  result  in  Florida,  the 
canvassers  were  the  county  judge,  the 
county  clerk,  and  a  justice  of  the  peace 
to  be  called  in  by  them.  The  judge 
refusing  to  join  the  clerk  in  the  can 
vass,  the  latter  summoned  a  justice 
and  with  him  made  the  canvass,  which 
all  admitted  to  be  a  true  one.  The 
same  night  the  judge  called  in  the 
sheriff  and  another  justice,  and  together  they  surrepti 
tiously  entered  the  clerk's  office,  lit  it  up,  and  took  out  the 
returns  from  a  drawer  in  his  desk.  There  were  only  four  pre 
cincts  in  the  county,  and  of  the  four  returns  from  these,  con 
fessedly  without  the  slightest  evidence  of  fraud  or  intimidation, 
they  threw  out  two.  The  other  two  they  certified. 

The  Republican  counsel  maintained  that  the  issue  was 
not  which  set  of  Florida  electors  received  an  actual  majority, 
but  which  had  received  the  legal  sanction  of  State  authority ; 
in  short,  that  the  business  of  the  Commission  was  not  to  go 
behind  the  returns,  which,  they  argued,  would  be  physically, 
legally  and  constitutionally  impossible.  This  view  the  Com 
mission  espoused,  which  sufficed  to  decide  not  only  the  case 
of  Florida,  but  also  that  of  Louisiana,  whence  came  three  sets 
of  certificates,  and  that  of  South  Carolina,  whence  came  two. 
The  first  and  third  Louisiana  returns  were  duplicates,  signed 
by  Governor  Kellogg,  in  favor  of  the  Hayes  electors.  The 
second  was  certified  by  McEnery,  who  claimed  to  be  Gov 
ernor,  and  was  based  not  upon  the  return  as  made  by 
the  board,  but  upon  the  popular  vote.  The  return  of 
the  Tilden  electors  in  South  Carolina  was  not  certified. 
They  alleged  that  they  had  been  counted  out  by  the  State 


219 


THE  UNITED  STATES  IN  OUR  OWN  TIME 

Board   in   defiance   of  the   State   Supreme    Court   and   of  the 
popular  will. 

In  Oregon  the  Democratic  Governor  declared  one  of  the 
Hayes  electors  ineligible  because  an  office-holder,  giving  a 
certificate  to  Cronin,  the  highest  Tilden  elector,  instead.  The 
other  two  Hayes  electors  refused  to  recognize  Cronin,  and, 
associating  with  them  the  rejected  Republican  elector,  pre 
sented  a  certificate  signed  by  the  Secretary  of  State.  Cronin, 
as  the  Republican  papers  had  it,  "  flocked  all  by  himself," 
appointed  two  new  electors  to  act  with  him,  and  cast  his  vote 
for  Tilden,  though  his  associates  voted  for  Hayes.  The  Cro 
nin  certificate  was  signed  by  the  Governor  and  attested  by  the 
Secretary  of  State. 

After  deciding  not  to  go  behind  any  returns  that  were 
formally  lawful  the  Commission,  by  a  strict  party  vote  of 
eight  to  seven,  decided  for  the  Hayes  electors  in  every  case. 
Whether  the  result  would  have  been  different  if  Justice  Davis 
had  been  the  fifth  justice  in  the  Commission  is  a  question  that 
must  always  remain  open.  By  no  utterance  of  Mr.  Davis  was 
there  ever  an  indication  of  what  his  action  would  have  been, 
but  he  had  a  high  opinion  of  Mr.  Tilden,  and  his  political 
sympathies  were  known  by  his  intimate  friends  to  have  been 
on  the  side  of  the  Democrats.  The  Commission  adjourned 
March  2d.  The  same  day,  "  the  counting  of  the  votes  having 
been  concluded,  Senator  William  B.  Allison,  one  of  the  tellers 
on  the  part  of  the  Senate,  in  the  presence  of  both  Houses  of 
Congress,  announced,  as  a  result  of  the  footings,  that  Ruther 
ford  B.  Hayes  had  received  185  votes  for  President,  and 
William  A.  Wheeler  185  votes  for  Vice-President ;  and  there 
upon  the  presiding  officer  of  the  Convention  of  the  two 
Houses  declared  Rutherford  B.  Hayes  to  have  been  elected 
President,  and  William  A.  Wheeler  Vice-President  of  the 
United  States  for  four  years  from  the  4th  day  of  March, 
1877."  Hayes  was  inaugurated  without  disturbance. 

For  this   outcome,  owing    to   the    determining    position 


AN  ELECTORAL  COUNT  ACT 

which  he  held  on  the  Commission,  Mr.  Justice  Bradley  was 
made  to  bear  wholly  unmerited  censure.  The  fault  lay  not  in 
him  but  elsewhere.  Vicious  State  laws  were  to  blame  for  giv 
ing  judicial  powers  to  partisan  returning  boards,  and  for 
otherwise  opening  the  door  to  confusion  and  fraud ;  but  Con 
gress  was  the  worst  sinner,  failing  to  pass  a  law  to  forestall  the 
difficulty  of  rival  certificates. 

The  Commission  having  decided,  the  whole  country 
heaved  a  sigh  of  relief;  but  all  agreed  that  provision  must 
be  made  against  such  peril  in  the  future.  An  Electoral  Count 
Bill  was  passed  late  in  1886,  and  signed  by  the  President, 
February  3,1887.  It  aimed  to  throw  upon  each  State,  so  far  as 
possible,  the  responsibility  of  determining  its  own  vote.  The 
President  of  the  Senate  opens  the  electoral  certificates  in  the 
presence  of  both  houses,  and  hands  them  to  tellers,  two  from 
each  House,  who  read  them  aloud  and  record  the  votes.  If 
there  is  no  dispute  touching  the  list  of  electors  from  a  State, 
such  list,  being  certified  in  due  form,  is  accepted  as  a  matter  of 
course.  In  case  of  dispute,  the  procedure  is  somewhat  com 
plex,  but  quite  thorough.  It  will  be  set  forth  with  some  de 
tail  in  Chapter  XIII. 


CHAPTER  IX 
HAYES  AND  THE  CIVIL  SERVICE 

HAYES'S  CHARACTER. — HIS  CABINET. — END  OF  BAYONET  RULE  ATTHE 

SOUTH. THIS  THE  RESULT  OF  A  "  DEAL." "  VISITING  STATESMEN  " 

AT  THE  LOUISIANA  COUNT. HAYES  FAVORS  HONESTY.  — HIS  RECORD. 

HAYES  AND  GARFIELD  COMPARED. THE  SPOILS  SYSTEM. EARLY 

PROTESTS. A   CIVIL   SERVICE   COMMISSION. ITS  RULES. RETRO 
GRESSION  UNDER  GRANT. JEWELL'S  EXIT  FROM  THE  CABINET. 

HOAR'S. — BUTLER'S  "PULL"  ON  GRANT. — COLLECTOR  SIMMONS. — 

THE  SANBORN  CONTRACTS. BRISTOW  A  REFORMER. THE  WHISKEY 

RING. MYRON   COLONY'S   WORK PLOT   AND   COUNTER-PLOT. 

"LET    NO    GUILTY   MAN    ESCAPE." REFORMERS    OUSTED. GOOD 

WORK  BY  THE   PRESS. THE  "PRESS-GAG." FIRST   DEMOCRATIC 

HOUSE  SINCE   THE  WAR. HAYES  RENEWS  REFORM. OPPOSED  BY 

CONKLING. FIGHT  OVER  THE   NEW  YORK  COLLECTORSHIP. THE 

PRESIDENT  FIRM  AND  VICTORIOUS. 

PARTLY  the  mode  of  his  accession  to  office  and  partly 
the  rage  of  selfish  placemen  who  could  no  longer  have 
their  way,  made  it  fashionable  for  a  time  to  speak  of  President 
Hayes  as  a  "  weak  man."  This  was  an  entire  error.  His  admin 
istration  was  in  every  way  one  of  the  most  creditable  in  all 
our  history.  He  had  a  resolute  will,  irreproachable  integrity,, 
and  a  comprehensive  and  remarkably  healthy  view  of  public 
affairs.  Moreover,  he  was  free  from  that  "  last  infirmity,"  the 
consuming  ambition  which  has  snared  so  many  able  statesmen. 
He  voluntarily  banished  the  alluring  prospect  of  a  second 
term,  and  rose  above  all  jealousy  of  his  distinguished  associ 
ates.  Never  have  our  foreign  affairs  been  more  ably  handled 
than  by  his  State  Secretary.  His  Secretary  of  the  Treasury  tri 
umphantly  steered  our  bark  into  the  safe  harbor  of  resumption, 
breakers  roaring  this  side  and  that,  near  at  hand.  In  his  ap 
pointments  as  well  as  his  other  official  duties  Hayes  acted  for 
himself,  with  becoming  independence  even  of  his  Cabinet.  On 

223 


THE  UNITED  STATES  IN  OUR  OWN  TIME 

•one  occasion,  as  he  was  announcing  certain  appointments  con 
nected  with  the  State  Department,  Secretary  Evarts  looked  up 
in  surprise,  evidently  hearing  the  names  for  the  first  time. 
"  Mr.  President,"  said  he,  with  veiled  irony,  "  I  have  never  had 
the  good  fortune  to  see  the  '  great  western  reserve  '  of  Ohio,  of 
which  we  have  heard  so  much."  That  Hayes  was  such  men's 
real  and  not  their  mere  nominal  chief,  in  naught  dims  their  fame, 
though  heightening  his. 

True  to  his  avowed  principles,  President  Hayes  had  made 
up  his  Cabinet  of  the  ablest  men,  disregarding  party  so  far  as  to 
select  for  Postmaster-General  a  Democrat,  David  M.  Key,  of 
Tennessee.  William  M.  Evarts  was  Secretary  of  State ; 
John  Sherman,  Secretary  of  the  Treasury  ;  Carl  Schurz,  Sec 
retary  of  the  Interior.  The  first  important  act  of  his  admini 
stration  was  to  invite  the  rival  Governors  of  South  Carolina, 
Hampton  and  Chamberlain,  to  a  conference  at  Washington. 
It  will  be  remembered  that  when  Chamberlain  became  Gover 
nor  his  integrity  awakened  the  hate  of  his  old  supporters, 
while  his  former  antagonists  smothered  him  with  embraces. 
The  hate  was  more  enduring  than  the  love.  Good  govern 
ment  was  restored,  but  this  was  purely  an  executive  reform, 
which  the  vulgar  majority  ridiculed  as  a  weakness.  Race  anti 
pathy  still  rankled,  for  Governor 
Chamberlain  would  not  yield  an  inch 
as  a  defender  of  the  negro's  political 
and  civil  rights.  The  Democratic  suc 
cesses  of  1874  in  the  country  at  large 
inspired  the  South  Carolina  Demo 
crats  with  the  wildest  zeal.  Wade 
Hampton,  "  the  Murat  of  the  Con 
federacy,"  dashing,  fervid,  eloquent, 
the  Confederate  veterans'  idol,  was 
nominated  for  Governor.  The  party 
which  elected  Chamberlain  was  forced 
to  re-nominate  him.  The  pressure  of 


If'ADE    HAMPTON 


CHAMBERLAIN   AND   HAiMPTON 

official  patronage  was  used  to  this  end,  and  it  was  known 
that  he  alone  among  Republicans  could  preserve  the  State 
from  a  reign  of  terror. 

The  whites  rallied  to  Hampton  with  delirious  enthu 
siasm.  "South  Carolina  for  South  Carolinians!"  was  their  cry. 
White  rifle  clubs  were  organized  in  many  localities,  but  the 
Governor  disbanded  them  as  unsafe  and  called  in  United 
States  troops  to  preserve  order.  In  the  white  counties  the 
negroes  were  cowed,  but  elsewhere  they  displayed  fanatical 
activity.  If  the  white  could  shoot,  the  black  could  set  fire  to 
property.  Thus  crime  and  race  hostility  increased  once  more 
to  an  appalling  extent.  The  Hamburg  massacre,  where  help 
less  negro  prisoners  were  murdered,  was  offset  by  the  Charles 
ton  riot,  where  black  savages  shot  or  beat  every  white  man 
who  appeared  on  the  streets.  The  course  of  events  in  Loui 
siana  had  been  similar,  though  marked  by  less  violence. 
Nicholls  was  the  Democratic  aspirant,  and  S.  B.  Packard  the 
Republican.  Both  were  in  earnest,  and,  if  federal  forces 
were  to  be  kept  in  use  as  a  Southern  police,  the  conflict  bade 
fair  to  last  forever.  But  this  was  not  to  be.  Even  President 
Grant  had  now  changed  his  view  of  the  Southern  situation, 
stating  frankly  "  that  he  did  not  believe  public  opinion  would 
longer  support  the  maintenance  of  State  governments  in 
Louisiana  by  the  use  of  the  military,  and  that  he  must  concur 
in  this  manifest  feeling." 

President  Hayes  withdrew  federal  support  from  the 
South  Carolina  and  Louisiana  governments,  and  they  at  once 
fell.  Many  Republicans  fiercely  criticised  this  policy.  Some 
said  that  by  failing  to  support  the  governments  based  upon 
the  canvass  of  the  very  returning  boards  that  gave  him  the 
electoral  delegations  in  the  two  States  named,  he  impeached 
his  own  title.  This  was  untrue.  With  regard  to  State  offi 
cers,  the  judicial  powers  of  the  returning  boards  were  clearly 
usurpations,  contrary  to  the  State  constitutions,  while,  as  to 
federal  officers,  such  as  electors,  the  power  of  the  boards  to 

215 


THE  UNITED  STATES  IN  OUR  OWN  TIME 


modify  or  reject  returns  was  independent  of 
the  State  constitutions,  yet  not  forbidden  by 
any  federal  law. 

As  the  old  Cincinnati  Commercial  once 
expressed  it,  Hayes  was  "  good,  but  not 
goody-good."  He  was  no  mere  idealist, 
no  doctrinaire,  but  a  practical  though  honor 
able  man  of  affairs.  The  new  "deal"  in 


FRANCIS  r.  NICHOLLS 


standing  arrived  at  before  the  electoral  count,  and  shared  by 
the  President-elect,  though  F.  H.  Wines  and  others  among 
Hayes's  warmest  friends  denied  that  he  was  privy  to  it.  In  the 
Charleston  News  and  Courier  under  date  of  June  20,  1893, 
Hon.  D.  H.  Chamberlain  showed  that,  while  the  proceeding 
was  not  necessarily  corrupt,  and  was  probably  the  part  of  good 
politics  and  even  of  statesmanship,  Hayes  was  certainly  party 
to  a  "bargain,"  agreeing  to  remove  troops  from  South  Carolina 
in  case  he  was  permitted  to  be  seated.  Chamberlain  said  : 
"While  Hayes  did  not  expressly  promise  to  remove  the  troops, 
he  did  by  speech  or  by  failing  to  speak  give  sufficient  assur 
ance  to  the  'shrewd,  long-headed  men  '  with  whom  he  was  deal 
ing  to  warrant  them  in  supporting  his  claim  to  the  Presidency 
on  so  tremendous  an  issue  to  the  South."  "  Hayes's  friends 
assembled,  met  the  c  shrewd,  long-headed  men  '  of  the  South, 
negotiated,  winked  and  nodded,  and  finally  gave  the  express 
promise  which  the  South  demanded.  Hayes  knew  it  all.  He 
did  not  contradict  his  friends.  He  accepted  his  seat,  secured 
to  him  by  the  attitude  of  the  South.  He  removed  the  troops. 
Here  was  a  bargain  in  all  its  elements." 

Unless  this  understanding  may  be  considered  such,  Mr. 
Hayes  had  no  part  in  any  of  the  devices  by  which  he  was  placed 
in  the  presidential  chair.  When  Senator  Edmunds  introduced 
the  Electoral  Commission  Bill,  Hayes  viewed  it  with  no  favor. 
He  did  not  regard  the  Commission  as  constitutional,  but 
considered  the  duty  of  Congress  in  reference  to  counting  the 

226 


HAYES  DEPRECATES  FRAUD 

electoral  ballots  to  be  purely  ministerial.  The  same  as  to  post 
election  proceedings  in  the  South.  The  prominent  Republi 
cans  who  visited  New  Orleans  to  witness  the  canvass  of  the 
Louisiana  presidential  vote  did  so  solely  at  the  instance  of 
President  Grant.  From  Ohio  went  John  Sherman,  Stanley 
Matthews,  J.  A.  Garfield  and  Job  E.  Stevenson.  From  Iowa 
went  J.  M.  Tuttle,  J.  W.  Chapman,  W.  R.  Smith  and  W.  A. 
McGrew ;  from  Illinois,  C.  B.  Farwell,  Abner  Taylor,  S.  R. 
Haven  and  J.  M.  Beardsley  ;  from  New  York,  E.  W.  Stough- 
ton  and  J.  H.  Van  Alen ;  from  Indiana,  John  Coburn  and 
Will  Cumback  ;  from  Pennsylvania,  William  D.  Kelley  ;  from 
Kansas,  Sidney  Clarke  ;  from  Maryland,  C.  Irving  Ditty  ;  from 
Maine,  Eugene  Hale. 

Not  only  had  Governor  Hayes  nothing  to  do  with  the 
origination  of  this  ambassage,  but  when  it  was  in  function  he 
urged  that  it  should  be  guilty  of  no  abuse.  From  Columbus, 
O.,  November  27,  1876,  he  wrote:  "A  fair  election  would 
have  given  us  about  forty  electoral  votes  at  the  South — at 
least  that  many.  But  we  are  not  to  allow  our  friends  to  de 
feat  one  outrage  and  fraud  by  another.  There  must  be  noth 
ing  crooked  on  our  part.  Let  Mr.  Tilden  have  the  place 
by  violence,  intimidation  and  fraud,  rather  than  undertake  to 
prevent  it  by  means  that  will  not  bear  the  severest  scrutiny." 
Even  had  Mr.  Hayes  wished  fraud  it  is  hard  to  see  how,  under 
the  circumstances,  he  could  have  procured 
or  induced  such ;  for  watchers  for  the 
Democratic  party  were  also  at  the  count : 
from  Indiana,  J.  E.  McDonald,  George 
W.  Julian,  M.  D.  Manson  and  John 
Love ;  from  Illinois,  John  M.  Palmer, 
Lyman  Trumbull  and  William  R.  Mor 
rison  ;  from  Pennsylvania,  Samuel  J.  Ran 
dall,  A.  G.  Curtin  and  William  Bigler ; 
from  Kentucky,  Henry  Watterson,  J.  s.  B.  PACKARD 

TTT       o  ITT  T^A/TTT  From  a  photografb  by  Vandykt. 

W.  Stevenson  and  Henry  D.  McHenry  ;        i«t*»c4«r/«jK  *•***• 

227 


THE  UNITED  STATES  IN  OUR  OWN  TIME 

from  Wisconsin,  J.  R.  Doolittle  and  George  B.  Smith  ;  from 
Ohio,  J.  B.  Stallo  and  P.  H.  Watson;  from  New  York, 
Oswald  Ottendorfer  and  F.  R.  Coudert ;  from  Missouri,  Louis 
V.  Bogy,  James  O.  Brodhead  and  C.  Gibson  ;  from  Mary 
land,  John  Lee  Carroll  and  William  T.  Hamilton;  from  Con 
necticut,  Professor  W.  G.  Sumner.  Upon  invitation  of  the 
Returning  Board,  five  of  the  Democratic  "  visitors,"  as  well 
as  a  like  number  of  the  Republicans,  attended  the  several 
sessions  of  the  Board  to  watch.  The  proceedings  were  thrice 
reported,  once  for  the  Board  itself  and  once  for  each  body  of 
the  Northern  guests.  The  evidence  taken  and  the  acts  per 
formed  were  published  by  Congress.  Senator  Sherman  felt 
"  bound,  after  a  long  lapse  of  time,  to  repeat  what  was  reported 
to  General  Grant  by  the  Republican  visitors,  that  the  Return 
ing  Board  in  Louisiana  made  a  fair,  honest  and  impartial  re 
turn  of  the  result  of  the  election."  Sherman  wrote  Hayes  at 
the  time  :  "  That  you  would  have  received,  at  a  fair  election,  a 
large  majority  in  Louisiana,  no  honest  man  can  question  ;  that 
you  did  not  receive  a  majority  is  equally  clear."*  Some  pre 
tended  to  think  that  if  Hayes  had  the  slightest  doubt  touching 
the  legitimacy  of  any  proceedings  resorted  to  for  the  purpose 
of  seating  him  he  ought  not  to  have  accepted  the  presidency. 
Such  failed  to  bear  in  mind  that  the  country  was  then  at  a 
crisis,  and  that  Mr.  Hayes's  refusal  of  the  presidency  would 
in  all  probability  have  resulted  in  anarchy  and  war.  His 
acceptance,  under  the  circumstances,  was  therefore  clearly  his 
duty,  whatever  he  thought  of  antecedent  procedure. 

Mr.  Sherman  believed  "  that  the  nomination  of  Hayes 
was  not  only  the  safest,  but  the  strongest  that  could  be  made. 
The  long  possession  of  power  by  the  Republicans  naturally 
produced  rivalries  that  greatly  affected  the  election  of  any  one 
who  had  been  constantly  prominent  in  public  life,  like  Blaine, 
Conkling  and  Morton.  Hayes  had  growing  qualities,  and  in 
every  respect  was  worthy  of  the  high  position  of  President.  He 

^"John  Sherman's  Recollections,  p.   557. 
228 


HAYES'S   RECORD 


n  ^ 

O<_     A^Xststs 


/ 


£tO>  £se*-t** 

f^i^fjj  cfe^wisc*-*^ds  ct^tsisc*' 

,<% 


&-esk*  -jstsi^ds*  ~ 

*yt 


An  Incident  of  the  State  Election  of  1876  in  South  Carolina,  when 
both  Hampton  and  Chamberlain  claimed  to  have  been  elected 
Governor. 


had  been  a  soldier, 
a  member  of  Con 
gress,  thrice  elected 
as  Governor  of  Ohio, 
an  admirable  execu 
tive  officer,  and  his 
public  and  private 
record  was  beyond 
question.  He  was 
not  an  aggressive 
man,  although  firm 
in  his  opinions  and 
faithful  in  his  friend 
ships.  Among  all 
the  public  men  with 
whom  I  have  been 
brought  in  contact, 
I  have  known  none 
who  was  freer  from 
personal  objection, 
whose  character  was 
more  stainless,  who 
was  better  adapted 
for  a  high  executive 
office." 

"  There  was  a 
striking  contrast  be 
tween  the  personal 
qualities  of  Garfield 
and  Hayes.  Hayes 
was  a  modest  man, 
but  a  very  able  one. 
He  had  none  of 
the  brilliant  quali 
ties  of  his  successor, 


229 


THE  UNITED  STATES  IN  OUR  OWN  TIME 

but  his  judgment  was  always  sound,  and  his  opinion,  when 
once  formed,  was  stable  and  consistent.  .  .  During  his 
entire  term,  our  official  and  personal  relations  were  not  only 
cordial,  but  as  close  and  intimate  as  those  of  brothers  could 
be.  I  never  took  an  important  step  in  the  process  of 
resumption  and  refunding  .  .  without  consulting  him.  .  . 
Early  in  his  administration  we  formed  the  habit  of  taking 
long  drives  on  each  Sunday  afternoon  in  the  environs  of 
Washington.  He  was  a  regular  attendant  with  Mrs.  Hayes, 

O  o  J         * 

every  Sunday  morning,  at  the  Methodist  Episcopal  Church, 
of  which  she  was  a  member.  This  duty  being  done,  we  felt 
justified  in  seeking  the  seclusion  of  the  country  for  long 
talks  about  current  measures  and  policy."* 

Mr.  Hayes  came  to  the  presidency  at  a  very  critical  time. 
The  financial  situation  of  the  country,  the  still  unsettled  state 
of  affairs  at  the  South,  faction,  rebellion,  and  greed  for  official 
spoils  within  his  own  party,  called  upon  the  new  Chief  Magis 
trate  for  skill  and  resolution  such  as  few  men  in  his  place 
could  have  supplied.  Mr.  Hayes  responded  nobly  and  suc 
cessfully.  He  triumphed  in  a  task  which  ablest  and  purest 
political  leaders  have  always  found  so  hard  :  he  repressed  cor 
ruption  in  his  own  party.  Under  President  Hayes  the  syste 
matic  prostitution  of  our  public  offices  for  partisan  and  private 
purposes  was,  if  not  definitively  ended,  so  discouraged  that  it 
has  never  since  recovered  its  old  shamelessness.  In  this  those 
years  form  an  epoch  in  the  Nation's  history. 

Ever  since  the  days  of  President  Jackson,  in  1829, 
appointments  to  the  minor  federal  offices  had  been  used  for 
the  payment  of  party  debts  and  to  keep  up  partisan  interest. 
Though  this  practice  had  incurred  the  deep  condemnation  of 
Webster,  Clay,  Calhoun,  and  all  the  best  men  in  public  life,  it 
did  not  cease,  but  prevailed  more  and  more.  So  early  as 
1853  pass  examinations  had  been  made  prerequisite  to  enter 
ing  the  civil  service,  but  the  regulation  had  amounted  to 

*John  Sherman's  Recollections,  pp.  550,  551,  807. 
230 


CIVIL  SERVICE  REFORM 

nothing.  President  Lincoln  once  inquired  where  he  could  get 
the  small-pox.  "For,"  said  he,  "then  I  should  have  something 
I  could  give  to  everybody."  The  honor  of  being  the  first  to 
make  a  systematic  endeavor  against  the  spoils  abuse  belongs 
to  the  Hon.  Thomas  A.  Jenckes,  a  representative  in  Congress 
from  Rhode  Island  between  March,  1863,  and  March,  1871. 
Beginning  in  1865,  Mr.  Jenckes,  so  long  as  he  continued  in 
Congress,  annually  introduced  in  the  House  a  bill  "  to  regu 
late  the  civil  service  of  the  United  States."  Early  in  1866 
Senator  B.  Gratz  Brown,  of  Missouri,  also  undertook  to  get 
the  "  spoils  system  "  superseded  by  the  "  merit  system."  No 
success  attended  these  efforts. 

In  1870—1871  reform  in  the  civil  service  almost  became 
an  issue.  It  was  one  of  the  three  cardinal  principles  of  the 
Liberal  Republicans,  was  an  item  in  the  "  New  Departure  " 
made  by  the  Democrats  that  year,  received  compliments,  more 
or  less  sincere,  from  politicians  of  all  stripes,  and  in  1872  was 
recognized  for  the  first  time  in  all  the  party  platforms.  On 
March  3,  1871,  an  act  was  passed  authorizing  the  President, 
through  a  commission  to  be  appointed  by  himself,  to  ascer 
tain  "  the  fitness  of  candidates  as  to  age,  health,  character, 
knowledge  and  ability,  by  examination,"  and  to  prescribe  reg 
ulations  for  the  conduct  of  appointees.  The  President  that 
year  appointed  a  commission,  George  William  Curtis  its  chair 
man.  On  December  i9th  he  sent  a  message  to  Congress, 
transmitting  the  report  of  the  commissioners,  together  with 
the  rules  submitted  by  them  in  relation  to  the  appointment, 
promotion  and  conduct  of  persons  filling  the  offices  covered 
by  the  law. 

These  rules  provided  that  each  applicant  should  furnish 
evidence  as  to  his  character,  health  and  age,  and  should  pass  a 
satisfactory  examination  in  speaking,  reading  and  writing  the 
English  language.  Positions  were  to  be  grouped  and  graded 
according  to  the  nature  of  the  work,  admission  to  the  civil 
service  always  introducing  the  candidate  to  the  lowest  group. 

231 


THE  UNITED  STATES  IN  OUR  OWN  TIME 

Public  competitive  examinations  were  to  be  instituted,  and  a 
list  of  examinees  made  up  and  kept  on  record,  with  the  order 
of  their  excellence.  Each  appointment  was  to  be  made  from 
the  three  leading  eligibles.  Admission  to  a  group  above  the 
lowest  could  be  had  only  by  one  of  three  candidates  from  the 
next  lower  grade  who  stood  highest  in  a  competitive  exami 
nation.  An  applicant  for  a  place  of  trust  where  another 
officer  was  responsible  for  his  fidelity  could  not  be  appointed 
without  the  approval  of  such  officer;  and  postmasterships 
yielding  less  than  two  hundred  dollars  a  year  were  not  placed 
under  the  rule.  With  some  exceptions,  notably  of  postmas 
ters  and  consuls,  appointments  were  to  be  probationary  for  a 
term  of  six  months.  Best  of  all  the  regulations  presented 
was  the  following :  "  No  head  of  a  department  or  any  subor 
dinate  officer  of  the  Government  shall,  as  such  officer,  author 
ize  or  assist  in  levying  any  assessment  of  money  for  political 
purposes,  under  the  form  of  voluntary  contributions  or  other 
wise,  upon  any  person  employed  under  his  control,  nor  shall 
any  such  person  pay  any  money  so  assessed."  Higher  offi 
cials  and  some  others  were,  however,  excepted  from  the  oper 
ation  of  this  rule. 

President  Grant  reported  that  the  new  methods  "  had 
given  persons  of  superior  capacity  to  the  service  "  ;  yet  Con 
gress,  always  niggardly  in  its  appropriations  for  the  Commis 
sion's  work,  in  1875  made  no  appropriation  at  all,  so  that  the 
rules  were  perforce  suspended.  Ardor  for  spoils  was  not  the 
sole  cause  of  this.  Many  friends  of  reform  thought  the  new 
system,  as  it  had  been  begun,  too  stiff  and  bookish,  too  little 
practical ;  nor  could  such  a  view  be  declared  wholly  mistaken. 
Intelligent  labor-leaders,  it  was  found,  usually  opposed  the  re 
form  in  that  shape,  as  it  would  exclude  themselves  and  all  but 
the  most  favored  of  their  children  from  public  office. 

Unfortunately,  the  President  cared  as  little  as  Congress 
for  a  pure  civil  service.  This  was  everywhere  apparent.  It 
cannot  be  ignored  that  Grant's  second  administration  was 


232 


GRANT'S   SECOND  TERM 


BENJAMIN  F.   BUTLER 


shamefully  weak  and  corrupt. 
"  The  very  obstinacy  of  temper 
which  made  him  so  formidable 
in  the  field,  now,  when  combined 
with  the  self-confidence  bred  by 
his  re-election  and  the  flattery  of 
his  adherents,  not  only  made  him 
impervious  to  public  opinion  but 
made  all  criticism  of  him  seem 
an  act  of  insolent  hostility,  to  be 
punished  or  defied."  Charles 
Francis  Adams  quoted  it  as  the 
opinion  of  a  Republican,  he 
thought  Evarts,  during  Grant's 
second  four  years,  that  "  the 
Republican  party  was  like  an 
army  the  term  of  enlistment  of  which  had  expired."  It  was  a 
happy  simile.  Straggling  was  common,  complaints  were 
numerous,  and  mutiny  had  begun.  Summary,  worse  than 
military  methods  of  appointment  and  dismissal  were  employed. 
In  respect  to  the  manner  of  Jewell's  resignation,  the  story 
went — believed  to  be  on  the  authority  of  Vice-President 
Wilson — that  Grant  and  Jewell  were  alone  together,  talking 
over  matters,  when,  without  any  previous  suggestion  of  the 
subject,  the  President  said  :  "Jewell,  how  do  you  suppose  your 
resignation  would  look  written  out  ?  "  Thinking  or  affecting 
to  think  the  question  a  joke  of  Grant's,  Jewell  said  he  would 
write  it  and  see.  "  All  right,"  said  Grant,  "  you  just  take  some 
paper  and  write  it  down  and  see  how  it  looks."  Jewell 
wrote  and  handed  the  paper  to  Grant.  The  President  eyed  it  a 
moment  and  then  remarked  :  "  That  looks  well.  I  will  accept 
that."  He  was  in  earnest,  and  on  July  n,  1876,  Jewell  was 
out  of  the  Cabinet.  Verisimilitude  is  lent  this  account  by  the 
known  abruptness  with  which  Judge  Hoar  was  ejected  from 
the  office  of  Attorney-General.  He  was  sitting  in  his  room, 

235 


THE  UNITED  STATES  IN  OUR  OWN  TIME 

bent  upon  the  business  of  his  office,  absolutely  without  a  hint 
of  what  was  coming,  when  a  messenger  entered  with  a  letter 
from  Grant.  It  contained  the  naked  statement  that  the 
President  found  himself  under  the  necessity  of  asking  for  Mr. 
Hoar's  resignation.  "  No  explanation  of  any  kind  was  given, 
nor  reason  assigned.  The  request  was  as  curt  and  as  direct  as 
possible.  A  thunderclap  could  not  have  been  more  startling." 

Benjamin  F.  Butler  obtained  great  power  with  Grant, 
which  immensely  aided  him  in  "  capturing "  the  Massachu 
setts  governorship.  Patronage  was  liberally  accorded  him. 
"In  every  town  and  village  a  circle  was  formed  round  the 
postmaster,  the  collector,  or  some  other  government  officer, 
who  was  moved  by  the  hope  of  personal  gain.  Not  a  man 
who  wished  for  place  or  had  a  job  on  hand  but  added  to  their 
numbers."  Foiled  at  two  elections,  Butler  was  not  in  the 
least  daunted,  but  spurred  to  renewed  exertion,  sure  that  the 
powers  at  Washington  would  deny  him  nothing.  At  last 
"  Mr.  Simmons,  who,  in  a  subordinate  position,  had  particu 
larly  distinguished  himself  in  the  management  of  the  last  can 
vass,  was  promoted  by  the  President  to  the  Collectorship  of 
Boston,  in  the  hope  that  the  most  important  national  office  in 
New  England  might  offer  a  fitting  sphere  of  action  for  his 
peculiar  abilities."  Even  a  Republican  Convention  had  re 
buked  this  man  for  his  unendurable  officiousness  as  a  political 
boss.  Harper 's  Weekly  for  March  21,  1874,  said:  "No  re 
cent  political  event  is  comparable  in  the  excitement  it  has 
caused  to  the  appointment  of  the  Boston  Collector.  The 
situation  every  day  forces  upon  the  most  unwavering  Repub 
licans  the  question,  When  will  it  be  necessary  for  our  honor 
as  men  and  patriots  to  oppose  the  party  ?  " 

In  1874  public  wrath  was  aroused  by  the  exposure  of  the 
:£  Sanborn  Contracts,"  made  in  1872,  between  the  Hon.  Wil 
liam  A.  Richardson,  then  Acting  Secretary  of  the  Treasury, 
subsequently  promoted  to  Mr.  Boutwell's  seat  in  the  Cabinet, 
and  Mr.  John  D.  Sanborn,  giving  Sanborn  the  right  to  collect 

236 


BRISTOW  IN   THE   TREASURY 

for  the  Treasury,  "  share  and  share  alike,"  taxes  which  were 
already  collected  by  regular  officers  of  the  Government.  Such 
officers  were  not  only  directed  not  to  interfere  with  Mr.  San- 
born,  but  bidden  to  co-operate  with  him.  By  March,  1874, 
less  than  two  years,  this  profitable  arrangement  had  paid  San- 
born  over  $200,000.  Morally  indefensible  as  it  was,  it  seems 
to  have  been  legal.  The  House  Committee  of  Ways  and 
Means  examined  into  the  case.  Unable,  on  the  evidence 
adduced,  exactly  to  fix  the  responsibility  of  making  the  con 
tracts,  the  committee  could  not  "  in  justice  to  itself  ignore  the 
fact"  that  three  persons,  Richardson,  Secretary  of  the  Treas 
ury,  the  Assistant  Secretary,  and  the  Solicitor  of  the  Treasury, 
"  deserved  severe  condemnation  for  the  manner  in  which  they 
permitted  this  law  to  be  administered."  The  committee, 
however,  found  no  fact  on  which  to  base  a  belief  that  any  of 
these  officers  had  acted  from  wrong  motives.  It  recommended 
repealing  the  law  and  the  annulment  of  all  contracts  made  under 
it.  Mr.  Richardson's  resignation  was  soon  after  reluctantly 
accepted  by  the  President,  and  his  nomination  to  the  Court  of 
Claims  confirmed  with  equal  reluctance  by  the  Senate.  Hon. 
B.  H.  Bristow,  of  Kentucky,  succeeded  him  in  the  Treasury. 

The  new  Secretary  at  once  bent  his  attention  to  reorgan 
izing  and  improving  the  customs  and  internal  revenue  service. 
His  fearless  removals  and  searching  investigations  soon  stirred 
the  venomous  hostility  of  various  corrupt  cliques  which 
had  been  basking  on  the  sunny  side  of  the  Treasury. 
There  were  the  instigators  of  the  Safe-Burglary  frauds,  of 
the  Seal-Lock  frauds,  and  of  the  Subsidy  frauds,  besides  jeal 
ous,  chagrined  and  corrupt  officials  ;  but  most  formidable  of  all, 
and  in  a  sense,  at  the  head  of  all,  was  the  Whiskey  Ring.  It 
was  patent  from  statistics  that  the  United  States  had,  by  1874, 
in  St.  Louis  alone,  lost  at  least  $1,200,000  of  the  revenue 
which  it  should  have  received  from  whiskey,  yet  special  agents 
of  the  Treasury  set  to  work  from  time  to  time  had  failed  to  do 
more  than  cause  an  occasional  flurry  among  the  thieves.  The 

237 


THE  UNITED  STATES  IN  OUR  OWN  TIME 


ORVILLE   E.   BIBCOCK 


guilty  parties  were  somehow  always 
effectively  forewarned  and  forearmed 
against  any  effort  to  punish  or  identify 
them.  The  Ring  seemed  to  have  eyes, 
ears  and  hands  in  every  room  of  the 
Internal  Revenue  Department,  in  the 
Secretary's  office,  and  even  in  the  Ex 
ecutive  Mansion. 

The  Whiskey  Ring  was  organized 
in  St.  Louis,  when  the  Liberal  Repub 
licans  there  achieved  their  first  success. 
It  occurred  to  certain  politicians  to 
have  the  revenue  officers  raise  a  cam 
paign  fund  among  the  distillers.  This  idea  the  officers 
modified  later,  raising  money  in  the  same  way  for  themselves, 
and  in  return  conniving  at  the  grossest  thievery.  As  it  be 
came  necessary  to  hide  the  frauds,  newspapers  and  higher  offi 
cials  were  hushed,  till  the  Ring  assumed  national  dimensions. 
Its  headquarters  were  at  St.  Louis,  but  it  had  branches  at 
Milwaukee,  Chicago,  Peoria,  Cincinnati,  and  New  Orleans. 
It  had  an  agent  at  Washington.  A  huge  corruption  fund  was 
distributed  among  gaugers,  storekeepers,  collectors,  and  other 
officials,  according  to  a  fixed  schedule  of  prices.  Subordinate 
officers  were  not  merely  tempted  to  become  parties,  but  were 
even  obliged  to  do  so  on  penalty  of  losing  their  places.  Honest 
distillers  and  rectifiers  were  hounded  with  false  accusations  and 
caught  in  technical  frauds,  till  their  choice  seemed  to  lie  be 
tween  ruin  and  alliance  with  the  Ring.  One  or  two  inquirers 
peculiarly  persistent  were  assaulted  and  left  for  dead.  They 
besought  the  Government  for  speedy  relief,  threatening,  unless 
it  was  granted  them,  to  expose  the  corrupt  intimacy  between 
the  Internal  Revenue  Bureau  and  the  Ring.  So  potent  had  the 
organization  grown  that  the  politicians  persuaded  Grant,  "  for 
the  party's  sake,"  to  countermand,  though  he  had  at  first  ap 
proved,  Bristow's  order  directing  a  general  transfer  of  super- 

238 


MYRON  COLONY'S  WORK 

visors,  as  such  transfer  would  have  thrown  the  thieves'  ma 
chine  out  of  adjustment. 

At  length,  upon  the  recommendation  of  Mr.  George 
Fishback,  editor  of  the  St.  Louis  Democrat,  the  reform  Secre 
tary  appointed  Mr.  Myron  Colony,  of  St.  Louis,  a  special 
agent  to  unearth  the  frauds,  with  the  co-operation  of  Bluford 
Wilson,  the  Solicitor  of  the  Treasury.  One  of  the  conditions 
upon  which  Mr.  Colony  accepted  his  grave  and  difficult 
charge  was  that  of  perfect  secrecy.  The  first  plan  was  to 
ascertain  by  means  of  detectives  the  amount  of  grain  carted 
into  the  distilleries,  with  the  amount  of  whiskey  shipped  to 
rectifying-houses  or  elsewhere,  and  to  establish  the  fact  of  ille 
gal  nocturnal  distillation — for  the  law  allowed  but  one  distilla 
tion  every  seventy-two  hours.  This  effort  the  guilty  parties 
discovered  and  opposed,  midnight  combats  taking  place  be 
tween  the  burly  detectives  and  ruffians  hired  to  fight  them. 
That  line  of  attack  was  finally  abandoned,  but  not  till  val 
uable  evidence  had  been  secured. 

The  next  move  was  as  follows  :  Under  pretext  of  gather 
ing  commercial  statistics,  a  work  which,  as  financial  editor  of 
the  Democrat  and  as  Secretary  of  the  St.  Louis  Board  of 
Trade,  Mr.  Colony  had  often  done,  and  could,  of  course,  do 
without  suspicion,  he  obtained,  at  landings  and  freight  depots, 
copies  of  bills  of  lading  that  showed  all  the  shipments  of  sta 
ple  articles,  including  whiskey,  to  or  from  St.  Louis,  Chicago, 
and  Milwaukee.  The  record  gave  the  names  of  the  shippers 
and  the  consignees,  the  number  of  gallons  and  the  serial  num 
ber — never  duplicated — of  the  revenue  stamps  on  each  and 
every  package.  The  discrepancies  between  these  way-bills 
and  the  official  records  furnished  to  the  Internal  Revenue  Office 
showed  conclusively  the  extent  of  the  frauds  and  the  identity  of 
the  culprits.  From  July  i,  1874,  to  May  i,  1875,  no  less  than 
$ i, 6 50,000  had  been  diverted  from  the  government  till. 

The  illicit  distillers  lay  quite  still  while  the  toils  were 
woven  around  them.  They  were  aware  of  the  Secretary's 

239 


THE  UNITED  STATES  IN  OUR  OWN  TIME 

enmity  and  cordially  reciprocated  it,  but  their  suspicions  had 
been  lulled  by  his  first  retreat.  Moreover,  they  felt  that  news 
of  any  proposed  investigation  would  be  sure  to  reach  them 
from  their  official  correspondents.  They  were  not  prepared 
for  an  investigation  conducted  in  the  main  by  private  citizens, 
and  kept  secret  from  the  Department,  which  was  in  more  inti 
mate  alliance  with  them  than  with  its  own  chief  or  with  the 
people  whom  he  was  serving.  When  little  remained  but  to 
unmask  the  batteries,  a  vague  sense  of  uneasiness  began  to 
express  itself  in  Congressional  and  other  queries  at  the  Inter 
nal  Revenue  Office — which  was  as  blissfully  ignorant  as  the 
Ring  itself — and  later  at  the  White  House,  where  it  was  learned 
that  investigation  was  indeed  on  foot.  The  investigators,  too, 
were  startled,  after  they  had  fixed  Monday,  May  loth,  as  the 
date  for  the  coup,  by  learning  of  a  telegram  to  St.  Louis  run 
ning,  "  Lightning  will  strike  Monday  !  Warn  your  friends  in 
the  country  !  "  It  turned  out  that  this  telegram  was  from  a 
gentleman  who  had  been  informed  of  the  purpose  to  strike  on 
that  day,  and  had  communicated  it  to  a  distilling  firm  in  St. 
Louis  hostile  to  the  Ring. 

Its  torpid  writhings  availed  the  monster  naught.  Equally 
vain  the  pious  preparations  at  once  made  against  a  mere 
raid.  The  traps  set  with  secrecy  and  patience  were  sprung 
simultaneously  in  St.  Louis,  Chicago  and  Milwaukee.  Rec 
ords  seized  justified  numerous  arrests  in  nearly  every  leading 
city.  Indictments  were  found  against  one  hundred  and  fifty- 
two  liquor  men  and  other  private  parties,  and  against  eighty-six 
Government  officials,  among  them  the  chief  clerk  in  the  Treas 
ury  Department,  and  President  Grant's  Private  Secretary,  Gen 
eral  O.  E.  Babcock.  On  the  back  of  a  letter  from  St.  Louis, 
making  a  charge  or  suggestion  against  Babcock,  Grant  had  in 
dorsed,  "  Let  no  guilty  man  escape."  Five  or  six  times  in  the 
progress  of  the  case  he  said:  "  If  Babcock  is  guilty  there  is  no 
man  who  wants  him  proven  guilty  as  I  do,  for  it  is  the  greatest 
piece  of  traitorism  to  me  that  a  man  could  possibly  practise." 


240 


THE   REFORMERS  OUT 


Still,  Babcock's  prosecutors  complained  that  efforts  were 
made  to  transfer  the  case  to  a  military  court,  to  deprive  them 
of  papers  incriminating  the  Private  Secretary,  and  to  prevent 
important  testimony  being  given  by  informers  on  promise  of 
immunity.  All  the  prominent  defendants  were  convicted  save 
Babcock,  but  three  of  them  were  pardoned  six  months  later. 
After  his  acquittal  Babcock  was  dismissed  by  the  President. 

In  the  spring  of  1876  the  dauntless  Secretary  Bristow  as 
saulted  the  California  Whiskey  Ring,  but  here  at  last  he  was 
foiled.  When  the  temperature  rose  to  an  uncomfortable  de 
gree  a  Senator  demanded,  and  in  spite  of  the  Secretary  se 
cured,  the  removal  of  the  more  active  government  prosecutors 
in  that  section.  The  retirement  of  Secretary  Bristow  followed 
soon  after.  With  him  went  Solicitor  Wilson,  Commissioner 
Pratt,  Mr.  Yaryan,  chief  of  revenue  agents,  and  District- 
Attorney  Dyer.  The  Treasurer  and  the  First  and  Fifth 
Auditors  of  the  Treasury  also  resigned.  The  whole  course 
of  proceedings  was  embarrassed  by  misunderstandings  with  the 
President,  who  was  misled  into  the  belief  that  his  own  ruin 
and  that  of  his  family  was  sought  by  the  investigators, 
especially  by  Bristow,  who,  it  was  whispered,  had  designs  upon 
the  Presidency.  The  President  broke  from  these  maligners 

more  than  once,  but  there  was  enough 
in  the  press,  in  the  popular  applause 
with  which  the  prosecution  was  hailed, 
and  in  the  conduct  of  the  trials,  to 
renew  his  suspicions,  to  hinder  the 
prosecution  of  the  St.  Louis  Ring, 
and  finally  to  unseat  the  anti-machine 
Secretary  himself.  This  officer's  re 
tirement  occurred  not  quite  a  month 
before  that  of  Postmaster -General 
Jewell. 

Great  credit  was  due  to  the  press 
for  its   assistance  in   discovering  and 


A.   B.   CORNELL 


24.1 


THE  UNITED  STATES  IN  OUR  OWN  TIME 

exposing  the  whiskey  frauds.  Notwithstanding  exaggerations 
and  errors  here  and  there,  laying  faults  at  wrong  doors, 
its  work  was  praiseworthy  in  the  extreme.  As  the  New 
York  'Times  had  exposed  the  "  Tweed  Ring,"  so  to  the  St. 
Louis  newspaper  men  was  due,  in  large  part,  the  glory  of 
bringing  to  light  the  whiskey  iniquity.  As  in  so  many  other 
instances,  the  press  proved  the  terror  of  unclean  politicians 
and  the  reliance  of  the  people.  In  those  times  and  in  the 
course  of  such  complicated  investigations,  it  was  inevitable  that 
libels  should  occur  and  do  harm.  Naturally,  and  perhaps  jus 
tifiably,  Congress  undertook  to  remedy  this  ill  by  amending 
the  law  of  libel.  The  debate  over  the  measure  was  in  great 
part  composed  of  philippics  against  "  the  licentious  news 
paper."  The  licentious  newspaper  retorted  in  the  teeth  of 
the  law,  which  was  christened  the  "  Press-Gag  Law."  The 
enactment,  too  much  resembling  the  old  "Sedition  Law,"  was 
universally  unpopular,  contributing  not  a  little  to  the  Demo 
cratic  victories  of  1874.  Judge  Poland,  of  Vermont,  the  chief 
sponsor  for  it,  was  defeated  in  this  election.  As  a  further 
consequence  of  it,  in  the  Forty-fourth  Congress,  first  session, 
meeting  in  1875,  tne  National  House  of  Representatives,  for 
the  first  time  since  the  Civil  War,  had  a  Democratic  majority. 
It  was  seventy  strong,  and  elected  Hon.  Michael  C.  Kerr 
Speaker. 

These  paragraphs  perhaps  afford  the  reader  sufficient 
insight  into  the  condition  of  Republican  politics  when  Mr. 
Hayes  became  President ;  they  indicate  the  strength  of  the 
evil  tide  which  he  so  resolutely  set  himself  to  turn.  Even 
from  a  party  point  of  view  the  plunder  system  of  party  politics 
had  failed  to  justify  itself.  Yet,  while  his  efforts  for  reform  were 
endorsed  by  thousands  of  the  rank  and  file  Hayes  found  him 
self  strenuously  opposed  by  a  large  and  powerful  Republican 
faction.  As  the  head  and  front  of  this,  championing  all  that 
Grant  had  stood  for,  his  sins  of  omission  and  his  sins  of 
commission  alike,  towered  Senator  Roscoe  Conkling,  of  New 

242 


HAYES  AND  THE  NEW  YORK   CUSTOM-HOUSE 


THEODORE  ROOSEVELT 


York,  one  of  the  most  formidable  per 
sonal  leaders  in  the  grand  old  party 
Though  knowing  of  this  gentleman's 
sure  and  potent  antagonism,  the  Presi 
dent  did  not  hesitate,  but  early  and 
firmly  took  the  bull  by  the  horns. 

He  touched  the  danger-line  in 
removing  Chester  A.  Arthur  from  the 
office  of  Collector  of  the  Port  of  New 
York,  A.  B.  Cornell  from  that  of  Naval 
Officer,  and  George  H.  Sharpe  from 
that  of  Surveyor.  Over  two-thirds  of 
the  nation's  customs  revenue  was  received  at  that  port,  and  its 
administration  could  not  but  be  important.  Numerous  com 
plaints  having  been  made  concerning  affairs  and  methods  at 
the  port,  a  Commission  was  appointed  in  April,  1877,  to  make 
an  examination.  Its  first  report,  dwelling  on  the  evils  of 
appointments  for  political  reasons  without  due  regard  to  effi 
ciency,  was  rendered  May  24th,  and  it  recommended  consid 
erably  sweeping  changes.  President  Hayes  concurred  in  these 
recommendations.  He  wrote  Secretary  Sherman  :  "  It  is  my 
wish  that  the  collection  of  the  revenues  should  be  free  from 
partisan  control,  and  organized  on  a  strictly  business  basis,  with 
the  same  guarantees  for  efficiency  and  fidelity  in  the  selection 
of  the  chief  and  subordinate  officers  that  would  be  required  by 
a  prudent  merchant.  Party  leaders  should  have  no  more  in 
fluence  in  appointments  than  other  equally  respectable  citizens. 
No  assessments  for  political  purposes  on  officers  or  subordi 
nates  should  be  allowed.  No  useless  officer  or  employe 
should  be  retained.  No  officer  should  be  required  or  per 
mitted  to  take  part  in  the  management  of  political  organiza 
tions,  caucuses,  conventions,  or  election  campaigns.  Their 
right  to  vote,  and  to  express  their  views  on  public  questions, 
either  orally  or  through  the  press,  is  not  denied,  provided  it 
does  not  interfere  with  the  discharge  of  their  official  duties." 

243 


THE  UNITED  STATES  IN  OUR  OWN  TIME 

Five  more  reports  were  made,  exhibiting  in  all  their 
gravity  the  evils  then  prevalent  in  the  business  of  the  port. 
Twenty  per  cent,  of  the  persons  employed  needed  to  be 
dropped.  Ignorance,  inefficiency,  neglect  of  duty,  dishonesty, 
inebriety,  bribery,  and  various  other  forms  of  improper  con 
duct  were  all  common.  At  first  there  was  no  thought  of  re 
moving  Arthur  or  Cornell,  but  they  were  seen  to  be  so  bound 
up  with  the  unbusiness-like  system  that  they  must  fall  wi'ih  it. 
The  Commissioners  "  found  that  for  many  years  past  the 
view  had  obtained  with  some  political  leaders  that  the  friends 
of  the  Administration  in  power  had  a  right  to  control  the  cus 
toms  appointments;  and  this  view,  which  seemed  to  have  been 
acquiesced  in  by  successive  administrations,  had  of  late  been 
recognized  to  what  the  commission  deemed  an  undue  extent 
by  the  chief  officer  of  the  service.  These  gentlemen,  on  the 
ground  that  they  were  compelled  to  surrender  to  personal  and 
partisan  dictation,  appeared  to  have  assumed  that  they  were 
relieved,  in  part  at  least,  from  the  responsibilities  that  belonged 
to  the  appointing  power."  The  Administration  became  con 
vinced  "  that  new  officers  would  be  more  likely  to  make  the 
radical  reforms  required,"  that  in  order  to  accomplish  any 
thorough  reform  of  the  Government's  business  methods  at  the 
New  York  port,  the  Collector,  the  Naval  Officer  and  the 
Surveyor  must  either  resign  or  be  removed.  On  September 
6,  1877,  Secretary  Sherman  wrote  his  Assistant  Secretary: 

"  After  a  very  full  consideration  and  a  very  kindly  one, 
the  President,  with  the  cordial  assent  of  his  Cabinet,  came  to 
the  conclusion  that  the  public  interests  demanded  a  change  in 
the  three  leading  offices  in  New  York,  and  a  public  announce 
ment  of  that  character  was  authorized.  I  am  quite  sure  that 
this  will,  on  the  whole,  be  considered  to  be  a  wise  result. 
The  manner  of  making  the  changes  and  the  persons  to  be 
appointed  will  be  a  subject  of  careful  and  full  consideration, 
but  it  is  better  to  know  that  it  is  determined  upon  and  ended. 
This  made  it  unnecessary  to  consider  the  telegrams  in  regard 

244 


ARTHUR,  CORNELL,  AND   SHARPE  REMOVED 


JUSTIN  S.  MORRILL 
of  Vermont 


to  Mr.  Cornell.  It  is  probable  that 
no  special  point  would  have  been 
made  upon  his  holding  his  position 
as  Chairman  of  the  State  Committee 
for  a  limited  time,  but  even  that  was 
not  the-  thing,  the  real  question  being 
that,  whether  he  resigned  or  not,  it 
was  better  that  he  and  Arthur  and 
Sharpe  should  all  give  way  to  new 
men,  to  try  definitely  a  new  policy  in 
the  conduct  of  the  New  York  Cus 
tom-house.  I  have  no  doubt,  unless 
these  gentlemen  should  make  it  im 
possible  by  their  conduct  hereafter,  that  they  will  be  treated 
with  the  utmost  consideration,  and,  for  one,  I  have  no  hesita 
tion  in  saying  that  I  hope  General  Arthur  will  be  recognized 
in  a  most  complimentary  way." 

A  great  fight  was  now  on.  Arthur  was  offered  the 
eligible  post  of  Consul-General  at  Paris,  thought  likely  to  be 
highly  agreeable  to  him,  but  he  declined  it.  None  of  the 
officials  would  resign.  On  the  contrary,  pushed  by  Senator 
Conkling,  all  three  preferred  to  make  an  issue  against  the  pro 
posed  reform.  On  October  24,  1877,  the  President  nomi 
nated  for  Collector  Theodore  Roosevelt,  for  Surveyor  Edward 
A.  Merritt,  and  for  Naval  Officer  L.  B.  Prince.  Five  days 
later  the  Senate  rejected  them.  Conkling  was  in  high  feather. 
On  December  6th,  during  the  following  session,  the  three 
were  again  nominated,  but  only  the  last,  ten  days  later, 
confirmed.  "No  doubt,"  said  Sherman,  "the  Democratic 
majority  in  the  Senate  might  defend  themselves  with  political 
reasons,  but  the  motive  of  Mr.  Conkling  was  hostility  to 
President  Hayes  and  his  inborn  desire  to  domineer."  After 
the  session  closed,  in  1878,  the  President  temporarily  placed 
Edwin  A.  Merritt  in  the  office  of  Collector,  and  Silas  W. 
Burt  in  that  of  Naval  Officer.  With  the  opening  of  the  next 

245 


THE  UNITED  STATES  IN  OUR  OWN  TIME 

Senate  it  became  necessary  to  submit  the  nominations  to  that 
body  for  confirmation.  The  Secretary  of  the  Treasury,  so 
interested  in  the  case  that  he  had  determined  to  resign  should 
the  Senate  reject  again,  wrote  Senator  Allison  : 

"  I  would  not  bother  you  with  this  personal  matter,  but 
that  I  feel  the  deepest  interest  in  the  confirmation  of  General 
Merritt,  which  I  know  will  be  beneficial  to  us  as  a  party,  and 
still  more  so  to  the  public  service.  Personally  I  have  the 
deepest  interest  in  it  because  I  have  been  unjustly  assailed  in 
regard  to  it  in  the  most  offensive  manner.  I  feel  free  to 
appeal  to  you  and  Windom,  representing  as  you  do  Western 
States,  and  being  old  friends  and  acquaintances,  to  take  into 
consideration  this  personal  aspect  of  the  case.  If  the  restora 
tion  of  Arthur  is  insisted  upon,  the  whole  liberal  element  will 
be  against  us  and  it  will  lose  us  tens  of  thousands  of  votes 
without  doing  a  particle  of  good.  No  man  could  be  a  more 
earnest  Republican  than  I,  and  I  feel  this  political  loss  as 
much  as  anyone  can.  It  will  be  a  personal  reproach  to  me, 
and  merely  to  gratify  the  insane  hate  of  Conkling,  who  in  this 
respect  disregards  the  express  wishes  of  the  Republican  mem 
bers  from  New  York,  of  the  great  body  of  Republicans,  and 
as  I  personally  know,  runs  in  antagonism  to  his  nearest  and 
best  friends  in  the  Senate." 

To  Senator  Justin  S.  Morrill  Sherman  wrote  a  much 
longer  letter,  giving  reasons  in  detail  in  favor  of  confirming 
the  new  men,  and  containing  specific  charges  of  neglect  of 
duty  on  the  part  of  Arthur  and  Cornell.  After  seven  hours 
of  struggle  in  the  Senate  Conkling  was  decisively  defeated, 
Merritt  being  confirmed  33  to  24,  and  Burt  31  to  19.  Four- 
fifths  of  the  Democrats  and  two-fifths  of  the  Republicans 
voted  for  confirmation. 

While  temper  over  this  controversy  was  at  its  hottest 
George  William  Curtis  supported  in  the  New  York  State 
Republican  Convention  a  resolution  commending  Hayes's 
Administration,  and  especially  his  course  with  regard  to  the 

246 


HAYES  AND   HIS  PARTY 

civil  service.  This  aroused  Conkling  to  make  a  fierce  personal 
attack  upon  Curtis.  Curtis  wrote  :  "  It  was  the  saddest  sight 
I  ever  knew,  that  man  glaring  at  me  in  a  fury  of  hate  and 
storming  out  his  foolish  blackguardism.  It  was  all  pity.  I 
had  not  thought  him  great,  but  I  had  not  suspected  how  small 
he  was.  His  friends,  the  best,  were  confounded.  One  of 
them  said  to  me  next  day,  c  It  was  not  amazement  that  I  felt, 
but  consternation/  Conkling's  speech  was  carefully  written 
out,  and  therefore  you  do  not  get  all  the  venom,  and  no  one 
can  imagine  the  Mephistophelian  leer  and  spite." 

After  all,  strange  as  it  may  seem,  Hayes's  bold  independ 
ence  did  not  seriously  divide  his  party.  Few  stalwarts  dared 
call  him  a  traitor.  Democratic  opposition  fortified  him  against 
this.  The  House,  Democratic  throughout  his  term,  fought 
nearly  all  his  wishes,  as  did  the  Senate,  now  also  Democratic, 
during  his  last  two  years.  To  balk  him,  appropriation  bills 
were  laden  with  riders  involving  legislation  which  he  could  not 
approve,  but  he  firmly  applied  the  veto.  The  futile  attempt 
to  "right"  the  alleged  "fraud  of  1877"  by  ripping  up  the 
Electoral  Commission's  work,  kept  Hayes  before  the  country 
as  the  Republicans'  man,  incidentally  doing  much  to  adver 
tise  his  sterling  character.  Refreshing  decency  marked  all  of 
Mr.  Hayes's  public  doings.  The  men  placed  in  office  by  him 
were  as  a  rule  the  best  available,  chosen  with  the  least  possible 
regard  to  political  influence,  and,  like  all  others  in  the  civil 
service,  they  were  required  to  abstain  from  active  participation 
in  political  affairs.  This  policy  enraged  politicians,  but,  by 
immensely  relieving  the  party  from  the  odium  into  which  it 
had  fallen,  aided  to  put  it  in  condition  for  the  campaign  of 
1880. 


247 


CHAPTER    X 
-THE    UNITED    STATES    WILL    PAY" 

BACK  TO   HARD  MONEY. ACT  TO  STRENGTHEN  THE  PUBLIC  CREDIT. 

DIFFICULTY  OF  CONTRACTION. IGNORANCE  OF  FINANCE. DEBT 
ORS  PINCHED. THE  PANIC  OF  1873. CAUSES.  —  FAILURE  OF  JAY 

COOKE  &  CO.,  AND  OF  FISKE  &  HATCH. BLACK  FRIDAY  NO.  2. ON 

CHANGE  AND  ON  THE  STREET. BULLS,  BEARS  AND  BANKS. CRITI 
CISM  OF  SECRETARY  RICHARDSON. FIRST  USE  OF  CLEARING-HOUSE 

CERTIFICATES. EFFECTS  AND  DURATION  OF  THE  PANIC. AN  IMPOR 
TANT  GOOD  RESULT. RESUMPTION  AND  POLITICS. THE  RESUMP 
TION  ACT. — SHERMAN'S  QUALIFICATIONS  FOR  EXECUTING  IT. — HIS 

FIRMNESS. RESUMPTION       ACTUALLY       BEGUN. MAGNITUDE      AND 

MEANING    OF  THIS  POLICY. OUR  BONDED  DEBT  RAPIDLY  REDUCED. 

LEGAL  TENDER  QUESTIONS  AND  DECISIONS. JUILLIARD  VS.  GREEN- 
MAN. THE  "  FIAT-GREENBACK  "  HERESY. "  DOLLAR  OF  THE  FATH 
ERS  "  DEMONETIZED. NOT  BY  FRAUD  BUT  WITHOUT  DUE  REFLEC 
TION. THE  BLAND  BILL  AND  THE  "ALLISON  TIP/' THE  AMENDED 

BILL  VETOED,   BUT  PASSED. SUBSEQUENT  SILVER  LEGISLATION. 

THE  most  momentous  single  deed  of  Mr.  Hayes's 
Administration  was  the  restoration  of  the  country's 
finances,  public  and  private,  to  a  hard-money  basis.  On  Jan 
uary  i,  1879, tne  United  States  began  again  the  payment,  sus 
pended  for  more  than  sixteen  years,  of  specie  in  liquidation  of 
its  greenback  promises.  The  familiar  legend  upon  our  Treas 
ury  notes,  "  The  United  States  will  pay,"  became  true  at  last. 
Our  paper  dollar  had  begun  to  sink  below  par  so  early  as  De 
cember  28,  1 86 1,  after  which  date  it  underwent  the  most  pain 
ful  fluctuations.  On  July  n,  1864,  it  was  sixty-five  per  cent, 
below  par,  thenceforward  sinking  and  rising  fitfully,  but  never 
reaching  gold  value  again  till  the  month  of  December,  1 878. 

The  difficulties  of  replacing  the  country's  business  on  a 
solid  monetary  platform  had  been  foreseen  as  soon  as  the  sub 
ject  loomed  into  view.  Senator  Sherman,  upon  whom  finally 
fell  the  main  burden  of  carrying  the  operation  through,  wrote 

249 


THE  UNITED  STATES  IN  OUR  OWN  TIME 

in  1868  :  "I  am  in  real  embarrassment  about  questions  that  I 
must  now  act  upon.  My  conviction  is  that  specie  payments 
must  be  resumed,  and  I  have  my  own  theories  as  to  the  mode 
of  resumption,  but  the  process  is  a  very  hard  one  and  will  en 
danger  the  popularity  of  any  man  or  administration  that  is 
compelled  to  adopt  it." 

The  very  first  act  of  the  Forty-first  Congress  was  one 
entitled  "An  Act  to  strengthen  the  public  credit."  Intro 
duced  in  the  House  by  General  Schenck  on  March  12,  1869,  it 
there  passed  on  that  day,  reaching  the  Senate  on  the  i5th, 
where  also  it  speedily  passed.  On  the  I9th  this  memorable 
bill  became  law.  It  ran  : 

"  That,  in  order  to  remove  any  doubt  as  to  the  purpose 
of  the  Government  to  discharge  all  just  obligations  to  the  pub 
lic  creditors,  and  to  settle  conflicting  questions  and  interpreta 
tions  of  the  laws  by  virtue  of  which  said  obligations  have  been 
contracted,  it  is  hereby  provided  and  declared  that  the  faith  of 
the  United  States  is  solemnly  pledged  to  the  payment  in  coin, 
or  its  equivalent,  of  all  obligations  of  the  United  States  not 
bearing  interest,  known  as  United  States  notes,  and  of  all 
interest-bearing  obligations  of  the  United  States,  except  in 
cases  where  the  law  authorizing  the  issue  of  such  obligations 
has  expressly  provided  that  the  same  may  be  paid  in  lawful 
money  or  other  currency  than  gold  or  silver.  .  .  And  the 
United  States  also  solemnly  pledges  its  faith  to  make  provis 
ion,  at  the  earliest  practicable  period,  for  the  redemption  of 
the  United  States  notes  in  coin." 

However  necessary  to  final  prosperity,  the  contraction  of 
our  currency  was  a  sore  process,  and  it  encountered  at  every 
stage  the  most  bitter  opposition.  The  war  left  us,  as  it  found 
us,  with  painfully  little  grasp  on  the  principles  of  money. 
Men  of  one  type  felt  that  low  or  falling  prices,  however 
caused,  meant  prosperity;  another  class  attached  this  meaning 
to  high  prices,  however  caused.  Few  reflected  enough  to  see 
that  great  and  solid  prosperity  may  attend  rising  prices,  as 

250 


G.  F.  Edmunds 
0.  P    Morton 


John  Sherman  W\  B<  Allison 

John  A,  Logan 


T.  W.  Ferry 
Roscoe  Conkling 


F.  T.  Frelinghuysen 


Painted  by  W.  R.  Lei 
.  0.  Howe 

G.  S.  Boutwell 

A,  A,  Sargent 


THE  REPUBLICAN  CAUCUS  COMMITTEE  WHICH  FORMULATED  THE  RESUMPTION  ACT 

IN  DECEMBER,  1874 


ANTI-CONTRACTION 

between  1850  and  1870,  or  that,  on  the  other  hand,  prices  may 
be  going  down  and  yet  greater  and  greater  effort  be  required 
to  obtain  the  necessaries  of  life.  The  generally  conceded  de 
sirableness  of  replacing  business  upon  a  precious-metal  basis, 
whatever  hardship  in  lowered  values  this  might  cost  those 
whose  property  consisted  of  goods  or  lands  and  not  of  money, 
misled  many,  even  after  the  gold  platform  was  reached,  to  hail 
each  drop  in  general  prices  with  hallelujahs.  Eastern  people 
and  the  creditor  class  elsewhere  were  usually  in  this  frame  of 
mind. 

Far  different  felt  those,  so  numerous  throughout  the 
West,  who  had  run  in  debt  when  rank  inflation  was  on,  and 
who,  tied  to  their  mortgaged  farms,  were  compelled  to  produce 
against  a  constantly  falling  market.  They  writhed  under  the 
pinch,  and  more  or  less  correctly  understood  the  philosophy  of 
it.  A  Montgomery  County,  Pa.,  farmer  once  went  into  a  store 
in  Norristown  and  bought  a  suit  of  clothes.  The  storekeeper 
said  :  "  That  is  the  cheapest  suit  of  clothes  you  ever  bought." 
"  Oh,  no,"  said  the  farmer,  "  this  suit  cost  me  twenty  bush 
els  of  wheat.  I  have  never  paid  over  fifteen  bushels  of  wheat 
for  a  suit  of  clothes  before." 

The  panic  of  1 873,  so  far  as  it  resulted  from  contraction,  had 
its  main  origin  abroad,  not  in  America,  so  that  its  subordinate 
causes  were  generally  looked  upon  as  its  sole  occasion  ;  yet 
these  bye  causes  were  important.  The  shocking  destruction 
of  wealth  by  fires  and  by  reckless  speculation,  of  course  had  a 
baneful  effect.  During  1872  the  balance  of  trade  was  strongly 
against  the  United  States.  The  circulation  of  depreciated 
paper  money  had  brought  to  many  an  apparent  prosperity 
which  was  not  real,  leading  to  the  free  creation  of  debts  by  in 
dividuals,  corporations,  towns,  cities  and  States.  An  unpre 
cedented  mileage  of  railways  had  been  constructed.  Much 
supposed  wealth  consisted  in  the  bonds  of  these  railroads  and 
of  other  new  concerns,  like  mining  and  manufacturing  corpo 
rations.  Thus  the  entire  business  of  the  country  was  on  a 

253 


THE  UNITED  STATES  IN  OUR  OWN  TIME 

basis  of  inflation,  and  when  contraction  came  disaster  was  in 
evitable. 

In  the  course  of  the  summer  solid  values  began  to  be 
hoarded  and  interest  rates  consequently  to  rise.  In  August 
there  was  a  partial  corner  in  gold,  broken  by  ?  government 
sale  of  $6,000,000.  In  September  panic  came,  with  suspen 
sion  of  several  large  banking-houses  in  New  York.  Jay  Cooke 
&  Co.,  who  had  invested  heavily  in  the  construction  of  the 
Northern  Pacific  Railway,  suspended  on  September  i8th. 
When  authoritative  news  of  this  event  was  made  known  in  the 
Stock  Exchange  a  perfect  stampede  of  the  brokers  ensued. 
They  surged  out  of  the  Exchange,  tumbling  pell-mell  over 
each  other  in  the  general  confusion,  hastening  to  notify  their 
respective  houses.  Next  day,  September  I9th,  Fiske  & 
Hatch,  very  conservative  people,  went  down. 

September  1 9th  was  a  second  Black  Friday.  Never  since 
the  original  Black  Friday  had  the  street  and  the  Stock  Ex 
change  been  so  frantic.  The  weather,  dark  and  rainy,  seemed 
to  sympathize  with  the  gloom  which  clouded  the  financial  situ 
ation.  Wall,  Broad  and  Nassau  Streets  were  thronged  with 
people.  From  the  corner  of  Wall  Street  and  Broadway  down 
to  the  corner  of  Hanover  Street  a  solid  mass  of  men  filled 
both  sidewalks.  From  the  Post-office  along  Nassau  Street 
down  Broad  Street  to  Exchange  Place  another  dense  throng 
moved  slowly,  aimlessly,  hither  and  thither.  Sections  of 
Broadway  itself  were  packed.  Weaving  in  and  out  like  the 
shuttles  in  a  loom  were  brokers  and  brokers*  clerks  making 
the  best  speed  they  could  from  point  to  point.  All  faces  wore 
a  bewildered  and  foreboding  look.  To  help  them  seem  cool, 
moneyed  men  talked  about  the  weather,  but  their  incoherent 
words  and  nervous  motions  betrayed  their  anxiety.  The  part 
of  Wall  Street  at  the  corner  of  Broad  Street  held  a  specially 
interested  mass  of  men.  They  seemed  like  an  assemblage  anx 
iously  awaiting  the  appearance  of  a  great  spectacle.  High  up 
on  the  stone  balustrade  of  the  Sub-Treasury  were  numerous 

254 


Painted  by  Howard  Pylt 
THE    RUSH   FROM   THE    HEW   YORK  STOCK   EXCHANGE    ON   SEPTEMBER   /«?,  1873 


SECOND  BLACK  FRIDAY 

spectators,  umbrellas  sheltering  them  from  the  pelting  rain  as 
they  gazed  with  rapt  attention  on  the  scene  below.  All  the 
brokers'  offices  were  filled.  In  each,  at  the  first  click  of  the 
indicator,  everybody  present  was  breathless,  showing  an  inter 
est  more  and  more  intense  as  the  figures  telegraphed  were  read 
off. 

It  was  half-past  ten  in  the  morning  when  the  Fiske  & 
Hatch  failure  was  announced  in  the  Stock  Exchange.  For  a 
moment  there  was  silence  ;  then  a  hoarse  murmur  broke  out 
from  bulls  and  bears  alike,  followed  by  yells  and  cries  inde 
scribable,  clearly  audible  on  the  street.  Even  the  heartless 
bear,  in  glee  over  the  havoc  he  was  making,  paused  to  utter  a 
growl  of  sorrow  that  gentlemen  so  honorable  should  become 
ursine  prey.  The  news  of  the  failure  ran  like  a  prairie  fire, 
spreading  dismay  that  showed  itself  on  all  faces.  Annotators 
of  values  in  the  various  offices  made  known  in  doleful  ticks 
the  depreciation  of  stocks  and  securities.  Old  habitues  of  the 
exchanges,  each  usually  placid  as  a  moonlit  lake,  were  wrought 
up  till  they  acted  like  wild  men. 

At  the  corner  of  Broad  Street  and  Exchange  Place  a  de 
lirious  crowd  of  money-lenders  and  borrowers  collected  and 
tried  to  fix  a  rate  for  loans.  The  matter  hung  in  the  balance 
for  some  time  until  the  extent  of  the  panic  became  known. 
Then  they  bid  until  the  price  of  money  touched  one-half  of 
one  per  cent,  a  day  and  legal  interest.  One  man,  after  lending 
^30,000  at  three-eighths  per  cent.,  said  that  he  had  $20,000 
left,  but  that  he  thought  he  would  not  lend  it.  As  he  said 
this,  he  turned  toward  his  office,  but  was  immediately  sur 
rounded  by  about  twenty  borrowers  who  hung  on  to  his  arms 
and  coat-tails  till  he  had  agreed  to  lend  the  $20,000. 

The  Stock  Exchange  witnessed  the  chief  tragedy  and  the 
chief  farce  of  the  day.  Such  tumult,  push  and  bellowing  had 
never  been  known  there  even  in  the  wildest  moments  of  the 
war.  The  interior  of  the  Exchange  was  of  noble  altitude,  with 
.a  vaulting  top,  brilliantly  colored  in  Renaissance  design,  that 


THE  UNITED  STATES  IN  OUR  OWN  TIME 

sprang  upward  with  a  strength  and  grace  seldom  so  happily 
united.  A  cluster  of  gas-jets,  hanging  high,  well  illuminated 
the  enclosure.  On  the  capacious  floor,  unobstructed  by  pillars 
or  by  furniture,  save  one  small  table  whereon  a  large  basket  of 
flowers  rested,  a  mob  of  brokers  and  brokers'  clerks  surged 
back  and  forth,  filling  the  immense  space  above  with  roars  and 
screams.  The  floor  was  portioned  off  to  some  twenty  differ 
ent  groups.  Here  was  one  tossing  "  New  York  Central  "  up 
and  down  ;  near  by  another  playing  ball  with  "  Wabash  ;  " 
"  Northwestern "  jumped  and  sank  as  if  afflicted  with  St. 
Vitus's  dance.  In  the  middle  of  the  floor  "  Rock  Island " 
cut  up  similar  capers.  In  a  remote  corner  "  Pacific  Mail " 
was  beaten  with  clubs,  while  "  Harlem  "  rose  like  a  balloon 
filled  with  pure  hydrogen.  The  uninitiated  expected  every 
instant  to  see  the  mob  fight.  Jobbers  squared  off  at  each 
other  and  screamed  and  yelled  violently,  flinging  their  arms 
around  and  producing  a  scene  which  Bedlam  itself  could  not 
equal. 

Behind  the  raised  desk,  in  snowy  shirt-front  and  necktie, 
stood  the  President  of  the  Exchange,  his  strong  tenor  voice 
every  now  and  then  ringing  out  over  the  Babel  of  sounds  be 
neath.  The  gallery  opposite  him  contained  an  eager  throng 
of  spectators  bending  forward  and  craning  their  necks  to  view 
the  pandemonium  on  the  floor.  The  rush  for  this  gallery  was 
fearful,  and  apparently,  but  for  the  utmost  effort  of  the  police, 
must  have  proved  fatal  to  some.  Excitement  in  Wall  Street 
not  infrequently  drew  crowds  to  the  main  front  of  the  Ex 
change  ;  but  hardly  ever,  if  ever  before,  had  the  vicinity  been 
so  packed  as  now.  Two  large  blackboards  exhibited  in  chalk 
figures  the  incessantly  fluctuating  quotations.  Telegraph  wires 
connected  the  Exchange  with  a  thousand  indicators  through 
out  the  city,  whence  the  quotations,  big  with  meaning  to  many, 
were  flashed  over  the  land. 

The  first  Black  Friday  was  a  bull  Friday ;  the  second 
was  a  bear  Friday.  Early  in  the  panic  powerful  brokers  began 

258 


STOCK  EXCHANGE  CLOSED 

to  sell  short,  and  they  succeeded  in  hammering  down  from  ten 
to  forty  per  cent,  many  of  the  finest  stocks  like  "  New  York 
Central,"  "  Erie,"  "Wabash,"  "  Northwestern,"  "Rock  Island" 
and  "  Western  Union."  They  then  bought  to  cover  their  sales. 
Bull  brokers,  unable  to  pay  their  contracts,  shrieked  for  mar 
gin  money,  which  their  principals  would  not  or  could  not  put 
up.  They  also  sought  relief  from  the  banks,  but  in  vain.  It 
had  long  been  the  practice  of  certain  banks,  though  contrary 
to  law,  early  each  day  to  certify  checks  to  enormous  amounts 
in  favor  of  brokers  who  had  not  a  cent  on  deposit  to  their 
credit,  the  understanding  in  each  case  being  that  before  three 
o'clock  the  broker  would  hand  in  enough  cash  or  securities  to 
cancel  his  debt.  The  banks  now  refused  this  accommodation. 
In  the  Exchange,  eighteen  names  were  read  offof  brokers  who 
could  not  fulfill  their  contracts.  As  fast  as  the  failures  were 
announced  the  news  was  carried  out  on  to  the  street.  In  spite 
of  the  rain  hundreds  of  people  gathered  about  the  offices  of 
fallen  reputation,  and  gazed  curiously  through  the  windows 
trying  to  make  out  how  the  broken  brokers  were  behaving. 
Toward  evening,  as  the  clouds  lifted  over  Trinity  spire,  show 
ing  a  ruddy  flush  in  the  west,  everybody,  save  some  reluctant 
bears,  said,  "  The  worst  is  over,"  and  breathed  a  sigh  of  relief. 
The  crowd  melted,  one  by  one  the  tiny  little  Broadway  coupes 
rattled  off,  one  by  one  the  newsboys  ceased  shrieking,  and 
night  closed  over  the  wet  street. 

In  deference  to  a  general  wish  that  dealings  in  stocks  should 
cease,  the  Exchange  was  shut  on  Saturday,  September  2Oth, 
and  not  opened  again  till  the  joth.  Such  closure  had  never 
occurred  before.  On  Sunday  morning  President  Grant  and 
Secretary  Richardson,  of  the  Treasury,  came  to  New  York, 
spending  the  day  in  anxious  consultation  with  Vanderbilt, 
Clews,  and  other  prominent  business  men. 

Had  the  Secretary  of  the  Treasury  acted  promptly  and 
firmly  he  might  have  relieved  the  situation  much ;  but  he 
vacillated.  Some  $  13, 500,000  in  five-twenty  bonds  were 

259 


THE  UNITED  STATES  IN  OUR  OWN  TIME 

bought,  and  a  few  millions  of  the  greenbacks  which  Secretary 
McCulloch  had  called  in  for  cancellation  were  set  free.  But 
as  Mr.  Richardson  announced  no  policy  on  which  the  public 
could  depend,  most  of  the  cash  let  loose  was  instantly  hoarded 
in  vaults  or  used  in  the  purchase  of  other  bonds  then  tempo 
rarily  depressed,  so  doing  nothing  whatever  to  allay  the  dis 
tress.  On  the  25th  the  Treasury  ceased  buying  bonds.  The 
person  who,  at  the  worst,  sustained  the  market  and  kept  it 
from  breaking  to  a  point  where  half  of  the  street  would  have 
been  inevitably  ruined,  was  Jay  Gould,  mischief  itself  on  the 
first  Black  Friday,  but  on  this  one  a  blessing.  He  bought 
during  the  low  prices  several  hundred  thousand  shares  of  rail 
road  stocks,  principally  of  the  Vanderbilt  stripe,  and  in  this 
way  put  a  check  on  the  ruinous  decline. 

The  national  banks  of  New  York  weathered  this  cyclone 
by  a  novel  device  of  the  Clearing-house  or  associated  banks. 
These  pooled  their  cash  and  collaterals  into  a  common  fund, 
placed  this  in  the  hands  of  a  trusty  committee,  and  issued 
against  it  loan  certificates  that  were  receivable  at  the  Clearing 
house,  just  like  cash,  in  payment  of  debit  balances.  Ten  mil 
lion  dollars  worth  of  these  certificates  was  issued  at  first,  a  sum 
subsequently  doubled.  This  Clearing-house  paper  served  its 
purpose  admirably.  By  October  jd  confidence  was  so  restored 
that  $1,000,000  of  it  was  called  in  and  cancelled,  followed  next 
day  by  $  1,500,000  more.  None  of  it  was  long  outstanding. 
The  Clearing-house  febrifuge  was  successfully  applied  also  in 
Boston,  Philadelphia,  Pittsburg  and  other  cities,  but  not  in 
Chicago. 

The  panic  overspread  the  country.  Credit  in  business 
was  refused,  debtors  were  pressed  for  payment,  securities  were 
rushed  into  the  market  and  fell  greatly  in  price.  Even  United 
States  bonds  went  down  from  five  to  ten  per  cent.  There 
was  a  run  upon  savings  banks,  many  of  which  succumbed. 
Manufactured  goods  were  little  salable,  and  the  prices  of  agri 
cultural  products  painfully  sank.  Factories  began  to  run  on 

260 


B.  H.  Bristow,  Kentucky, 
June  2,  1 874- June  21,  1876 


L.  M.  Merrill,  Maine 
June  21,  J87b-March  8, 


John  Sherman,  Ohio,  William  Windom,  Minnesota,  C.  J.  Folger,  New  York, 

Ma rch  8,  l877-Ma rch  J,  1881  March 5, 2881-  October  27, 1881  October  27,  1881-  October  24,  J&S4 


W.  ^.Gresham,  Indiana,  Hugh  McCulloch,  Indiana,  f  ""[^oo'"^  *7  *"&, 

ctober^:,l884-0ctober  28, 1884         October  28'  fS84~March  b,  1885  March  6'  ^5- April  I,  1887 


C.  5.  Fairchild,  New  York,  Charles  Foster,  Ohio,  John    G.     Carlisle,  Kentucky, 

April  i,  i887-March  5,  i88g         February  24,  i8qi-March  b,  i8q3  March  6,  1893- 

THE  SECRETARIES  OF  THE  TREASURY  DURING  THE   LAST  QUARTER-CENTURY* 
*For  G.  S.  Boutwell,  March  u,  i«69-March  17,  1873,  sec  page  35. 


RESUMPTION  AND  THE  POLITICAL  PARTIES 

short  time,  many  closed  entirely,  many  corporations  failed. 
The  peculiarity  of  this  crisis  was  the  slowness  with  which  it 
abated,  though  fortunately  its  acute  phase  was  of  brief  dura 
tion.  No  date  could  be  set  as  its  term,  its  evil  effects  dragging 
on  through  years. 

In  convincing  multitudes,  as  it  did,  of  the  imperative  ne 
cessity  of  replacing  our  national  finances  on  a  coin  foundation, 
this  panic  was  worth  all  it  cost.  It  was  influential  in  uniting 
the  friends  of  sound  finance  and  of  national  honesty  upon  the 
resumption  policy.  Men  saw  that  this  policy,  however  hard 
to  enter  upon,  however  disastrous  in  the  execution,  however 
sure  of  terrible  opposition  at  every  step,  must  succeed,  and 
could  not  but  bring  lasting  credit  to  the  political  party  bold 
enough  to  espouse  and  push  it.  At  first  the  resumption  plan 
divided  both  parties ;  but,  little  by  little,  the  Republicans 
came  generally  to  favor  it,  the  Democrats,  some  in  one  way 
and  some  in  another,  to  gainsay. 

The  policy  and  the  details  of  resumption  were  hotly  de 
bated  all  through  the  presidential  campaign  of  1876.  Many 
opposed  return  to  specie  from  ignorance  of  its  meaning.  Some 
thought  that  after  resumption  no  paper  money  of  any  kind 
would  be  in  circulation,  or  at  least  that  all  greenbacks  would 
be  gone.  Most,  even  of  such  as  favored  it,  probably  ex 
pected  that  resumption  would  involve  paying  out  by  the  Gov 
ernment  of  almost  unlimited  sums  in  gold.  Few,  compara 
tively,  could  see  that  it  consisted  merely  in  bringing  United 
States  notes  to  gold  par  and  keeping  them  there.  Mr.  Til- 
den  would  assign  this  work  to  the  domain  of  "  practical  admin 
istrative  statesmanship."  Like  all  other  Democrats,  he  urged 
<c  a  system  of  preparation  "  for  resumption  in  place  of  the  Re 
publican  Resumption  Act.  "  A  system  of  preparation  without 
the  promise  of  a  day,  for  the  worthless  promise  of  a  day  with 
out  a  system  of  preparation  would  be  the  gain  of  the  substance 
of  resumption  in  exchange  for  its  shadow."  In  reply  it  was 
maintained  that  "  the  way  to  resume  was  to  resume."  This 

263 


THE  UNITED  STATES  IN  OUR  OWN  TIME 

thought  fortunately  determined  the  policy  of  the  country  and 
was  justified  by  the  event. 

The  Resumption  Act,  passed  January  14,  1875,  had  set 
a  date  for  resumption — four  years  ahead,  January  i?  1879. 
The  first  section  provided  for  the  immediate  coinage  of  sub 
sidiary  silver  to  redeem  the  fractional  currency.  This  was 
practicable,  as  the  now  low  gold  price  of  that  metal  rendered 
possible  its  circulation  concurrently  with  greenbacks.  The 
master-clause  of  the  act  authorized  the  Secretary  to  buy  "coin" 
with  any  of  his  surplus  revenues,  and  for  the  same  purpose 
"  to  issue,  sell,  and  dispose  of  bonds  of  the  United  States.'* 
It  was  fortunate  for  the  country  that  Mr.  Sherman,  who,  as 
Senator,  had  drafted  the  measure,  was,  as  Secretary  of  the 
Treasury  in  the  Hayes  Cabinet,  called  to  execute  it. 

Ever  since  1859  his  connection  with  the  Committee  of 
Ways  and  Means  in  the  House  and  with  the  Committee  on 
Finance  in  the  Senate  had  brought  him  into  close  official  rela 
tions  with  the  Treasury  Department.  This  legislative  train 
ing  gave  him  a  full  knowledge  of  the  several  laws  that  were  to 
be  executed  in  relation  to  public  revenue,  to  all  forms  of  tax 
ation,  to  coinage  and  currency  and  to  the  public  debt.  The 
entire  system  of  national  finance  then  existing  grew  out  of  the 
Civil  War,  and  Mr.  Sherman  had  participated  in  the  passage 
of  all  the  laws  relating  to  this  subject.  His  intimate  association 
with  Secretaries  Chase,  Fessenden,  and  McCulloch,  and  his 
friendly  relations  with  Secretaries  Boutwell  and  Richardson, 
led  him,  as  Chairman  of  the  Senate  committee  on  finance,  to 
have  free  and  confidential  intercourse  with  them  as  to  legisla 
tion  affecting  the  Treasury.  Though  a  good  lawyer  and  an 
able  man,  Secretary  Bristow  had  not  had  the  benefit  of  exper 
ience  either  in  Congress  or  in  the  Department.  He  doubted 
whether  resumption  would  be  effective  without  a  gradual  re 
tirement  of  United  States  notes,  a  measure  to  which  Congress 
would  not  agree,  repealing  even  the  limited  retirement  of  such 
notes  provided  for  by  the  resumption  act.  Secretary  Morrill, 

264 


SHERMAN  AND  RESUMPTION 

Sherman's  immediate  predecessor,  was  in  hearty  sympathy 
with  the  policy  of  resumption,  but  his  failing  health  had  kept 
him  from  that  efficiency  as  Secretary  which  he  would  otherwise 
have  displayed.  For  some  time  before  the  end  of  his  term  in 
the  Treasury,  illness  had  confined  him  to  his  lodgings.  The 
Treasury  Department  was,  however,  well  organized,  most  of 
its  chief  officers  having  been  long  in  service.  But  few  changes 
here  were  made  under  Hayes,  and  only  as  vacancies  occurred 
or  incompetency  was  demonstrated.* 

In  resolutely  preparing  for  Resumption,  spite  of  cries  that 
it  was  impossible,  or,  if  possible,  certain  to  be  ruinous  and 
deadly,  Sherman,  whom  many  had  thought  timid  and  vacillat 
ing,  evinced  the  utmost  strength  of  will.  The  Democracy  was 
for  the  most  part  adverse  to  all  effort  for  immediate  resumption, 
favoring,  rather,  an  enlarged  issue  of  Treasury  notes.  The 
elections  of  1877  and  1878,  generally  either  Democratic  or 
Republican  by  lowered  majorities,  would  have  made  many  an 
administration  retreat  or  pause..  Opposition  to  the  party  in 
power  was  of  course  due  in  part  to  the  wide  belief  that  Hayes 
had  been  jockeyed  into  the  presidency,  and  in  part  to  the 
great  railway  strikes,  where  the  President  had  promptly  sup 
pressed  criminal  disorder  by  the  use  of  federal  arms.  Clearly, 
however,  very  much  of  it  arose  from  the  Administration's 
avowal  that  the  resumption  act  "  could  be,  ought  to  be,  and 
would  be  executed  if  not  repealed." 

In  the  advertising  and  placing  of  his  loans,  Mr.  Sherman 
showed  himself  a  master  in  big  finance.  By  the  sale  of  four- 
and-a-half  per  cent,  bonds,  callable  in  1891,  he  had,  before  the 
appointed  day,  accumulated  an  aggregate  of  $140,000,000  gold 
coin  and  bullion,  being  forty  per  cent,  of  the  then  outstand 
ing  greenbacks.  Partly  owing  to  several  abundant  harvests, 
throwing  the  balance  of  European  trade  in  our  favor  and 
crowding  gold  this  way,  resumption  proved  easier  than  any 
anticipated.  The  greenbacks  rose  to  par  thirteen  days  before 

*John  Sherman's  Recollections,  pp.  565,  566. 
265 


THE  UNITED  STATES  IN  OUR  OWN  TIME 


WESTERN    PTtflOIU  TELEGRAPH  GOMPAM^. 

All,  MESSAGES  VAilEN  ST  -.ins  OOMPAirj  STOJECT  TO  THE  TOLLO WING  JEWS. 


S'READ    THE    NOTICE    AND    AGREEMENT    AT    THE    TOP. 

T^e  Telegram  Announcing  the  Result  of  the  First  Day^s  "Resumption  "  a/  f£<;  ^u)   J'or/f 
Swi-T'r^^jMr^ 

the  date  fixed  for  beginning  gold  payments.  Rumors  were 
rife  of  a  conspiracy  to  "  corner  "  gold,  and  to  make  a  run  on 
the  Sub-Treasury  New  Year's  day,  1879, tne  ^a7  ^or  beginning 
resumption.  On  the  joth  of  December,  1878,  the  president 
of  the  National  Bank  of  Commerce  and  chairman  of  the  Clear 
ing-house  committee,  begged  for  $5,000,000  in  gold  in 
exchange  for  a  like  amount  of  United  States  notes  on  the 
following  day,  a  proposition  which  was  forthwith  declined. 
"  The  year  closed  with  no  unpleasant  excitement,  but  with  un 
pleasant  forebodings.  The  first  day  of  January  was  Sunday 
and  no  business  was  transacted.  On  Monday  anxiety  reigned 
in  the  office  of  the  Secretary.  Hour  after  hour  passed  ;  no 
news  came  from  New  York.  Inquiry  by  wire  showed  that  all 
was  quiet.  At  the  close  of  business  came  this  message : 
c  $135,000  of  notes  presented  for  coin — $400,000  of  gold  for 
notes.'  That  was  all.  Resumption  was  accomplished  with  no 
disturbance.  By  five  o'clock  the  news  was  all  over  the  land, 
and  the  New  York  bankers  were  sipping  their  tea  in  absolute 
safety.  The  prediction  of  the  Secretary  had  become  history. 
When  gold  could  with  certainty  be  obtained  for  notes,  nobody 
wanted  it.  The  experiment  of  maintaining  a  limited  amount 

266 


RESUMPTION  BEGUN 

of  United  States  notes  in  circulation,  based  upon  a  reasonable 
reserve  in  the  Treasury  pledged  for  that  purpose,  and  sup 
ported  also  by  the  credit  of  the  Government,  proved  generally 
satisfactory,  and  the  exclusive  use  of  these  notes  for  circulation 
may  become,  in  time,  the  fixed  financial  policy  of  the  Govern 
ment."* 

The  straggling  applications  for  coin  made  when  resumption 
day  arrived  were  less  in  amount  than  was  asked  for  in  green 
backs  by  bondholders,  who  could  in  any  event  have  demanded 
coin.  During  the  entire  year  1879  only  111,456,536  in 
greenbacks  were  offered  for  redemption,  while  over  $250,000,- 
ooo  were  paid  out  in  coin  obligations.  It  was  found  that 
people  preferred  paper  to  metal  money,  and  had  no  wish  for 
gold  instead  of  notes  when  assured  that  the  exchange  could  be 
made  at  their  option.  Notwithstanding  our  acceptance  of 
greenbacks  for  customs — $109,467,456  during  1879 — tne 
Treasury  at  the  end  of  that  year  experienced  a  dearth  of  these 
and  a  plethora  of  coin,  having  actually  to  force  debtors  to  re 
ceive  hard  money. 

The  magnitude  and  meaning  of  the  financial  policy  thus 
launched  can  hardly  be  over-estimated.  The  Nation  had  piled 
up  a  war  debt  amounting  to  the  enormous  sum  of  $2,844,649,- 
626.  This  figure,  the  highest  which  the  debt  ever  attained, 
was  reached  in  August,  1865.  Many  people  at  home  and  in 
other  countries  thought  that  amounts  so  vast  as  were  called 
for  could  never  possibly  be  paid.  When  we  began  borrow 
ing,  the  London  Economist  declared  it  "  utterly  out  of  the 
question  for  the  Americans  to  obtain  the  extravagant  sums 
they  asked,"  saying :  "  Europe  won  t  lend  them  ;  Americans 
cannot"  .  The  Washington  agent  of  the  London  bankers 
through  whom  our  Government  did  foreign  business,  after 
the  battle  of  Bull  Run  called  at  the  Treasury  on  Sunday  to 
get  his  "  little  bill  "  settled,  having  the  effrontery  to  ask  the 
acting  Secretary,  Mr.  George  Harrington,  to  give  security 

*J.  K.  Upton,  in  Scribner's  Magazine,  July,  1892. 
267 


THE  UNITED  STATES  IN  OUR  OWN  TIME 

that  the  balance,  about  $40,000,  would  be  paid.  Mr.  Har 
rington  directed  the  anxious  Englishman  to  wait,  as  the  Gov 
ernment  would  probably  not  break  up  before  business  hours 
next  day.  The  London  Times  declared  :  "  No  pressure  that 
ever  threatened  is  equal  to  that  which  now  hangs  over  the 
United  States,  and  it  may  safely  be  said  that  if  in  future  gen 
erations  they  faithfully  meet  their  liabilities,  they  will  fairly 
earn  a  fame  which  will  shine  throughout  the  world."  In 
March,  1863,  concluding  an  article  on  Secretary  Chase's  stu 
pendous  operations,  the  same  newspaper  exclaimed  :  "  What 
strength,  what  resources,  what  vitality,  what  energy  there  must 
be  in  a  nation  that  is  able  to  ruin  itself  on  a  scale  so  tran 
scendent  !  "* 

No  nation  ever  took  a  braver  course  than  did  the  United 
States  in  deliberately  beginning  the  reduction  of  that  enormous 
war  debt.  The  will  to  reduce  it  opened  the  way,  and  the 
payment  went  on  by  leaps  and  bounds.  The  policy  was 
to  call  in  high-rate  bonds  as  soon  as  callable,  and  replace 
them  by  others  bearing  lower  rates.  So  immense  was  the 
Government's  income  that  to  have  set  so  late  a  date  as  1891 
for  the  time  when  the  four-and-a-halfs  could  be  cancelled 
proved  unfortunate.  To  fix  for  the  maturity  of  the  fours  so 
remote  a  date  as  1907  was  worse  still.  The  three-per-cents 
of  1882,  which  supplanted  earlier  issues,  were  wisely  made 
payable  at  the  Government's  option.  For  the  twenty-three 
years  beginning  with  August,  1865,  the  reduction  proceeded 
at  an  average  rate  of  a  little  under  $63,000,000  yearly,  which 
would  be  $5,250,000  each  month,  $175,000  each  day,  $7,291 
each  hour,  and  $121  each  minute. 

An  act  of  Congress  passed  February  25,  1862,  had  au 
thorized  the  issue  of  $150,000,000  in  non-interest-bearing 
Treasury  notes.  These  notes  had  no  precedent  with  us  since 
colonial  times.  Neither  receivable  for  duties  nor  payable  for 
interest  on  the  public  debt,  they  were  yet  legal  tender  for  all 

*Shuckers,  Life  of  S.  P.  Chase,  pp.  225,  226. 
268 


CONSTITUTIONALITY  OF  THE  GREENBACK 


ELBRIDGE   G.   SPAULDING* 


other  payments,  public  and  private. 
As  the  Government  paid  its  own 
debts  with  them  they  amounted  to  a 
forced  loan. 

The  legal-tender  clause  of  the 
1862  law  roused  bitterest  antago 
nism.  The  press  ridiculed  it,  in 
some  cases  being  refused  the  use  of 
the  mails  for  that  reason.  "  The 
financial  fabric  of  the  Union  totters 
to  its  base,"  said  a  leading  journal. 
Secretary  Chase  himself,  the  father  of 
the  greenback,  afterward,  as  Chief-Justice,  pronounced  the  law 
unconstitutional.  This  was  his  judgment  from  the  first,  and  he 
overrode  it,  after  painful  deliberation,  only  because  such  a 
course  seemed  absolutely  necessary  to  save  the  nation.  Mr. 
Lincoln  is  said  to  have  aided  his  Secretary  at  this  crisis  by 
the  parable  of  the  captain  who,  his  ship  aleak,  worse  and 
worse  in  spite  of  his  prayers  to  the  Virgin,  threw  her  image 
overboard,  and,  having  successfully  made  port  and  docked  his 
vessel  for  repairs,  found  the  image  neatly  filling  the  hole  where 
the  water  had  come  in.  Both  deemed  it  patriotic  to  make  jetsam 
of  the  Constitution  if  thereby  they  might  bring  safe  into  port 
the  leaky  ship  of  state,  in  danger  of  being  engulfed  in  the  mad 
ocean  of  civil  war. 

Thus  the  issue  of  legal-tenders  began  under  the  pressure 
of  urgent  necessity.  From  first  to  last  $450,000,000  of  this 
paper  had  been  voted,  whereof,  on  January  3,  1864,  $449,- 
338,902  was  outstanding.  Specie  payments  were  suspended 
two  days  before  the  introduction  of  the  legal-tender  act.  Gold 
went  to  a  premium  while  that  act  was  under  discussion,  remain 
ing  so  till  just  before  resumption,  January  i,  1879.  Even  the 
subsidiary  silver  coinage  disappeared,  and  Congress  was  obliged 
to  issue  fractional  paper  currency,  "  shin-plasters,"  in  its  stead. 

*One  of  the  chief  promoters  of  the  Legal  Tender  Act. 
269 


THE  UNITED  STATES  IN  OUR  OWN  TIME 

Several  constitutional  questions  were  connected  with  the 
greenback.  In  Hepburn  vs.  Griswold  (8  Wall.,  603)  the 
Court  held,  four*  Justices  against  three,  that,  while  the  act  of 
February  25,  1862,  might,  as  a  war  measure,  be  valid,  making 
greenbacks  legal  tender  for  debts  contracted  after  its  passage, 
yet,  so  far  as  its  provisions  related  to  pre-existing  debts,  it  was 
inconsistent  with  the  Constitution,  not  being  a  "  necessary  " 
or  "  proper  "means  to  any  end  therein  authorized.  In  Parker 
vs.  Davis  (12  Wall.,  457),  the  personnel  of  the  Court  having 
been  changed  by  the  resignation  of  Justice  Grier  and  the 
appointment  of  Justices  Bradley  and  Strong,  though  Chase, 
Clifford,  and  Field  strenuously  maintained  their  former  views, 
the  Hepburn  vs.  Griswold  decision  was  reversed.  That  case, 
the  Court  now  said,  "  was  decided  by  a  divided  Court,"  hav 
ing  fewer  Judges  "  than  the  law  then  in  existence  provided 
that  this  Court  shall  have.  These  cases  have  been  heard 
before  a  full  Court,  and  they  have  received  our  most  careful 
consideration."  Justice  Bradley,  whom  in  the  judgment  of 
Senator  Hoar,  "  the  general  voice  of  the  profession  and  of  his 
brethren  of  the  bench  would  place  at  the  head  of  all  then  living 
American  jurists,"  concurred  with  the  majority  in  a  separate 
opinion  of  his  own,  at  once  elaborate  and  emphatic.  In  the 
famous  c'ase  of  Juilliard  vs.  Greenman  (i  10  U.  S.  Reports,  421) 
a  third  question  was  tried  out,  namely,  whether  Congress  has 
the  constitutional  power  to  make  United  States  Treasury  notes 
legal  tender  for  private  debts  in  peace  as  well  as  in  war.  The 
decision  was  again  in  favor  of  the  greenback,  Field  being  the 
only  Justice  to  register  dissent. 

Though  this  was  the  first  decision  of  the  question  arrived 
at  by  strictly  le^al  reasoning,  it  evoked  much  hostile  criti 
cism.  The  Financial  Chronicle  said :  "  All  reliance  upon 
constitutional  inhibition  to  do  anything  with  the  currency 
which  Congress  may  have  a  whim  to  do  must  be  aban- 

'*Or  five   if  Grier  be  counted.       He  agreed  with  the  majority,   but  resigned    before    the 
opinion  was  announced. 


270 


JUILLIARD  VS.  GREENMAN 

doned  henceforth  and  forever."  The  historian  Bancroft 
vented  a  formidable  brochure,  richer  in  learning  than  in  law, 
entitled  "  The  Constitution  Wounded  in  the  House  of  its 
Friends."  The  Court's  logic,  however,  was  not  easily  contro 
verted.  It  closely  followed  John  Marshall's  reasoning  in 
McCulloch  vs.  Maryland.*  An  enactment  by  Congress  the 
Supreme  Court  presumes  to  be  constitutional  unless  it  is  cer 
tainly  unconstitutional.  If  there  is  doubt  upon  the  point 
there  is  no  doubt.  Congress  is  right.  The  authority  "  to  emit 
bills  of  credit "  as  legal  tender  was  not  expressly  delegated  to 
the  Federal  Government,  but  it  may  well  claim  place  in  the 
goodly  family  of  "  implied  powers,"  apparently  being  implied 
by  its  prohibition  to  the  States,  or  involved  in  the  power  to 
borrow  money,  or  in  that  to  regulate  commerce.  Again,  if 
Congress  could  pass  such  a  law  to  meet  an  exigency,  as  held  in 
Parker  vs.  Davis,  Congress  must  be  left  to  determine  when 
the  exigency  exists.  The  intention  of  the  Fathers  to  inhibit 
bills  of  credit  cannot  be  conclusively  shown.  Even  if  it  were 
certain  it  would  be  inconclusive;  the  question  being  not  what 
they  intended  to  do,  but  what  they  actually  did  in  framing  and 
ratifying  the  Constitution. 

The  wisdom  of  the  legal  tender  law  is  a  different  ques 
tion,  but,  like  the  other,  should  not  be  pronounced  upon  with 
out  reflection.  It  was  easy  to  condemn  it  after  the  event. 
No  doubt,  had  conditions  favored,  more  might  have  been 
done,  saving  millions  of  debt  and  half  the  other  financial  evils 
of  war,  to  keep  the  dollar  at  gold  par,  as  by  not  compelling 
gold  payment  of  the  seven-thirty  bonds,  by  heavier  tax  levies, 
by  earlier  resort  to  large  loans,  even  at  high  rates,  instead  of 
emitting  legal-tenders,  and  also  by  forcing  national  banks,  cre 
ated  on  purpose  to  help  market  bonds,  to  purchase  new  ones 
directly  from  the  Government.  Yet,  under  the  circumstances, 
such  defects  in  our  policy  early  in  the  war  could  hardly  have 
been  avoided,  so  uncertain  were  national  spirit  and  credit  then, 

*4  Wheaton,  p.  421. 


THE  UNITED  STATES  IN  OUR  OWN  TIME 

and  so  little  were  the  magnitude  and  duration  of  the  war  fore 
seen.  When  the  old  demand  notes  were  issued,  more  than 
one  professedly  loyal  railroad  corporation  refused  them  in 
payment  of  fares  and  freight.  Hotels  were  shy  of  them.  A 
leading  New  York  bank  refused  to  receive  them  save  as  a 
special  deposit,  though  these  notes,  being  receivable  for  cus 
toms,  like  coin,  went  to  a  premium  along  with  gold.  One 
depositor  in  the  bank  just  referred  to  found  on  withdrawing 
his  deposit  that  his  notes  as  reckoned  in  legal  tender*  had 
advanced  in  value  nearly  or  quite  one  hundred  and  fifty  per 
cent.  People  being  so  shy  of  the  demand  notes,  what  wonder 
that  the  greenbacks,  which  bore  no  interest,  were  long  in  ill 
repute. 

The  Nation's  resolute  purpose  to  reduce  its  debt  changed 
this.  When  equal  to  gold,  greenbacks  were  glorified,  and  all 
thoughts  of  retiring  them  gave  way.  In  1865  Secretary  Mc- 
Culloch  had  boldly  recommended  the  calling  in  of  greenback 
notes  in  preparation  for  the  restoration  of  specie.  The  people 
were  then  willing  to  submit  to  this.  The  act  of  March  12, 
1866,  authorized  the  cancellation  of  $10,000,000  or  less  within 
six  months,  and  thereafter  of  $4,000,000  or  less  each  month. 
By  this  method  the  amount  was  by  the  end  of  1867  cut  down 
to  $356,000,000,  but  the  act  of  February  4,  1868,  forbade  any 
further  decrease.  Between  March  17,  1872,  and  January  15, 
1874,  the  amount  was  raised  some  $25,000,000,  but  a  bill 
passed  in  1874,  known  as  the  "inflation  bill,"  still  further  to 
increase  it,  was  vetoed  by  President  Grant.  June  20,  1 874, 
the  maximum  greenback  circulation  was  placed  at  $382,000,- 
ooo,  which  the  operation  of  the  Resumption  Act  in  1875 
brought  down  to  $346,681,000,  letting  the  gap  be  filled  by 
national  bank  notes.  All  further  retirement  or  cancellation  of 
legal-tenders  was  forbidden  by  the  act  approved  May  31,  1878, 
which  provided,  in  part,  that  "  it  shall  not  be  lawful  .  .  to 
cancel  or  retire  any  more  of  the  United  States  legal-tender 

*Shuckers,  Life  of  S.  P.  Chase,  p.  225. 

274 


THE  "FIAT-GREENBACK"  THEORY 

notes.  And  when  .  .  redeemed  or  received  into  the  Treasury 
.  .  they  shall  be  reissued  and  paid  out  again  and  kept  in  cir 
culation."  Secretary  Sherman  recommended  the  passage  of 
this  law,  as  he  believed  that  the  retirement  of  greenbacks 
pending  the  preparation  for  resumption,  by  reducing  the 
volume  of  the  currency,  increased  the  difficulties  of  resump 
tion. 

This  popularity  of  the  greenbacks  stimulated  to  fresh 
life  the  "  fiat-greenback "  theory,  whose  pith  lay  in  the  pro 
position  that  money  requires  in  its  material  no  labor-cost 
value,  its  purchasing  power  coming  from  the  decree  of  the 
public  authority  issuing  it,  so  that  paper  money  put  forth  by 
a  financially  responsible  government,  though  involving  no 
promise  whatever,  will  be  the  peer  of  gold.  People  who 
held  this  view  opposed  all  resumption,  proximate  or  remote, 
wishing  to  print  United  States  dollar  notes  each  bearing  the 
legend  "  This  is  a  Dollar,"  and  notes  of  other  denominations 
similarly,  not  allowing  any  of  them  to  promise  payment  or  to 
have  any  other  relation  whatever  to  coin.  This  idea  was  long 
very  influential  throughout  States  so  conservative  as  Illinois, 
Indiana,  and  Ohio,  where,  in  several  campaigns,  the  able  stump 
addresses  of  men  like  Garfield,  Schurz,  and  Stanley  Matthews 
laid  it  pretty  well  to  rest.  It  was,  however,  the  rallying  thought 
of  the  National  Labor  Greenback  Party,  organized  at  Indian 
apolis,  May  17,  1876,  when  it  nominated  Peter  Cooper  for  the 
Presidency.  On  the  very  day  that  resumption  went  into  effect 
a  Greenbacker  Convention  in  New  England  declared  it  the 
paramount  issue  of  their  party  to  substitue  greenbacks  for  na 
tional  bank  notes. 

The  old  silver  dollar,  "  the  Dollar  of  the  Fathers,"  had 
never  ceased  to  be  full  legal  tender  until  1873,  although  it 
had  since  1853  been,  as  compared  with  the  gold  dollar,  too 
valuable  to  circulate  much.  In  1873  a  law  was  unobservedly 
passed  demonetizing  it,  and  making  gold  the  exclusive  form 
of  United  States  full-tender  hard  money. 

275 


THE  UNITED  STATES  IN  OUR  OWN  TIME 


RICHARD  P.   BLAND 


That  legislation  of  such  impor 
tance  should  have  passed  without 
general  debate,  either  in  Congress 
or  by  the  public,  was  unfortunate  ; 
but,  contrary  to  a  very  prevalent  view, 
there  is  no  evidence  that  a  single 
Congressional  vote  for  it  was  se 
cured  by  fraud.  Little  silver  had 
been  coined  by  the  United  States 
since  1834.  The  monetary  problem 
of  1873  was  not  that  of  subsequent 
years.  Then,  simplicity  of  monetary 
system  was  considered  the  great  de 
sideratum,  whereas,  with  discussion, 
authorities  came  to  agree  that  ade 
quacy  in  volume  is  the  most  important 
trait  in  a  hard-money  system.  In 
1873  gold  had  been  for  twenty  years 
pouring  out  of  the  earth  in  immense 
sums,  rendering  not  unnatural  the 
expectation  that  it  alone,  without 
silver,  would  soon  suffice  for  the 
world's  hard-money  stock.  Such 
was  then  the  judgment  of  the  leaders 
of  public  opinion  in  all  lands.  It  was  the  view  of  the  Paris 
Conference  in  1867,  which  recommended  the  general  demone 
tization  of  silver — a  recommendation  extremely  influential  in 
determining  to  a  gold  policy  the  German  Empire,  whose 
course  toward  silver  in  1 873  was  identical  with  ours. 

European  opinion  on  the  subject  was  known  and  concurred 
in  here.  At  intervals  ever  since  1 8 1 6  representative  Americans 
had  suggested  that  we  should  adopt  Great  Britain's  metallic 
money  system.  In  his  report  of  November  29,  1851,  the 
Director  of  our  Mint  declared  the  "  main  features  "  of  that 
system  "  eminently  worthy  of  adoption  into  the  monetary 

276 


It "1L LI AM    B.   ALLISON 


RASHNESS  OF  DEMONETIZING  SILVER 

policy  of  our  own  country."  Hon.  Thomas  Corwin,  of  Ohio, 
then  Secretary  of  the  Treasury,  whom  no  one  will  charge  with 
obsequiousness  to  England  or  to  the  Money  Power  at  home, 
in  his  Report  of  January  6,  1852,  seconded  the  recommenda 
tion  of  the  Director  of  the  Mint,  carefully  setting  forth  the 
argument  for  adopting  it.  To  the  Act  of  1873  the  Senators 
from  Oregon,  California,  and  Nevada  unanimously  agreed. 
At  the  1867  Paris  Conference  the  United  States  was  (by  del 
egates)  present  as  a  gold  country,  Mr.  Seward,  then  Secretary 
of  State,  being  responsible  for  this,  though  no  one  protested. 
Inspired  by  such  example  and  by  the  recommendation  of  the 
Conference,  the  Secretary  of  our  Treasury,  in  1870,  drafted 
the  bill  discontinuing  the  silver  dollar,  which  passed  the  Senate 
early  in  1871  and  became  a  law  in  1873. 

But,  while  one  must  thus  discredit  the  allegation  of  fraud 
and  of  sinister  motive  in  this  legislation,  it  nevertheless  seems 
clear  that  the  silver  people  and  the  entire  country  had  a  griev 
ance  in  connection  with  it.  "  No  man  in  a  position  of  trust 
has  a  right  to  allow  a  measure  of  such  importance  to  pass  with 
out  calling  attention  sharply  to  it,  and  making  sure  that  its 
bearings  are  fully  comprehended.  And  no  man  who  did  not 
know  that  the  demonetization  of  silver  by  the  United  States 
was  a  measure  of  transcendent  importance  had  any  right  to  be 
on  such  a  committee  or  to  put  his  hand  to  a  bill  which  touched 
the  coinage  of  a  great  country.  Everyone  knows  that  but 
few  members  upon  the  floor  of  Congress  read  the  text  of  one 
in  twenty  of  the  bills  they  have  to  pass  upon ;  and  it  is  the 
duty  of  the  committees  dealing  with  any  class  of  subjects  to 
see  to  it  that  every  proposed  change  is  fully  explained,  and  that 
the  attention  of  the  House  and  of  the  country  is  fairly  called 
to  it.  They  are  not  discharged  of  their  obligations  simply  by 
giving  members  an  opportunity  to  find  it  out  for  themselves. 
If  this  be  a  requirement  of  ordinary  political  honesty,  much 
more  is  it  the  dictate  of  political  prudence.  An  important 
change  in  the  money  or  in  the  industrial  system  of  a  nation, 


THE  UNITED  STATES  IN  OUR  OWN  TIME 

if  effected  without  full  and  free  and  thorough  discussion,  even 
though  no  surprise  or  concealment  be  used,  is  almost  certain 
to  be  subsequently  challenged.  c  Things,'  says  Bacon,  c  will 
have  their  first  or  second  agitation  :  If  they  be  not  tossed  upon 
the  waves  of  counsel,  they  will  be  tossed  upon  the  waves  of 
fortune,  and  be  full  of  inconstancy,  doing  and  undoing,  like 
the  reeling  of  a  drunken  man.'  The  unwisdom  of  a  few  peo 
ple  assuming  to  be  wise  for  the  whole  of  a  great  people,  was 
never  more  conspicuously  shown  than  in  the  demonetization 
of  the  silver  dollar."* 

An  increased  value  attaching  to  gold  was  soon  apparent, 
or,  what  is  the  same  thing,  a  general  fall  in  prices.  This  be 
gan  so  soon  as  silver  full  money  had  been  laid  aside,  silver 
falling  in  gold  price  almost  exactly  as  products  at  large  fell. 
In  view  of  this  movement,  since  all  Government  bonds  out 
standing  in  1873  were  payable  in  "coin,"  it  was  a  nearly 
universal  belief  in  most  sections  of  the  country  that  the 
annulment  of  the  right  to  pay  debts  in  silver  would,  if  per 
sisted  in,  be  very  unjust  to  taxpayers  in  liquidating  the  na 
tional  debt.  The  Bland  Bill  was  therefore  brought  forward, 
and  in  1878  passed,  restoring  silver  again  to  its  ancient  legal 
equality  with  gold  as  debt-paying  money.  A  clause  of  it  read: 
"  Any  owner  of  silver  bullion  may  deposit  the  same  at  any 
coinage  mint  or  assay  office  to  be  coined  into  dollars,  for  his 
benefit,  upon  the  same  terms  and  conditions  as  gold  bullion  is 
deposited  for  coinage  under  existing  laws."  In  the  act  as 
finally  passed,  however,  so  great  was  now  the  disparity  in 
value  between  gold  and  silver  at  the  ratio  of  16  to  i,  Con 
gress  did  not  venture  to  give  back  to  the  white  metal  the  right 
of  free  coinage.  In  the  Senate,  at  the  urgent  request  of  Secre 
tary  Sherman,  the  "  Allison  tip,"  as  it  was  called,  was  incor 
porated  in  the  bill,  requiring  the  Secretary  of  the  Treasury  to 
purchase  monthly  not  less  than  two  million  dollars'  worth  of 
silver,  or  more  than  four  million  dollars'  worth,  and  to  coin 

*Francis  A.  Walker. 

278 


END  OF  SILVER  PURCHASES 

it  into  dollars.  This  amendment  was  concurred  in  by  the 
House.  Spite  of  Secretary  Sherman's  attitude  in  favor  of  it 
the  Bland-Allison  Act  was  disapproved  by  President  Hayes, 
but  immediately  passed  over  his  veto  by  both  Houses  of  Con 
gress  on  the  same  day,  February  28,  1878.  The  Senate  vote 
was  46  yeas  to  19  nays;  that  of  the  House  196  to  73. 

The  advocates  of  gold  mono-metallism  believed  that  the 
issue  of  these  dollars  would  speedily  drive  gold  from  the  coun 
try.  Owing  to  the  limitation  of  the  new  coinage  no  such  ef 
fect  was  experienced,  and  the  silver  dollars  or  the  certificates 
representing  them  floated  at  par  with  gold,  which,  indeed,  far 
from  leaving  the  country,  was  imported  in  vast  amounts  nearly 
every  year.  After  1880  the  money  in  circulation  in  the 
United  States  was  gold  coin,  silver  coin,  gold  certificates, 
greenbacks  or  United  States  notes,  and  the  notes  of  the  na 
tional  banks.  The  so-called  Sherman  Law,  of  1890,  added  a 
new  category,  the  Treasury  notes  issued  in  payment  for  silver 
bullion.  It  stopped  the  compulsory  coinage  of  full-tender  sil 
ver,  though  continuing  and  much  increasing  the  purchase  of 
silver  bullion  by  the  Government.  The  repeal  of  the  pur 
chase  clause  of  this  law,  in  1893,  put  an  end  to  the  acquisition 
of  silver  by  the  United  States. 


279 


CHAPTER  XI 

AGRARIAN    AND    LABOR    MOVEMENTS  IN 
THE    SEVENTIES 

THE     "  GRANGERS." THEIR     AIMS. ORIGIN    OF    THE    INTER-STATE 

COMMERCE  ACT. DEMAND  FOR  CHEAP  TRANSPORTATION. ILLI 
NOIS' S  "THREE-CENT  WAR." COURT  DECISIONS. LAND-GRANT 

COLLEGES.  — THEIR  SIGNIFICANCE. VARIOUS  LABOR  CONGRESSES  AND 

PLATFORMS. RISE  OF  LABOR  BUREAUS. THE  NATIONAL  DEPART 
MENT  OF  LABOR. ITS  WORK,  METHODS,  AND  INFLUENCE. VALUE 

OF  THE  STATE  BUREAUS. CONTRACT-LABOR  LAW. THE  GREEN 
BACK  PARTY. PETER  COOPER  AND  GEN.  BUTLER. VIOLENCE  IN 

THE  LABOR  CONFLICT. — CAUSES. — COMBINATIONS  OF  CAPITAL. — 
OF  LABORERS. BLACK  LIST  AND  BOYCOTT. LABOR  WAR  IN  PENN 
SYLVANIA. METHODS  OF  INTIMIDATION. THE  "MOLLY  MA- 

GUIRES." MURDER   OF  ALEXANDER    REA. POWER    AND     IMMUNITY 

OF  THE  MOLLIES. —  PLAN  FOR  EXPOSING  THEM. GOWEN  AND   McPAR- 

LAN. ASSASSINATION  OF  THOMAS  SANGER. — GOWEN' S  TRIUMPH  AND 

THE  COLLAPSE  OF    THE  CONSPIRACY. GREAT    RAILWAY     STRIKE     IN 

1877. RIOT   AT    PITTSBURG. DEATH   AND    DESTRUCTION. SCENES 

AT    READING    AND    OTHER    PLACES. STRIKES    COMMOM    FROM    THIS 

TIME  ON. 

^  I^HE  complaints  evoked  by  industrial  depression  were  in 
A  due  time  echoed  in  politics.  Agrarian  movements  and 
labor  movements  in  great  numbers — social  phenomena  at  first, 
but  rapidly  evolving  political  significance — marked  the  times. 
One  of  these,  the  California  Sand  Lot  Campaign,  because  of 
its  close  connection  with  the  Chinese  question,  is  deferred  for 
discussion  to  Chapter  XIII.  The  "Grangers,"  or  "Patrons 
of  Husbandry,"  was  a  secret  organization  for  the  promotion  of 
farmers'  interests.  It  was  founded  at  Washington,  December 
4,  1867,  women  as  well  as  men  being  members.  In  1868 
there  were  but  1 1  granges.  The  total  membership  of  the  order 
by  1875,  s^x  years  from  the  time  when  local  granges  began  to 

281 


THE  UNITED  STATES  IN  OUR  OWN  TIME 


be  formed,  was   1,500,000,  distributed   throughout  nearly  all 
the  States,  though  most  numerous  in  the  West  and  South. 

The  central  aim  of  Granger  agitation  at  first  was  to 
secure  better  transportation  and  lower  freight  rates,  particu 
larly  from  the  West  to  the  East.  After  waiting  for  railway 
facilities  to  be  developed  the  shippers  of  grain  and  beef  found 
themselves,  when  railways  were  at  last  supplied,  hardly  better 
off  than  before.  The  vast  demand  for  transportation  sent 
freight  charges'  up  to  appalling  figures.  All  sorts  of  relief 
devices  were  considered,  among  them  a  project  for  'opening 
canal  and  slack-water  navigation  between  the  Mississippi  and 
the  Atlantic  coast.  This  was  earnestly  urged  by  the  Southern 
Commercial  Convention  at  Cincinnati  in  1870. 

The  difficulties  of  freight  transportation  between  the 
States  was  discussed  at  length  by  Congress,  spite  of  railway 
attorneys'  insistence  that  the  subject  was  beyond  Congres 
sional  control.  In  the  House  of  Representatives,  during 
January,  1874,  Hon.  G.  W.  McCrary,  Chairman  of  the  Com 
mittee  on  Railroads  and  Canals,  made  an  exhaustive  report 
affirming  the  constitutional  power  of  Congress  to  regulate  inter 
state  commerce.  This  valuable  paper  laid  bare,  in  Section  8, 
Article  I.,  of  the  Constitution,  a  depth  of  meaning  which,  till 

then,  few  had  suspected,  a  discovery 
that  prepared  the  way  for  the  Inter 
state  Commerce  Act,  passed  on  Feb 
ruary  4,  1887. 

A  National  Cheap  Transportation 
Association  was  organized  in  New 
York  on  May  6,  1873,  which  also 
demanded  lower  transportation  rates 
and  an  increase  of  avenues  for  com 
merce  by  water  and  rail.  Its  mani 
festo  to  the  public  asserted  that  cheap 
transportation  for  persons  and  prop 
erty  is  essential  to  the  public  welfare 


AGRICULTURAL  AND  MECHANICAL  COLLEGES 

and  to  the  maintenance  of  a  homogeneous  and  harmonious 
population.  Another  Cheap  Transportation  Convention  was 
held  in  Richmond,  December  1-4,  1874,  which  petitioned 
Congress  in  this  interest. 

Discrimination  in  freight  charges  was  a  fruitful  source  of 
discontent.  In  Illinois  a  dispute  known  as  the  "  Three-Cent 
War "  intensified  feeling  against  railroads.  This  particular 
trouble  was  the  outgrowth  of  the  Illinois  Central's  disregard 
of  an  order  issued  by  the  Illinois  Railroad  Commissioners, 
limiting  passenger  fares  to  three  cents  per  mile.  The  Com 
missioners'  decree  having  been  found  contrary  to  the  State 
Constitution,  the  legislature  passed  a  law  to  limit  fares.  This 
the  railroads  fought  with  all  energy  in  both  State  and  Federal 
Courts.  In  November,  1875,  m  tne  case  °f  tne  people 
against  the  Chicago  and  Alton  Railroad  Company,  the  United 
States  Circuit  Court  handed  down  a  decision  sustaining  the 
constitutionality  of  the  law.  Several  "  Granger  "  cases  went 
to  the  national  Supreme  Court,  which  affirmed  a  State's  right 
to  fix  maximum  railway  charges. 

An  interesting  line  of  educational  development,  though 
originating  otherwise,  at  length  became  connected  with  the 
general  agrarian  movement  here  under  review.  On  July  2, 
1862,  President  Lincoln  put  his  signature  to  an  act  which 
had  just  passed  Congress,  donating  public  land  to  the  several 
States  and  Territories  which  might  provide  colleges  for  in 
struction  in  branches  of  learning  bearing  on  agriculture  and  the 
mechanic  arts.  By  this  act  every  State  became  entitled  to 
30,000  acres  of  government  land  for  each  senator  and  repre 
sentative  falling  to  it  by  the  apportionment  under  the  census 
of  1860.  States  containing  no  United  States  land  received 
land  scrip,  entitling  them,  not  directly  but  through  their 
assignees,  to  locate  and  sell  the  amounts  of  land  respectively 
due  them.  All  the  States  and  Territories  in  the  Union,  with 
out  a  single  exception,  in  the  course  of  time,  provided  them 
selves  with  educational  institutions  on  this  basis.  Some  States 


THE  UNITED  STATES  IN  OUR  OWN  TIME 

sold  the  scrip  early  and  realized  little.  Others  carefully  hus 
banded  the  scrip  and  became  possessed  of  large  sums,  found 
ing  and  sustaining  educational  institutions  of  vast  usefulness 
and  importance. 

No  State  proceeded  in  this  matter  more  discreetly  than 
New  York.  Her  share  amounted  to  a  million  acres  less  ten 
thousand.  Seventy-five  thousand  acres  of  this  were  sold  at 
about  eighty-five  cents  an  acre.  In  the  fall  of  1863  Ezra 
Cornell  purchased  a  hundred  thousand  acres  for  fifty  thousand 
dollars,  upon  condition  that  all  the  profits  accruing  from  the 
sale  should  be  paid  to  Cornell  University.  Next  year  the  rest 
was  purchased  at  thirty  cents  an  acre,  with  thirty  cents  more 
contingent  upon  Mr.  Cornell's  realizing  that  sum  upon  sale  of 
the  land.  In  1874  Cornell  University  was  subrogated  to  Mr. 
Cornell's  place  in  dealing  with  the  State,  and  from  the  lands 
handed  over  by  him  the  Board  of  Trustees  had  in  1894-95 
realized  a  net  return  of  nearly  four  million  dollars. 

On  March  2,  1887,  there  was  approved  by  the  President 
of  the  United  States  another  piece  of  land-grant  legislation, 
known  as  the  Hatch  Act.  This  act  was  intended  to  diffuse 
"  useful  and  practical  information  on  subjects  connected  with 
agriculture,  and  to  promote  scientific  investigation  and  experi 
ment  respecting  the  principles  and  applications  of  agricultural 
science."  For  these  purposes  each  State  received  from  the 
United  States,  by  virtue  of  this  act,  the  sum  of  $15,000  a  year, 
which  was  expended  in  connection  with  some  agricultural  ex 
periment  station  or  stations.  The  act  presupposed  that  these 
stations  would,  as  a  rule,  be  established  in  conjunction  with 
the  institutions  receiving  the  benefit  of  the  act  of  1862,  and 
most  of  them  were  so  associated  ;  but  the  Hatch  Act,  in  its 
8th  Section,  provided  that  States  electing  so  to  do  might  join 
their  experiment  stations  to  agricultural  schools  separate  from 
the  colleges  erected  under  the  act  of  1862,  and  this  was  done 
in  a  few  States.  By  a  third  act  of  Congress,  approved  August 
30,  1890,  entitled  "An  Act  to  apply  a  portion  of  the  proceeds 

284 


THE  SECOND  MORRILL  ACT 

of  the  public  lands  to  the  more  complete  endowment  and 
support  of  the  colleges  for  the  benefit  of  agriculture  and  the 
mechanic  arts  established  under  the  provisions  of  an  act  of 
Congress  approved  July  2,  1862,"  each  of  the  States  became 
entitled  to  $15,000  for  the  year  ending  June  30,  1890,  $16,000 
for  the  United  States  fiscal  year  1890—91,  $17,000  for  the  next 
fiscal  year,  and  so  on,  the  sum  increasing  by  $1,000  each  year, 
till  it  reached  $25,000  a  year,  which  was  the  permanent  annual 
appropriation.  A  good  endowment  in  itself! 

In  the  more  fortunate  sections  of  the  country  these  gov 
ernment  grants  simply  made  welcome  additions  to  the  excel 
lent  educational  facilities  in  existence  already.  In  the  South 
and  the  far  West  they  meant,  educationally,  life  from  the  dead. 
Good  schools  rose  even  upon  the  frontiers,  where  the  children 
of  poorest  farmers  and  mechanics  might,  at  a  nominal  cost,  fit 
themselves  for  high  stations  in  life.  Large  and  fruitful  experi 
mentation,  especially  in  agriculture,  was  made  possible.  In 
turn  these  colleges  of  agriculture  and  the  mechanic  arts  became 
rallying  centres  for  agrarian  and  populist  interest,  which  in 
volved  them  in  politics,  and  at  least  in  certain  instances  much 
hindered  their  usefulness. 

In  1 865  a  Labor  "  Congress  "  was  held  at  Louisville,  with 
but  twenty-five  or  thirty  delegates.  A  second  sat  at  Baltimore 
in  August,  the  next  year,  whose  proceedings  attracted  some 
attention.  Labor  agitation  had  by  this  time  assumed  consid 
erable  proportions,  most,  perhaps,  in  Massachusetts,  where  the 
Knights  of  St.  Crispin  throve  so  early  as  1868.  Able  men 
and  influential  newspapers  began  to  espouse  the  labor  cause. 
The  Congress  of  1867  was  held  in  Chicago,  and  it  mooted  a 
scheme  of  labor  unions,  city,  county  and  State.  The  Congress 
of  1868  was  in  New  York,  that  of  1869  in  Philadelphia. 
These  marked  little  progress;  but  the  National  Labor  Con 
gress  which  met  in  Cincinnati  August  15,  1870,  was  said 
to  represent  four  hundred  thousand  people.  It  demanded 
Treasury  notes  not  based  on  coin,  an  eight-hour  work-day, 

285 


THE  UNITED  STATES  IN  OUR  OWN  TIME 


WENDELL  PHILLIPS 


the  exclusion  of  Chinese  laborers  from 
the  country,  and  the  creation  of  a 
National  Department  of  Labor. 

Till  now  the  movement  was  non- 
political,  but  the  Chicago  Congress,  by 
a  close  vote,  adopted  a  resolution  creat 
ing  an  independent  political  organiza 
tion  to  be  known  as  the  National 
Labor  Reform  Party.  The  party  at 
once  began  to  have  influence.  In  the 
Massachusetts  election  of  1 870  it  fused 
with  the  Prohibitionists,  making  Wen 
dell  Phillips  the  candidate  for  Gov 
ernor,  who  received  nearly  twenty-two  thousand  of  the  about 
one  hundred  and  fifty-two  thousand  votes  which  were  cast. 
One  labor  reformer  was  elected  to  the  Massachusetts  Senate, 
and  eleven  to  the  House.  In  1871  the  Congress  met  at  St. 
Louis,  August  loth.  Little  was  done  here  beyond  adopting 
a  platform  on  which  it  was  proposed  to  appeal  to  the  country 
in  the  presidential  election  of  1872. 

This  platform,  slightly  modified,  was  launched  at  the 
Columbus  Convention,  which  met  on  February  21,  1872. 
Twelve  States  were  represented.  The  Convention  demanded 
as  the  nation's  money,  greenbacks  not  based  on  coin.  A  tariff 
taxing  luxuries  and  protecting  home  industries,  a  law  for  an 
eight-hour  labor-day,  and  the  governmental  control  of  railways 
and  telegraphs  were  also  insisted  on.  Hon.  David  Davis  was 
nominated  for  the  Presidency,  but  declined  to  run.  Subse 
quently  Charles  O'Conor  was  named.  The  Forty-Second 
Congress,  second  session,  discussed  at  length  some  of  the 
Labor  Party's  proposals,  but  did  nothing  to  realize  any  of 
them.  An  attempt  was  made  to  erect  a  Labor  Commission, 
but  for  the  present  in  vain.  The  first  State  Bureau  of  Labor 
Statistics  had  been  established  in  1 869  in  Massachusetts,  where, 
as  we  have  seen,  the  Labor  Party  showed  exceptional  strength. 

286 


U.  S.  DEPARTMENT  OF  LABOR 

Pennsylvania  followed  in  1872,  Connecticut  in  1873—75.  By 
the  end  of  1884  eleven  other  States  had  bureaus.  From  1884 
to  1894  thirteen  more  were  erected.  At  last,  by  an  Act  of 
Congress,  approved  June  13,  1888,  an  independent  Depart 
ment  of  Labor  was  established  by  the  Federal  Government,  a 
bureau  with  similar  functions  having  existed  in  connection  with 
the  Interior  Department  since  1884. 

The  act  of  1888  provided  that  the  design  and  duty  of  the 
new  department  should  be  "  to  acquire  and  diffuse  among  the 
people  of  the  United  States  useful  information  on  subjects 
connected  with  labor,  in  the  most  general  and  comprehensive 
sense  of  that  word,  and  especially  upon  its  relation  to  capital, 
the  hours  of  labor,  the  earnings  of  laboring  men  and  women, 
and  the  means  of  promoting  their  material,  social,  intellectual, 
and  moral  prosperity."'" 

Clothed  with  these  powers  the  Commissioner  undertook 
investigations  into  such  matters  as  industrial  depressions,  con 
vict  labor,  strikes  and  lockouts,  the  condition  of  working 
women  in  large  cities,  railroad  labor,  cost  of  production,  wages 

*  Section  7  of  the  act  provides  more  specifically,  that  the  Commissioner  "is  specially 
charged  to  ascertain,  at  as  early  a  date  as  possible,  and  whenever  industrial  changes  shall  make 
it  essential,  the  cost  of  producing  articles  at  the  time  dutiable  in  the  United  States,  in  leading 
countries  where  such  articles  are  produced,  by  fully  specified  units  of  production,  and  under  a 
classification  showing  the  different  elements  of  cost,  or  approximate  cost,  of  such  articles  of 
production,  including  the  wages  paid  in  such  industries  per  day,  week,  month  or  year,  or  by 
the  piece  ;  and  hours  employed  per  day  j  and  the  profits  of  the  manufacturers  and  producers  of 
such  articles ;  and  the  comparative  cost  of  living,  and  the  kind  of  living.  '  It  shall  be  the 
duty  of  the  Commissioner  also  to  ascertain  and  report  as  to  the  effect  of  the  customs  laws,  and 
the  effect  thereon  of  the  state  of  the  currency  in  the  United  States,  on  the  agricultural  indus 
try,  especially  as  to  its  effects  on  mortgage  indebtedness  on  farmers ;  '  and  what  articles  are 
controlled  by  trusts,  or  other  combinations  of  capital,  business  operations  or  labor,  and  what 
effect  said  trusts  or  other  combinations  of  capital,  business  operations  or  labor  have  on  produc 
tion  and  prices.  He  shall  also  establish  a  system  of  reports  by  which,  at  intervals  of  not  less 
than  two  years,  he  can  report  the  general  condition,  so  far  as  production  is  concerned,  of  the 
leading  industries  of  the  country.  The  Commissioner  of  Labor  is  also  specially  charged  to 
investigate  the  causes  of,  and  facts  relating  to,  all  controversies  and  disputes  between  employers 
and  employes  as  they  may  occur,  and  which  may  tend  to  interfere  with  the  welfare  of  tne 
people  of  the  different  States,  and  report  thereon  to  Congress.  The  Commissioner  of  Labor 
shall  also  obtain  such  information  upon  the  various  subjects  committed  to  him  as  he  may  deem 
desirable  from  different  foreign  nations,  and  what,  if  any,  convict-made  goods  are  imported 
into  this  country,  and  if  so,  from  whence." 

287 


THE  UNITED  STATES  IN  OUR  OWN  TIME 

and  cost  of  living  abroad  and  in  this  country,  prices,  marriage 
and  divorce.  The  results  of  these  investigations  were  rigidly 
verified  both  in  copy  and  in  proof,  and  scrutinized  for  internal 
discrepancies.  The  information  was  collected  through  personal 
interviews  and  statements  directly  from  parties  cognizant  of 
the  ultimate  facts.  The  Department's  special  agents  were 
generally  accorded  a  kind  reception,  and  more  and  more  as  it 
appeared  that  no  person's  name  was  betrayed,  were  by  manu 
facturers  in  this  and  in  other  countries  given  access  to  books 
and  accounts.  Estimates,  hearsay  and  opinions  were  wholly 
-excluded  from  consideration,  and  the  returns  made  upon  care 
fully  prepared  schedules  of  inquiry  in  the  hands  of  experts. 

The  American  Department  of  Labor  established  its  stand 
ing  by  its  first  report  upon  "  Industrial  Depressions,"  made 
with  experienced  help  and  in  face  of  many  difficulties.  After 
-experience,  the  Department  maintaining  a  non-partisan  and  a 
non-propagandist  attitude,  its  reports  came  to  be  looked  upon 
at  home  and  abroad  as  the  highest  attainable  evidence  in  their 
line.  They  were  quoted  in  Parliament,  in  the  Reichstag,  and 
in  the  Chamber  of  Deputies.  Foreign  countries,  notably 
England,  France,  Germany  and  Belgium,  established  similar 
bureaus. 

The  State  Labor  Bureaus  also  well  served  the  public, 
though  the  spoils  system  and  the  changeable  gusts  of  local 
public  opinion  hindered  their  usefulness.  One  New  York 
Commissioner  was  at  one  time  thought  to  have  used  his 
office  for  partisan  ends,  but  no  other  functionary  of  his  class 
fell  under  such  suspicion.  On  the  contrary,  practical  good  of 
the  most  pronounced  sort  was  traceable  in  greater  or  less  de 
gree  to  these  bureaus.  The  tenement-house  evil  and  the 
sweat-shop,  if  not  banished,  were  thoroughly  advertised  by 
them.  Child  labor  laws,  laws  prescribing  maximum  hours  of 
labor,  and  employers'  liability  laws  were  placed  upon  many 
statute  books  mainly  through  the  bureaus'  influence.  Though 
not  banished,  the  "  truck "  or  "  pluck-me  "  store,  whereby 

288 


THE  CONTRACT-LABOR  LAW 

the  employer-store-owner, forcing  hfe  employes'  patronage,  left 
them  hardly  a  driblet  of  wages,  was  rendered  far  less  common 
than  it  had  been.  Weekly  in  place  of  monthly  wage  pay 
ments  were  made  more  common.  Frauds  upon  laboring  men 
and  false  labor  statistics  were  exposed.  Thus  when  in  1878 
complaint  was  made  that  Massachusetts  had  from  200,000  to 
300,000  unemployed  in  her  borders,  the  State  bureau  showed 
this  estimate  to  be  exaggerated  from  seven  to  ten  times. 
Similarly  State  labor  statistics,  subsequently  corroborated  by 
the  census,  in  effect  bisected  certain  wild  estimates  of  mortgage 
indebtedness,  pointing  out  that  nine-tenths  of  this  indebted 
ness  indicated  prosperity  rather  than  poverty. 

All  welcomed  the  Act  of  Congress,  approved  August  3, 
1882,  forbidding  convicts,  lunatics,  idiots  and  paupers  to  enter 
the  United  States  from  other  lands.  Under  this  act,  up  to 
January  30,  1893,  an  average  of  about  eleven  hundred  per 
sons  per  annum,  mostly  paupers,  were  shipped  back  across  the 
ocean.  February  18,  1885,  a  stringent  contract-labor  law  was 
passed,  making  it  unlawful  for  any  person,  company  or  cor 
poration  to  assist  or  encourage  the  immigration  into  the 
United  States  of  any  alien  under  contract  or  agreement  pre 
viously  made,  every  such  contract  to  be  void,  and  each  viola 
tion  of  the  law  finable  in  the  sum  of  $1,000.  An  amendment 
passed  in  1885  excepted  professional  actors,  artists,  lecturers, 
singers,  persons  employed  strictly  as  domestic  servants,  and 
even  skilled  workmen  for  a  new  industry  which  could  not  be 
established  without  such.  Also  the  law  did  not  forbid  a  per 
son  from  assisting  to  this  country  members  of  his  or  her  fam 
ily  intending  to  settle  here.  The  amendment  referred  to  pro 
vided  for  the  return  of  persons  who  had  come  to  the  United 
States  on  labor  contracts  before  the  law  was  passed.  Under 
this  provision  nearly  eight  thousand  persons  had  been  up  to 
1888  sent  back  to  Europe.  During  the  fiscal  year  ending 
June  30,  1893,  464  persons  were  thus  returned.  New  York 
State  having  voted  a  tax  of  fifty  cents  upon  each  immigrant 

289 


THE  UNITED  STATES  IN  OUR  OWN  TIME 


landing  in  its  ports,  the  money  to  be  for  the  maintenance  of 
an  Immigration  Commission,  the  United  States  Supreme  Court 
declared  the  act  unconstitutional,  whereupon  Congress  passed 
an  act  levying  the  same  impost  as  a  federal  tax,  its  proceeds  to 
go  for  the  support  of  State  Immigration  Commissions  in  the 
States  where  most  immigrants  arrived.  The  New  York  Com 
mission  wrought  incalculable  good  in  preventing  frauds  upon 
immigrants,  and  in  assisting  them  to  their  destination. 

After  the  passage  of  the   Resumption   Act,  January    14, 
1875,  d16  f°rces  °f  labor  reform  were   quite  generally  direct 


ed  against  the 
traction.  A  con 
contractionists 
on  August  23, 
ing  that  they 
tionists, they  yet 


policy  of  con 
vention  of  anti- 
met  in  Detroit, 
1875.  Protest- 
were  not  infla- 
earnestlydepre- 


S  AMU  EL   F.    CARET 


PETER    COOPER 


NEKTON  BOOTH 


cated  any  diminution  in  the  volume  of  currency,  which  they 
would  maintain  by  greenbacks  redeemable  only  in  bonds, 
these,  in  turn,  being  convertible  into  greenbacks. 

The  Independents,  known  as  the  National  Greenback 
Party,  assembled  at  Indianapolis,  Ind.,  on  May  17,  1876. 
Two  hundred  and  thirty-nine  delegates  were  present  from 
nineteen  States.  The  platform  was  essentially  a  demand  for 
the  immediate  and  unconditional  repeal  of  the  Resumption 


NATIONAL  GREENBACK-LABOR  PARTY 

Act  and  for  the  issue  of  United  States  notes  convertible  on 
demand  into  Government  obligations  bearing  a  low  rate  of 
interest,  such  notes  to  form  our  circulating  medium,  and  such 
bonds,  re-exchangeable  for  notes  at  the  option  of  the  holder, 
to  render  needless  any  further  sales  of  bonds  payable  in  coin. 
Peter  Cooper  was  the  nominee  for  President,  Newton  Booth 
for  Vice-President.  Mr.  Booth  declining,  Samuel  F.  Carey,  of 
Ohio,  was  chosen  in  his  stead.  Mr.  Cooper  accepted  the 
nomination  conditionally,  expressing  the  hope  that  the  Inde 
pendents  might  attain  their  aims  through  either  the  Repub 
lican  or  the  Democratic  party,  permitting  him  "  to  step  aside 
and  remain  in  that  quiet  which  was"  he  declared  "most  con 
genial  to  his  nature  and  time  of  life."  Cooper  ran,  however, 
receiving  82,640  votes.  The  next  year  his  party  polled 
187,095  votes,  and  in  1878,  1,000,365.  The  Greenback  or 
National  Greenback-Labor  Party  entered  actively  into  the 
canvass  of  1880,  running  General  J.  B.  Weaver  for  Pres 
ident,  who  polled  307,740  votes.  Four  years  later  General 
B.  F.  Butler  was  the  presidential  candidate  both  of  this 
party  and  of  the  "  Anti-monopoly  "  party.  He  received 
133,825  votes. 

Happy  had  it  been  for  the  country  could  we  have  di 
verted  the  entire  force  of  the  labor  agitation  into  political 
channels.  But  this  was  impossible.  The  worst  labor  troubles 
of  these  years  had  to  be  settled  not  at  the  polls  but  by  force. 
This  was  mainly  due  to  the  large  number  of  immigrants  now 
arriving,  among  them  Hungarians,  Poles,  Italians  and  Portu 
guese,  usually  ignorant  clay  for  the  hand  of  the  first  unscrupu 
lous  demagogue.  Another  cause  of  the  labor  wars  was  the 
wide  and  sedulous  inculcation  in  this  country  of  the  social- 
democratic,  communist  and  anarchist  doctrines  long  prevalent 
in  Europe.  Influences  concurrent  with  both  these  were  the 
actual  injustice  and  the  haughty  and  overbearing  manner  of 
many  employers.  Capital  had  been  mismanaged  and  wasted. 
The  war  had  brought  unearned  fortunes  to  many,  sudden 

291 


THE  UNITED  STATES  IN  OUR  OWN  TIME 

wealth  to  a  much  larger  number,  while  the  unexampled  pros 
perity  of  the  country  raised  up  in  a  perfectly  normal  manner  a 
wealthy  class,  the  like  of  which,  in  number  and  power,  our 
country  had  never  known  before.  As,  therefore,  immigra 
tion,  along  with  much  else,  multiplied  the  poor,  the  eter 
nal  angry  strife  of  wealth  with  poverty,  of  high  with  low,  of 
classes  with  masses,  crossed  over  from  Europe  and  began  on 
our  shores. 

The  rise  of  trusts  and  gigantic  corporations  was  connected 
with  this  struggle.  Corporations  worth  nigh  half  a  billion 
dollars  apiece  were  able  to  buy  or  defy  legislatures  and  make 
or  break  laws  as  they  pleased  ;  and  since  such  corporations, 
instead  of  individuals,  more  and  more  became  the  employers  of 
labor,  not  only  did  the  old-time  kindliness  between  help  and 
hirers  die  out,  but  men  the  most  cool  and  intelligent  feared  the 
new  power  as  a  menace  to  democracy.  Strikes,  therefore, 
commanded  large  public  sympathy.  Stock-watering  and  other 
vicious  practices,  involving  the  ruin  of  corporators  themselves 
by  the  few  holders  of  a  majority  of  th£  shares  in  order  to  re 
purchase  the  property  for  next  to  nothing,  contributed  to 
this  hostility.  So  did  the  presence,  in  many  great  corpora 
tions,  of  foreign  capital  and  capitalists,  and  also  the  mutual 
favoritism  of  corporations,  showing  itself,  for  instance,  in 
special  freight  rates  to  privileged  concerns.  Minor  interests, 
and  particularly  employes,  powerless  against  these  Titan 
agencies  by  any  legal  process,  resorted  to  counter-organization. 
Labor  agitation  was  facilitated  by  the  extraordinary  increase  of 
urban  population,  it  being  mostly  manufacturing  and  mechan 
ical  industry  which  brought  the  hordes  of  workmen  together. 
Trades-unions  secured  rank  development.  The  Knights  of 
Labor,  intended  as  a  sort  of  union  of  them  all,  attained  a  mem 
bership  of  a  million.  The  manufacturers'  "  black  list,"  to 
prevent  any  "  agitator "  laborer  from  securing  work,  was 
answered  by  the  "  boycott,"  to  keep  the  products  of  obnoxious 
establishments  from  rinding  sale.  Labor  organizations  so 

292 


LABOR  WAR  IN  PENNSYLVANIA 

strong  often  tyran 
nized  over  their  own 
members,  and  boy 
cotting  became  a  nui- 

Notice  you  have  Caried  this  as  far  as  you  can  By  cheating  thy         sanCC  that    had    tO    be 
men  you  three  Bosses  Be  Carefull  if  the  Above  dont  Be  your 
home  in  A  short  Time.  abated   by  law. 

_^  Lr0n™waesSyoau8er  In  the    Pennsyl 

vania  mining  districts 

A      Mollie  Magutre       Notice 

labor  troubles  early 

became  acute.  -The  great  coal  barons,  offending  the  public 
by  pricing  their  indispensable  product  extortionately  high, 
long  received  no  sympathy  and  no  aid  in  repressing  em 
ployes*  crimes.  During  1873,  1874  and  1875,  these  grew 
frightfully  common.  Usually  the  motive  seemed  to  be  not  so 
much  to  injure  employers*  property  as  to  scare  "  scab  "  help 
from  the  mines  during  contests  against  "  cuts  "  in  wages.  A 
cut  at  the  Ben  Franklin  Colliery  had  been  accepted  by  the 
men,  who  were  peaceably  at  work,  when  the  "  breaker  "  was 
burned,  throwing  them  all  out.  Another  "  breaker  "  near  by 
a  gang  of  strikers  fired  almost  by  daylight,  first  driving  the 
workmen  away. 

A  common  method  of  intimidation  was  for  ten  or  twelve 
roughs  to  form  a  gang,  and,  armed,  to  sweep  through  a  mining 
camp,  forcing  every  man  to  join  ;  the  numbers  so  collected 
being  soon  sufficient  to  overawe  any  inclined  to  resist.  June  3, 
1875,  one  thousand  men  thus  gathered  stopped  work  at  sev 
eral  mines  near  Mahanoy  City,  and  a  similar  band  did  the 
same  at  Shenandoah.  At  night  there  was  an  attempt  to  derail 
a  passenger  train  approaching  Shenandoah,  but  the  plot  was 
discovered  in  time.  The  same  night  a  "breaker"  near  Mount 
Carmel  went  up  in  smoke,  and  a  few  days  later  two  contract 
ors  at  the  Oakdale  mine  were  shot. 

For  a  time  every  passenger  train  on  the  Reading  Railroad 
had  to  be  preceded  through  the  mining  districts  by  a  locomo 
tive  carrying  an  armed  posse.  Watchmen  and  station  agents 


THE  UNITED  STATES  IN  OUR  OWN  TIME 
were    beaten  ;   loaded  v- 

j  ,  i  i  (Notice  found  in  yard  of  D.  Patchen,  Engineer,  Cressona.) 

cars    and    other    ob- 

from  the  gap  Daniel  Patch 

StrUCtlOnS       Were      put  remember  you  will  be  running  in  this  coal  ragion  at 

night  you  took  an  nother  mans  engin  we  will  give  you  fair 

upon     mam     tracks  ;      wagrninyg  in  time  and  some  more.  v.  L 

switches    were     mis-  M.M.H.S.T. 

placed       and      ware 

houses  plundered.  At 

every    cut    or    forest 

along     the     line     lay  vi. 

armed       assassins         tO  we  hear  notify  you  to  leave  th  Road  for  you  took  a  nother: 

Shoot      trainmen       and          -n  chop  take  a  warning  to^Save  your  live 


en-  A  Notice  Put  in  Evidence  During  the  "Mollie  Maguire" 

gineer  ran    his    train, 

his  left  hand  on  the  throttle,  his  right  clutching  a  revolver. 

Bosses  and  "  scabs  "  specially  hated  by  the  desperate 
miners  were  served  with  notices  denouncing  vengeance  on 
them  if  they  did  not  leave.  Some  of  these  are  reproduced  on 
pp.  293,  294,  295. 

One  admonition  ran  : 

"  Now  men  i  have  warented  ye  before  and  i  willnt  warind 
you  no  mor  —  but  i  will  gwrintee  you  the  will  be  the  report  of 
the  revolver." 

A  rude  drawing  of  a  revolver  was  subjoined  as  the  author's 
sign  manual. 

Others  were  as  follows  : 

"  NOTICE 

"  Any  blackleg  that  takes  a  Union  Man's  job  While  He 
is  standing  for  His  Rights  will  have  a  hard  Road  to  travel  and 
if  He  don't  he  will  have  to  Suffer  the  Consequences." 

This  "  Notice  "  was  followed  by  a  picture  of  a  dead  man 
in  his  coffin,  and  signed  "  BEACHER  AND  TILTON." 

294 


MURDER  OF  YOST 


At  Locust  Summit,  March  31,  1875,  was  posted  the  fol 
lowing  : 

"NOTICE" 

"  Mr.  Black-legs  if  you  don't  leave  in  2  days  time  You 
meet  your  doom  there  vill  Be  an  Open  war — imeateatly— 

Such  threats,  unless  heeded,  were  nearly  always  executed. 
Among  others  notified  in  these  ways  was  one  McCarron,  a 
policeman  in  Tamaqua,  who  had  aroused  the  enmity  of  "Pow 
der  Keg  "  Carrigan.  Two  men  were  detailed  to  kill  McCarron 
late  on  a  given  night,  and  hid  themselves  for  this  purpose 
near  his  beat.  But  on  this  night  McCarron  happened  to  have 
changed  beats  with  another  policeman  named  Yost,  an  old 
soldier,  whom  all,  even  the  Mollies,  liked.  Climbing  a  lamp 
post  ladder  early  in  the  morning  to  turn  out  the  gas,  Yost 
was  fatally  shot  by  the  men  who  had  heen  lying  low  for  Mc 
Carron. 

The  chief  source  of  these  atrocities  was  a  secret  society 
known  as  the  "  Mollie  Maguires,"  their  name  and  spirit  both 

imported  from  Ire 
land.  They  terrorized 
the  entire  Schuylkill 
and  Shamokin  dis 
tricts.  A  superinten 
dent  or  a  boss  was 
attacked,  beaten  or 
shot  down  somewhere 
almost  every  day. 
Gangs  of  these  thugs 
would  waylay  a  vic 
tim  in  the  field  or  by 
the  roadside  if  they 
could,  but,  failing  in 
this,  they  surrounded 
his  house,  forced  him 


'C.' 


Notice  is  here  given  to  you  men  the  first  and  the  last  Notice 
that  you  will  get  for  no  man  to  go  Down  this  slope  After  to 
Night  if  yo  Do  you  Can  Bring  your  Coffion  Along  With  you 
for  By  the  internal  Crist  We  mean  What  this  Notice  says  ypu 
Drift  man  stop  at  home  and  Cut  no  more  Coal  let  him  go  and 
get  Coal  himself  I  Dont  mean  Engineer  or  firemans  let  them 
mine  there  one  Work  now  men  the  Next  Notice  you  Will  get  I 
Dont  mean  to  Do  it  With  my  Pen  I  Will  Do  it  With  that  there 
Rolver  I  Dou't  Want  no  more  Black  legs  at  this  Collary. 


(No  signature) 


A  "Mollie  Maguire"   Notic 


295 


THE  UNITED  STATES  IN  OUR  OWN  TIME 

out,  and  did  him  to  death.  Among  the  most  brutal  of 
their  murders  was  that  of  Alexander  Rea,  a  mine  superin 
tendent,  pounded  and  shot  to  death  in  October,  1868.  Driv 
ing  along  a  lonely  road  between  Mount  Carmel  and  Centralia, 
supposed  to  be  going  to  pay  off  his  men,  and  therefore 
to  have  $19,000,  more  or  less,  in  his  buggy,  he  was  set 
upon  by  a  gang  of  Mollies,  among  them  Dooley  (or  Tully), 
McHugh,  and  "  Kelly  the  Bum."  After  filling  themselves 
with  liquor,  the  squad,  at  dawn,  hid  in  a  piece  of  woods  through 
which  their  victim  was  to  pass,  and,  upon  his  approach,  rushed 
at  him,  pistols  in  hand.  "  Kelly  the  Bum  "  fired  first.  Rea 
piteously  begged  for  his  life.  He  happened  on  this  occasion 
to  have  only  $60  with  him,  having  paid  at  the  colliery  the  day 
previous,  a  day  earlier  than  usual ;  but  he  offered  his  assailants 
all  he  had,  as  well  as  his  watch,  agreeing  also  to  sign  a  check 
for  any  amount  if  they  would  spare  him.  In  vain.  Having 
fired  several  bullets  into  the  wretched  man,  they  made  sure  of 
the  work  with  clubs  and  the  butts  of  their  revolvers.  The 
bloody  conspirators  were  subsequently  tried,  convicted,  and 
hung  for  this  murder,  save  "  Kelly  the  Bum,"  who  got  off  by 
turning  State's  evidence. 

Law-abiding  people  feared  to  stir  out  after  dark,  or  even 
by  day  unless  well  armed.  The  Mollies  had  their  signs  and 
passwords  for  use  when  necessary,  but  they  grew  so  bold  that 
such  devices  were  rarely  needed.  In  case  of  arrest  plenty  of 
perjurers  were  ready  to  swear  an  alibi y  though  not  a  witness 
could  be  drummed  up  for  the  State.  The  Mollies  nominated 
officers  and  controlled  elections.  Members  of  the  Order  be 
came  chiefs  of  police,  constables  and  county  commissioners. 
One  of  them  came  very  near  being  elected  to  the  Schuylkill 
County  bench.  Superintendents  of  jobs  had  to  hire  and  dis 
charge  men  at  the  Mollies'  behest,  or  be  shot.  At  a  certain 
State  election  a  high  State  official  gave  the  Order  large  money 
for  casting  its  vote  his  way.  Jack  Kehoe,  a  leading  Mollie, 
when  in  prison  for  murder,  boasted  that  if  he  were  convicted 

296 


THE  TRIAL   OF  THOMAS  MUNLET,  THE  "  MOLLIE  MAGUIRE,"  AT  POTTSVILLE,  PA. 

Painted  by  W.  R.  Leigh,  from  photographs  by  George  A.  Bretx, 


McPARLAN  BECOMES  A  "  MOLLIE  " 


JAMES  McPARLAN 
the  detective 


THOMAS  MUNLEY 
From  photographs  by  George  A.  Bretx, 


"   KERRIGAN, 
the  "  squealer  " 


and  sentenced  "  the  old  man  up  at  Harrisburg  "  would  never 
let  him  swing.  The  entire  power  of  the  Catholic  Church  in 
the  region  was  used  against  the  Order,  but  in  vain. 

The  principal  honor  of  exposing  and  suppressing  this 
Pennsylvania  Mafia  is  due  to  Hon.  Franklin  B.  Gowen,  a  law 
yer,  at  the  time  President  of  the  Pennsylvania  and  Reading 
Coal  and  Iron  Co.  Knowing  the  uselessness  of  attempting 
the  work  with  the  local  police,  he,  in  1873,  secured  from  Pink- 
erton's  Detective  Agency  in  Chicago  the  services  of  one  James 
McParlan,  a  young  Irishman  of  phenomenal  tact  and  grit,  to 
go  among  the  Mollies  as  a  secret  detective.  No  bolder,  no 
more  dangerous,  no  more  telling  work  was  ever  wrought  by  a 
detective  than  that  now  undertaken  by 
McParlan.  Calling  himself  McKenna,  he 
began  operations  in  the  autumn  of  1873. 
By  stating  that  he  had  killed  a  man  in 
Buffalo  and  that  his  favorite  business  had 
been  "  shoving  the  queer,"  he  was  at 
once  admitted  to  the  Order,  and  soon  be 
came  one  of  its  prominent  officers.  He 
seems,  however,  to  have  been  from  the  first 
the  object  of  some  suspicion,  so  that  the 
progress  of  his  mission  was  slow. 


FRANKLIN  B.  GOWEN 

From  a  photograph  by  Gutekun 


299 


THE  UNITED  STATES  IN  OUR  OWN  TIME 


It  was  not  till  1875  that  McParlan's  work  began  to  tell. 
Two  murders  to  which  he  was  privy  he  unfortunately  could 
not  prevent,  so  closely  was  he  watched.  One  of  these  was 
that  of  Thomas  Sanger,  a  young  English  boss  miner.  Early 
on  the  morning  of  September  ist  Sanger  started  from  his 
house  to  his  work.  Hardly  out  of  sight  of  his  door  a  man 
faced  him  and  shot  him  through  the  arm.  Running  round  a 
house  near  by  he  was  met  by  a  second  villain,  pistol  in  hand. 
Turning,  he  stumbled  and  fell,  just  as  a  third  appeared,  who 
shot  him  fatally.  A  fourth  deliberately  turned  the  body  over 
so  as  to  make  sure  of  hitting  a  vital  part,  and  shot  him  again. 
Robert  Heaton,  an  employer,  heard  the  firing  and  rushed, 
armed,  to  Sanger's  aid.  The  murderers  fled.  Poor,  brave 
Sanger,  bleeding  to  death,  told  Heaton  :  "  Never  mind  me, 
give  it  to  them,  Bob."  Sanger's  agonized  wife,  from  whom 
he  had  just  parted,  reached  his  prostrate  form  barely  in  time 
to  hear  him  gasp  :  "  Kiss  me,  Sarah,  for  I  am  dying." 

The  assassins  escaped  Heaton,  but  went  straight  to  the 
house  where  McParlan  was,  acquainting  him  with  every  detail 
of  their  bloody  deed.  Gowen  had  employed  him  on  the  ex 
press  condition  that  he  should  never  be  called  as  a  witness  or  be 
required  in  any  way  to  show  his  hand,  but  when  arrests  were 
made  the  Mollies  suspected  him,  so  that  it  appeared  to  be  his 
safest  course  to  come  out  openly  for  the  prosecution.  Going 
upon  the  witness  stand  he  demolished  the  sham  alibi  which 
the  culprits  sought  to  establish,  and  gave  clews  which  led  to 
the  extirpation  of  the  entire  gang.  Schuylkill  County,  where 
the  worst  crimes  had  occurred,  rose  in  its  might  and  stamped 
out  the  conspiracy.  A  small  army  of  alibi  witnesses  were 
punished  for  perjury.  Nine  of  the  Mollies  were  sentenced 
to  death,  and  most  of  the  other  leaders  imprisoned  for  long 
terms. 

"  Then,"  said  Mr.  Gowen,  who  acted  as  counsel  for  the 
prosecution,  "  we  knew  that  we  were  free  men.  Then  we 
could  go  to  Patsy  Collins,  the  commissioner  of  this  county, 

3oo 


THE  ATTEMPT  TO  FIRE  THE  PENNSYLVANIA  RAILROAD  ROUND-HOUSE  IN 
PITTSBURG,  AT  DAYBREAK  ON  SUNDAY,  JULY  22,  1877 

Painted  by  W.  R.  Leigh,  from  photographs  by  Robinson 


COLLAPSE  OF  THE  MOLLIE  MAGUIRES 


and  say  to  him  :  c  Build  well  the  walls  of  the  new  addition  to 
the  prison  ;  dig  the  foundations  deep  and  make  them  strong  ; 
put  in  good  masonry  and  iron  bars  ;  for,  as  the  Lord  liveth, 
the  time  will  come  when,  side  by  side  with  William  Love,  the 
murderer  of  Squire  Gwither,  you  will  enter  the  walls  that  you 
are  now  building  for  others.'  Then  we  could  say  to  Jack 
Kehoe,  the  high  constable  of  a  great  borough  in  this  county  : 
4  We  have  no  fear  of  you/  Then  we  could  say  to  Ned  Mon- 
aghan,  chief  of  police  and  murderer  and  assassin  :  c  Behind 
you  the  scaffold  is  prepared  for  your  reception/  Then  we 
could  say  to  Pat  Conry,  commissioner  of  this  county :  c  The 
time  has  ceased  when  a  governor  of  this  State  dares  to  pardon 
a  Mollie  Maguire — you  have  had  your  last  pardon/  Then 
we  could  say  to  John  Slattery,  who  was  almost  elected  judge 
of  this  court :  £  ye  know  that  of  you  that  it  were  better  you 
had  not  been  brfn  than  that  it  should  be  known/  Then  all 
of  us  looked  up.  Then,  at  last,  we  were  free,  and  I  came  to 
this  county  and  walked  through  it  as  safely  as  in  the  most 
crowded  thoroughfares  of  Philadelphia." 

The  times  evoked  a  specially  bitter  feeling  against  great 
railway  corporations,  and  a  wide 
spread  desire  to  set  legal  limita 
tions  to  their  power.  Their  reck 
less  rivalries,  their  ruinous  borrow 
ing  and  extravagance  were  freely 
criticised  even  by  such  as  did  not 
deem  themselves  injured  thereby  ; 
but  their  employes  were  rendered 
frantic. 

The  most  desperate  and  exten 
sive  strike  that  had  yet  occurred  in 
this  country  was  that  of  1877,  by 


*Owing  to  the  general  congestion  of  traffic,  there 
were  miles  of  freight  cars  blocked  at  this  point,  which 
the  rioters  burned  as  they  stood. 

3°3 


BURNT  FREIGHT  CARS  AT 
PITTSBURG* 


THE  UNITED  STATES  IN  OUR  OWN  TIME 


SCENES   AFTER    THE    RAILWAY   RIOT   OF  f 877   IN   PlTTSBURG 

the  employes  of  the  principal  railway  trunk  lines — the  Balti 
more  &  Ohio,  the  Pennsylvania,  the  Erie,  the  New  York  Cen 
tral,  and  their  western  prolongations.  The  immediate  grievance 
was  a  ten  per  cent.  "  wage  cut,"  reinforced,  however,  by  irregu 
lar  employment,  irregular  and  tardy  payment,  forced  patronage 
of  "pluck-me  "  hotels,  and  the  like.  On  some  roads  the  train 
men  were  assessed  the  cost  of  accidents.  At  a  preconcerted 
time  junctions  and  other  main  points  were  seized.  Freight  traf 
fic  on  the  roads  named  was  entirely  suspended,  and  the  passen 
ger  and  mail  service  greatly  impeded.  When  new  employes 
sought  to  work,  militia  had  to  be  called  out  to  preserve  order. 
Pittsburg  was  the  scene  of  a  bloody  riot.  At  Martinsburg, 
also  at  Pittsburg,  a  great  part  of  the  State  troops  sympathized 
with  the  strikers  and  would  not  fire  upon  them.  At  Pitts 
burg,  where  the  mob  was  immense  and  most  furious,  the 
Philadelphia  militia  were  besieged  in  a  round-house,  which  it 
was  then  attempted  to  burn  by  lighting  oil  cars  and  pushing 
them  against  it,  until  the  soldiers  were  compelled  to  evacuate. 
Fortunately  they  made  good  their  retreat  with  only  four 

304 


RAILWAY  STRIKE  OF  1877 

killed.  The  militia  having  had  several  bloody  and  doubtful 
encounters  on  July  21,  22  and  23,  at  the  request  of  the 
Governors,  President  Hayes  dispatched  United  States  troops 
to  Pennsylvania,  Maryland  and  West  Virginia.  Faced  by 
these  forces  the  rioters  in  every  instance  gave  way  without 
bloodshed. 

Scranton's  mayor  narrowly  escaped  death,  but  was  rescued 
by  a  posse  of  special  police,  who  killed  three  of  the  mob  ring 
leaders.  In  disturbances  at  Chicago  nineteen  were  killed,  at 
Baltimore  nine.  At  Reading,  endeavoring  to  recapture  a  rail 
road  train  held  by  the  mob  in  a  cut  near  the  city,  the  soldiers 
were  assailed  with  bricks  and  stones  hurled  from  above,  and 
finally  with  pistol  shots.  One  militiaman  retorted,  scattering 
shots  followed,  and  then  a  sustained  volley.  Only  50  of  the 
253  soldiers  escaped  unhurt,  but  none  were  seriously  injured. 
Of  the  crowd  1 1  were  killed  and  over  50  wounded,  two  of  the 
killed  and  some  of  the  wounded  being  mere  on-lookers. 

The  torch  was  applied  freely  and  with  dreadful  effect. 
Machine-shops,  ware-houses  and  two  thousand  freight-cars 
were  pillaged  or  burned.  Firemen  in  Pittsburg  were  at  first 
threatened  with  death  if  they  tried  to  stop  the  flames,  and  the 
hoses  were  cut ;  but,  finally,  permission  was  given  to  save 
private  property.  In  that  city  attacks  did  not  cease  till  the 
corporation  property  had  been  well-nigh  destroyed.  1,600  cars 
and  126  locomotives  were  burned  or  ruined  in  twenty-four 
hours.  Allegheny  County  alone  became  liable  for  about 
$3,000,000.  Men,  women  and  children  fell  to  thieving,  car 
rying  off  all  sorts  of  goods — kid  ball-shoes,  parasols,  coffee- 
mills,  whips  and  gas-stoves.  In  one  house  the  police  found 
seven  great  trunks  full  of  clothes,  in  another  eleven  barrels  of 
flour.  It  is  said  that  a  wagon-load  of  sewing  machines  was 
sold  on  the  street,  the  machines  bringing  from  ten  cents  to  $i 
apiece.  The  loss  of  property  was  estimated  at  $10,000,000. 

One  hundred  thousand  laborers  are  believed  to  have  taken 
part  in  the  entire  movement,  and  at  one  time  or  another  6,000 

305 


THE  UNITED  STATES  IN  OUR  OWN  TIME 

or  7,000  miles  of  road  were  in  their  power.  The  agitation 
began  on  July  14th,  and  was  serious  till  the  2yth,  but  had 
mostly  died  away  by  the  end  of  the  month,  the  laborers  nearly 
all  returning  to  their  work. 

Hosts  of  Pennsylvania  miners  went  out  along  with  the 
railroad  men.  The  railway  strike  itself  was  largely  sympa 
thetic,  the  ten  per  cent,  reduction  in  wages  assigned  as  its 
cause  applying  to  comparatively  few.  The  next  years  wit 
nessed  continual  troubles  of  this  sort,  though  rarely,  if  in  any 
case,  so  serious,  between  wage-workers  and  their  employers  in 
nearly  all  industries.  The  worst  ones  befell  the  manufacturing 
portions  of  the  country,  where  strikes  and  lock-outs  were  part 
of  the  news  almost  every  day. 


306 


CHAPTER    XII 
ANYTHING   TO    BEAT   GRANT 

PRESIDENTIAL  POSSIBILITIES  IN  1880. GRANT  THE  LION. REPUB 
LICAN  CONVENTION. A  POLITICAL  BATTLE  OF  THE  WILDERNESS. 

GARFIELD  THE  DARK  HORSE. GRANT'S  OLD  GUARD  DEFEATED  BUT 

DEFIANT. DEMOCRATS  NOMINATE  HANCOCK. "  THE  INS  AND  THE 

OUTS." PARTY  DECLARATIONS. THE  MOREY  FORGERY. ELAINE 

CAN'T  SAVE  MAINE. — CONKLING'S  STRIKE  OFF. — GARFIELD  ELECTED. 

—  "SOAP"  VS.  INTIMIDATION  AND  FRAUD. FROM  MULE  BOY  TO 

PRESIDENT. HANCOCK'S    BRILLIANT   CAREER. THE    FIRST    PRESI 
DENTIAL  APPOINTMENTS. — CONKLING'S  FRENZY  AND  HIS  FALL. — 

THE    CABINET. GARFIELD    ASSASSINATED. GUITEAU   TRIED   AND 

HANGED. — STAR  ROUTE  FRAUDS. PENDLETON  CIVIL  SERVICE  ACT. 

MR.  HAYES'S  very  honorable  administration  neared  its 
end  and  the  presidential  campaign  of  1 880  approached. 
Spite  of  the  wide  unpopularity  of  resumption,  spite  of  the  hard 
times  and  the  labor  troubles,  the  party  in  power  was  now  in  far 
better  condition  to  win  than  it  had  been  in  1 876.  The  Repub 
licans  therefore  had  no  dearth  of  potential  standard-bearers. 
Returning  from  a  remarkable  tour  around  the  world,  General 
Grant  became,  in  1880,  a  candidate  for  a  third-term  nomina 
tion.  There  is  reason  to  think  that  Grant  himself  did  not 
greatly  desire  this  but  was  pushed  forward  by  Senator  Roscoe 
Conkling,  of  New  York,  to  insure  the  defeat  of  James  G. 
Elaine,  of  Maine,  whom  Conkling  not  merely  disliked  but 
hated.  Conkling  was  now  in  effect  Republican  dictator  in  his 
State.  Its  delegation  to  the  Convention  was  hence  expected  to 
be  a  unit  for  Grant,  in  which  case  it  would  form  a  good  nucleus 
for  the  third-term  forces.  Don  Cameron,  of  Pennsylvania,  and 
General  John  A.  Logan,  of  Illinois,  like  Conkling,  strongly 
favored  Grant,  securing  for  him,  not  without  some  contest,  the 
delegations  from  their  respective  States  and  at  the  same  time 

3°7 


THE  UNITED  STATES  IN  OUR  OWN  TIME 

securing  control  of  the  National  Committee,  which  dictated  the 
time  and  place  of  holding  the  Convention.  Mr.  Elaine  had 
great  strength  in  the  West  and  considerable  elsewhere.  Senator 
Edmunds  was  the  cynosure  of  a  knot  of  Independents,  mostly 
Eastern  men.  Sherman's  masterly  handling  of  the  Treasury 
brought  him  also  into  prominence,  almost  into  popularity,  as 
a  candidate.  He  was  able,  practically,  to  name  the  four  Ohio 
delegates-at-large,  Warner  M.  Bateman,  William  Dennison, 
Charles  Foster  and  James  A.  Garfield.  The  last-named  had 
expressed  his  wish  to  be  a  delegate-at-large,  in  order  that  he 
might  more  effectively  aid  the  Sherman  cause. 

General  Grant  was  now  more  than  ever  a  hero.  He 
had  recently  visited  every  prominent  court  and  country  on 
the  globe.  The  Emperors  of  Germany  and  Austria,  the  Czar, 
the  Queen  of  Great  Britain,  the  Sultan,  the  Pope,  the  Kings  of 
Belgium,  Italy,  Holland,  Sweden  and  Spain,  the  Khedive  of 

Egypt,  the  Emperor  of 
Siam,  the  Mikado  of 
Japan,  the  Viceroy  of  In 
dia,  and  with  them  a  host 
of  the  world's  most  dis 
tinguished  statesmen,  sol 
diers  and  literary  men, 
had  vied  with  one  another 
in  rendering  the  ex-Pres 
ident's  progress  from  land 
to  land  a  continuous  ova 
tion.  No  human  being 
in  all  history  had  ever 
received  such  honors. 
The  ex-President's  self- 
possession  amid  all  this 
pomp,  his  good  sense  and 
sturdy  maintenance  of 

ROSCOE  CONKLING  simple,  democratic   man- 

308 


"ANYTHING  TO  BEAT  GRANT' 

ners,  impressed  everyone.  Some  who  had  opposed  him  in 
1876  now  wished  him  elected,  on  the  ground  that  four  so 
honorable  years  in  private  station  justified  renewed  promotion, 
while  not  transgressing  the  unwritten  law  against  a  third  term. 

So  formidable  did  Conkling's  movement  for  Grant  be 
come  that  the  opponents  of  the  two  rallied  to  the  war-cry, 
"  Anything  to  beat  Grant."  About  this  time  the  superstitious 
were  stirred  by  Mother  Shipton's  prophecy, 

"The  world  to  an  end  will  come 
In  eighteen  hundred  and  eighty-one." 

An  anecdote  was  told  of  a  preacher  who  dwelt  upon  the 
impending  cataclysm,  urging  his  hearers  by  all  means  to  be 
prepared.  While  he  was  describing  the  peril  an  earnest  voice 
from  the  congregation  ejaculated,  "  Thank  God  !  "  The  min 
ister  sought  out  the  possessor  of  the  voice  and  asked  why  he 
was  thankful  for  a  prospect  at  which  most  men  shuddered. 
"  Anything  to  beat  Grant,"  was  the  answer.  A  determined 
sentiment  hostile  to  the  ex-President's  candidacy  found  ex 
pression  in  the  resolutions  of  the  Republican  Anti-third-term 
Convention,  held  in  St.  Louis  on  May  6th.  These  resolu 
tions  declared  against  the  Grant  movement  as  likely  to  revive 
the  memory  of  old  scandals,  and  certain,  if  successful,  to  intro 
duce  personal  government  and  to  hinder  civil  service  reform. 

After  the  revelations  described  in  Chapter  IX  the 
movement  to  elect  Grant  President  for  a  third  term  was  sure 
to  awaken  bitter  opposition  in  his  own  party.  The  story  of 
his  second  term,  which  might  have  been  left  for  posterity  to 
extract  from  the  records  as  best  it  could,  was  vividly  recalled 
to  memories  which  had  never  fully  lost  it,  being  rehearsed 
in  a  thousand  newspapers,  now  piecemeal,  now  in  whole  chap 
ters,  till  all  intelligent  people  were  perfectly  familiar  with  it. 

The  Republican  Convention  met  at  Chicago  on  June  2d. 
Conkling,  who  had  charge  of  the  Grant  canvass,  sanguine  of 
carrying  the  Convention  but  fearing  a  "  bolt "  afterward,  intro- 

3°9 


THE  UNITED  STATES  IN  OUR  OWN  TIME 


duced  the  following  disciplinary  resolution,  which  was  passed 
by  a  vote  of  719  to  3  : 

"  Resolved,  As  the  sense  of  this  Convention,  that  every 
member  of  it  is  bound  in  honor  to  support  its  nominee,  who 
ever  that  nominee  may  be,  and  that  no  man  should  hold  his 
seat  here  who  is  not  ready  to  so  agree." 

An  effort  was  made  to  expel  the  three  recalcitrants,  but  it 
proved  abortive.  The  rule  requiring  State  delegations  each  to 
vote  as  a  unit,  which  had  been  assailed  at  the  Cincinnati  Con 
vention  of  1876,  was  now  definitively  abandoned.  This  gift 
of  a  voice  to  minorities  in  State  delegations  lopped  off  ninety 
votes  from  Grant's  constituency,  which  was  a  great  victory  for 
his  opponents.  It  was  in  effect  another  blow  against  the 
Grant  cause  when  Mr.  Flanagan,  of  Texas,  uttered  the 
memorable  query  :  "  What  are  we  here  for  if  it  isn't  for  the 
offices  ?  " 

The  State  of  New  York  had  seventy  votes  in  the  Con 
vention.  Knowing  that  they  would  all  be  needed  if  Grant 
were  to  win,  Conkling  had  gotten  the  New  York  Convention 
to  instruct  the  delegation  to  vote  as  a  unit  for  the  nominee 
desired  by  the  majority.  But  nineteen  of  them,  led  by  Conk- 
ling's  opponent  in  New  York  Republican  politics,  William 
H.  Robertson,  refused  to  obey  this 
mandate  and  voted  for  Elaine.  Nine 
of  the  Ohio  delegation  bolted  from 
Sherman  to  Elaine,  a  move  which 
solidified  the  rest  of  the  Ohio  dele 
gation  against  Elaine,  and  thus  "un 
doubtedly,"  says  Sherman,  "  led  to 
his  defeat."  The  first  ballot  showed 
Grant  in  the  lead,  with  Elaine  a  close 
second,  and  they  maintained  this  rela 
tive  position  through  thirty-five  con 
secutive  ballots.  The  thirty-fourth 
ballot  called  attention  to  James  A. 


Btfoi 


JAMES  A.   GARF1ELD 
entering  college.    From  a  daguerre 
otype  by  Ryder 


310 


GARFIELD  NOMINATED 

Garfield,  who  received  seventeen  votes,  fifteen  more  than  any 
preceding  ballot  had  given  him.  As  a  feeler  Wisconsin,  near 
the  foot  of  the  list,  bolted  to  him.  Galleries  and  Convention 
went  wild.  Garfield  had  been  somewhat  prominent  in  the  Con 
vention,  having  charge  of  Sherman's  cause  and  being,  in  some 
sense,  the  leader  of  all  the  forces  opposed  to  Grant,  but  scarcely 
anyone  had  dreamed  of  his  being  nominated.  It  having  become 
plain  that  the  New  York  split  must  defeat  Blaine  and  Grant 
alike,  the  bulk  of  the  Blaine  and  Sherman  delegates,  under  in 
structions  from  their  chiefs  at  Washington,  went  over  to  Gar- 
field.  Conkling  was  confident  till  Maine  cast  her  vote  for  Gar- 
field,  when  he  sent  the  word  around  for  delay.  In  vain.  Too 
late.  Conkling's  old  guard  of  306  delegates,  remaining  steadfast 
to  the  last,rendered  him  too  confident,  and  he  was  outgeneralled. 
That  very  morning  some  one  asked  Garfield  :  "  Well,  General, 
who  is  going  to  win  the  battle  of  the  Wilderness  ?  "  "  The 
same  little  man  that  won  the  first  will  win  it,"  he  replied,  de 
liberately,  "  and  I  am  afraid  it  will  mean  the  destruction  of  the 
Republican  party."  The  stampede  gave  Garfield  399  votes, 
twenty-one  more  than  were  needed  to  make  him  the  choice  of 
the  Convention.  While  the  State  banners  were  seized  and 
waved  in  a  circle  above  his  head,  while  all  was  enthusiasm  and 
hubbub,  Garfield  himself  sat,  as  if  in  a  stupor,  dazed  and  be 
numbed.  The  second  place  on  the  ticket  being  conceded  to  a 
Grant  man,  Conkling,  as  a  stab  at  President  Hayes,  named 
for  Vice-President  Chester  A.  Arthur,  the  same  whom  Hayes 
had  deposed  from  office.  "  Garfield  and  Arthur  "  was  there 
fore  the  ticket. 

The  country  hailed  the  presidential  nomination  with  ex 
treme  satisfaction.  Blaine,  in  spite  of  his  defeat,  hastened 
to  send  Garfield  his  congratulations.  So  did  Sherman,  who 
blamed  Governor  Foster,  and  not  the  nominee,  for  perfidy. 
But  Conkling  sulked,  cursing  the  nineteen  rebellious  New 
York  delegates,  and  vowing  eternal  vengeance  upon  Robert 
son  in  particular.  Grant's  phalanx,  which  had  stood  solid  for 

311 


THE  UNITED  STATES  IN  OUR  OWN  TIME 


him  from  the  first,  alone 
failed  to  partake  of  the 
general  enthusiasm. 

The  Democratic  Con 
vention  assembled  at 
Cincinnati  on  June  22d. 
Mr.  Tilden  could,  no 
doubt,  have  had  the  nom 
ination  had  he  signified 
his. willingness  to  accept 
it,  but  his  friends  were 
wholly  ignorant  of  his 
wishes  until  just  as  the 
Convention  met,  when 
he  wrote  declining  re- 
nomination.  On  the  third 
ballot  the  delegates  nom 
inated  the  hero  of  Gettys 
burg,  the  brave  and  re 
nowned  General  Winfield  S.  Hancock,  of  Pennsylvania. 

The  two  parties  were  at  this  time  best  classed  as  "  the  ins  " 
and  "  the  outs."  Though  not  exactly  one  upon  the  fading 
issue  of  intervention  at  the  South,  or  upon  that  of  "  incidental 
protection  "  versus  a  "  tariff  for  revenue  only,"  neither  these 
issues  nor  any  others  were  kept  steadily  in  sight  during  the 
campaign.  The  Republicans  had  not  yet  wearied  of  reminis 
cences,  while  the  Democrats  nursed  their  party  fealty  by  call 
ing  Hayes  "  the  fraud  President."  On  the  people  at  large 
the  ceaseless  repetition  of  this  phrase  had  not  the  slightest 
effect,  particularly  after  the  publication  of  the  "  cipher  des 
patches,"  which  involved  certain  Democratic  leaders  in 
attempts,  pending  the  Hayes-Tilden  controversy,  to  bribe 
electors  representing  doubtful  States. 

The  Republicans'  platform  charged  Democrats  with  "  a 
supreme  and  insatiable  lust  of  office,"  yet  their  own  devoir 


IflNFIELD  S.   HANCOCK 


PLATFORMS  AND  ISSUES 

to  civil  service  reform  they  paid  only  as  an  afterthought,  amid 
the  jeers  of  delegates.  To  detach  the  Republican  reform  vote, 
the  Democratic  platform  made  three  distinct  allusions  to  that 
subject,  indorsing  a  general  and  thorough  reform,  "execrating" 
the  course  of  the  Administration  in  using  offices  to  reward 
political  crime,  and  promising  "  a  genuine  and  lasting  improve 
ment  in  case  of  a  change."  The  Republicans  suspected  the 
other  party  of  coquetting  with  the  Roman  Catholic  Church, 
and  urged  an  amendment  forbidding  State  appropriations  for 
sectarian  schools  ;  but  both  parties  applauded  public  education 
and  separation  between  Church  and  State.  They  were  at  one 
also  in  decided  opposition  to  Chinese  immigration.  The  pen 
sioner  was  becoming  conspicuous.  Republicans  boasted  of 
paying  annually  more  than  thirty  millions  of  dollars  in  pensions, 
and  promised  the  old  soldiers — sincerely,  as  events  showed 
— undiminished  gratitude  in  future.  They  further  declared 
against  polygamy.  The  Democrats  avowed  themselves  in  favor 
of "  free  ships  and  a  chance  for  American  commerce  on  the 
seas  and  on  the  land;"  also  for  gold,  silver  and  convertible 
paper  money. 

Though  living  issues  were  little  discussed  in  the  campaign, 
it  was  not  wanting  in  warmth  or  movement.  Republicans  were 
incessantly  "  waving  the  bloody  shirt,"  a  Democratic  phrase 
which  became  familiar  at  this  time.  The  Democrats,  as  we 
have  said,  harped  upon  the  "  fraud  "  that  they  ascribed  to  the 
Electoral  Commission  which  "  counted  out "  Mr.  Tilden. 
Incidentally,  as  election-day  grew  near,  protection  to  home 
industry  and  restriction  to  Chinese  immigration  were  more  or 
less  discussed,  with,  perhaps,  considerable  local  effect,  but  the 
election  was  in  no  sense  decided  by  either.  Seizing  upon  a 
luckless  utterance  of  General  Hancock's,  to  the  effect  that 
the  tariff  was  "  a  local  issue,"  the  Republicans  took  occasion 
to  ridicule  his  ignorance  of  economic  and  political  affairs. 
Garfield  was  accused  of  disreputable  connection  with  the  Credit 
Mobilier,  and  with  the  Washington  Ring  back  in  the  seventies, 


THE  UNITED  STATES  IN  OUR  OWN  TIME 

but  nothing  worse  than  indiscretion  was  proved  against  him. 
Shortly  before  election-day  Democratic  politicians  sowed 
broadcast  facsimiles  of  a  letter  signed  with  Garfield's  name, 
and  representing  him  as  so  lovingly  attached  to  "  our  great 
manufacturing  and  corporate  interests "  as  to  favor  Chinese 
immigration  until  laborers  should  be  sufficiently  abundant  to 
satisfy  capital.  This  letter  was  proved  to  be  a  forgery,  and 
one  of  the  authors  of  it  was  sentenced  to  prison  for  eight 
years. 

In  1878  Maine  had  surprised  everyone  by  electing  a 
Democratic  governor,  through  a  fusion  of  Democrats  with 
Greenbackers.  After  the  next  annual  election,  acting  as  a 
Canvassing  Board,  professedly  under  the  law,  this  governor, 
Garcelon,  and  his  counsel  declared  a  Democratic  legislature 
to  be  elected — a  proceeding  denounced  as  a  "  counting 
in"  worthy  of  the  most  approved  Louisiana  model.  This 
course  contravened  the  judgment  of  the  State  Supreme  Court. 
It  was  not  upheld  by  public  opinion  either  in  the  State  or 
elsewhere,  not  even  by  Democratic  opinion,  unless  as  a  species 
of  "  poetic  justice."  Most  fatal  of  all,  the  new  legislature 
was  unsupported  by  the  State  militia,  upon  which,  as  no  fed 
eral  troops  were  at  command,  devolved,  during  the  interreg 
num,  the  charge  of  keeping  order.  The  fusionists,  therefore, 
gave  up  in  discouragement.  But  in  the  State  election  of  the 
presidential  year,  in  September,  renewed  success  came  to  them. 
Their  candidate,  Harris  M.  Plaisted,  was  elected  Governor, 
spite  of  the  Republicans'  activity  under  the  personal  lead  of 
Mr.  Blaine. 

Until  this  reverse  in  Maine  most  supporters  of  Grant 
had  sulked,  but  they  did  so  no  longer.  The  "  strike "  was 
now  declared  "  off,"  and  all  the  available  resources  of  the  party 
called  into  requisition  for  the  election  of  Garfield.  Persuaded 
by  Grant,  Conkling  himself  took  the  stump,  working  for  the 
nominees  with  all  his  might.  Popular  audiences  found  his 
eloquence  irresistible.  No  man  did  more  than  he  to  carry  the 


HO  LE  _TK  ITTH ._  AN  P     NOTHING      mtTTHE    TRUTH. 


FIENMSH  MUBDEB  ( 


GARFIELD'S  POLITICAL  DEATH  WARRANT, 

HIS    INFAMOUS    LETTER    ADVOCATING    THE    INCREASED  IMMI 
GRATION    OF   CHINESE   CHEAP   LABOR. 


.TEST  NEWS  FBOH  EUBOPK 


Facsimile  of  the  front  page  of  the  issue  of  "  T"ruth  "   containing  the  "Morey  Letter*^ 


GARF1ELD  AND  ARTHUR  VICTORIOUS 


important  State  of  New  York.  He  took  Grant  with  him 
throughout  the  State,  exhibiting  him  for  five-minute  speeches, 
while  he  himself  made  long  orations.  This  occasioned  much 
comment,  but  probably  "  did  good."  Conkling  and  his  sup 
porters  deemed  his  agency  decisive  of  the  result  in  the  nation 
as  well  as  in  New  York,  and  considered  President  Garfield  as 
under  the  deepest  obligation  on  this  account.  Hancock  swept 
every  Southern  State.  Garfield  carried  every  Northern  one 
except  New  Jersey,  Nevada,  and  California.  For  the  first 
time  in  our  history  the  presidential  electors  were  all  chosen  by 
popular  vote,  and  for  the  first  time  their  votes  were  counted 
as  cast. 

Thus  the  victory  was  won  for  Garfield  and  Arthur.  It 
was  not  obtained,  however,  without  employing,  to  some  ex 
tent,  illegitimate  means.  At  a  dinner  in  honor  of  Hon.  S. 
W.  Dorsey,  Vice-President  Arthur,  in  a  vein  of  pleasan 
try,  remarked  that  the  Republicans  had  been  victorious  in 
Indiana  by  a  liberal  use  of  "  soap."  After  the  election 
discreditable  exposures  were  made  respecting  contributions 
by  government  civil  servants  to  the  Republican  campaign- 
fund. 

But  if  machine  politics  had  much  to  do  with  Garfield's 
election,  machine  politics  no  more  determined  it  than  intimi 
dation  and  fraud  solidified  the  South 
for  Hancock.  Garfield  had  a  highly 
honorable  record — literary,  military, 
and  civil.  From  a  mule-boy  on  the 
tow-path  of  the  Ohio  Canal  between 
Cleveland  and  Marietta  —  which 
rough  life,  it  seems,  bade  fair  for  a 
time  injuriously  to  affect  his  char 
acter — he  had  risen  to  a  college 
presidency  and  to  the  Senate  of 
Ohio,  all  before  the  war.  Entering 
the  service  early,  he  rose  rapidly  in 


HARRIS  M.  PLAISTED 


317 


THE  UNITED  STATES  IN  OUR  OWN  TIME 

rank — as  he  deserved,  for  no  civilian  commander  had  proved  a 
better  soldier.  His  martial  quality  came  out  at  Middle  Creek, 
Shiloh,  and  pre-eminently  at  Chickamauga,  where  his  gallant 
and  meritorious  services  made  him  a  major-general.  At 
Chickamauga,  when  the  right  wing  of  Rosecrans's  army  was 
in  full  retreat,  leaving  to  its  fate  the  left,  under  General 
Thomas,  Garfield,  through  a  fiery  storm  of  shot,  fatal  to  most 
of  his  escort,  had  ridden  back  to  acquaint  Thomas  with  the 
state  of  affairs,  encourage  him,  and  arrange  for  the  safe  re-form 
ation  of  the  Union  forces  on  a  new  line.  Entering  Congress 
in  December,  1863,  he  at  once  became  a  leader,  serving  with 
distinction  on  the  most  important  committees,  a  power  in 
debate  and  on  the  stump,  eloquent,  sensible,  patriotic — not, 
indeed,  an  adroit  politician,  but  no  little  of  a  statesman.  While 
in  Congress  he  probably  had  a  more  thorough  acquaintance 
with  important  public  questions  than  any  other  man  in  official 
life.  His  *firm  and  decisive  stand  for  honest  money  when  a 
formidable  faction  in  his  party  was  for  fiat  greenbacks  has 
already  been  alluded  to  in  this  History.  That  his  State  made 
him  its  Senator,  and  his  country  made  him  its  President,  were 
in  nowise  mere  accidents. 

Hancock's  record,  too,  was  altogether  spotless  and  proud. 
A  West  Point  graduate  and  a  patriot  to  the  backbone,  bre- 
vetted  for  gallantry  at  Contreras  and  Cherubusco,  at  the  front 
whenever  he  could  possibly  get  there  in  any  cerious  engage 
ment  of  our  army  in  Virginia  during  the  entire  Civil  War, 
always  a  fighter,  the  bravest  of  the  brave,  the  cause  of  Union 
victory  at  Gettysburg  if  any  one  man  could  be  so  called,  Han 
cock  at  the  time  of  his  nomination  came  before  the  public 
as  perhaps  the  most  consummate  specimen  of  a  mere  military 
man  in  the  whole  history  of  the  country.  Grant  said  Han 
cock's  name  "was  never  mentioned  as  having  committed  in 
battle  a  blunder  for  which  he  was  held  responsible."  Nor 
can  any  well  doubt  that  Hancock  would  have  made  a  suc 
cessful  President.  Few,  in  fact,  questioned  this.  It  was  his 

318 


ELAINE  VERSUS  CONKLING 

party  that  was  distrusted.  Had  the  Democracy  held  the 
place  in  public  esteem  which  was  accorded  to  the  candidate, 
Hancock  would  almost  certainly  have  been  elected.  As  it 
was,  Garfield's  popular  majority  was  trifling,  though  in  the 
Electoral  College  he  had  214  votes  to  Hancock's  155. 

If  it  was  Garfield's  wish,  as  he  again  and  again  declared, 
to  treat  all  stripes  of  the  party  alike,  it  is  hard  to  understand 
what  led  him  to  select  Elaine  as  Secretary  of  State  in  his 
Cabinet.  The  mere  rumor  of  this  purpose  roused  Conkling's 
utmost  ire.  Elaine  and  Conkling  had  long  been  openly  and 
bitterly  at  feud.  Their  quarrel,  beginning  in  empty  trifles, 
had  grown  by  incessant  fanning  until  it  menaced  the  party  with 
fatal  schism.  Tried  and  wise  friends  of  both  besought  Elaine 
not  to  accept  the  offered  portfolio.  Senator  Dawes  was  one  of 
these.  He  says  :  "  I  warned  Mr.  Elaine  that  if  he  entered 
the  Cabinet  with  the  intent  or  hope  of  circumventing  his  rival, 
it  would  be  fatal  to  him  and  to  the  administation  of  Garfield, 
and  I  expressed  the  opinion  that  it  would  be  impossible  for 
him  to  keep  the  peace  if  he  took  the  office.  He  replied  with 
frankness,  and,  I  have  no  doubt,  with  entire  sincerity,  that  it 
would  be  his  purpose  if  he  accepted  the  office  to  ignore  all 
past  differences,  and  so  deport  himself  in  it  as  to  force  recon 
ciliation.  He  said  also  that  he  could  not  agree  with  me,  even 
if  the  effect  should  prove  otherwise,  that  he  should  for  that 
reason  be  debarred  from  the  great  opportunity,  for  which  he 
felt  himself  qualified,  to  administer  the  Foreign  Office  on  the 
broad  and  grand  scale  he  did  afterward  undertake  but  was  not 
permitted  to  perfect.  I  foresaw  the  rocks  all  too  plainly,  and 
advised  him  to  remain  in  the  Senate.  But  he  determined 
otherwise  and  accepted  the  position." 

Garfield  and  Elaine  probably  thought  that  Conkling's 
influence  against  them  might  be  safely  ignored  (in  which  they 
proved  not  wholly  right),  considering  him  a  very  shallow  man 
(wherein  they  were  not  wholly  wrong).  It  is  among  William 
Winter's  reminiscences  that  Conkling  and  George  William 

3*9 


THE  UNITED  STATES  IN  OUR  OWN  TIME 

Curtis  once  compared  judgments  touching  poetry  and  ora 
tory,  each  citing  passages  that  seemed  to  him  ideal.  Conkling 
named  Mrs.  Hemans's  "  Casabianca,"  "  The  boy  stood  on 
the  burning  deck,"  etc.,  as  his  model  poem,  and  some  fine 
sentences  from  Charles  Sprague  as  what  suited  him  best  in 
eloquence.  It  was  Sprague,  we  recall,  whose  Fourth  of  July 
oration  at  Boston,  in  1825,  contained  the  smart  period  be 
ginning  :  "  Not  many  generations  ago,  where  you  now  sit, 
circled  by  all  that  adorns  and  embellishes  civilized  life,  the 
rank  thistle  nodded  in  the  wind  and  the  wild  fox  dug  his  hole 
unscared."  Curtis,  for  eloquence,  presented  the  following 
from  Emerson's  Dartmouth  College  oration,  delivered  on 
July  24,  1838:  "You  will  hear  every  day  the  maxims  of  a 
low  prudence.  You  will  hear  that  the  first  duty  is  to  get  land 
and  money,  place  and  name.  £  What  is  this  Truth  you  seek  ? 
What  is  this  Beauty  ? '  men  will  ask,  with  derision.  If  nev 
ertheless,  God  have  called  any  of  you  to  explore  Truth  and 
Beauty,  be  bold,  be  firm,  be  true.  When  you  shall  say,  c  As 
others  do,  so  will  I.  I  renounce,  I  am  sorry  for  it,  my  early 
visions ;  I  must  eat  the  good  of  the  land,  and  let  learning  and 
romantic  expectations  go  until  a  more  convenient  season  ; ' 
then  dies  the  man  in  you  ;  then  once  more  perish  the  buds  of 
Art  and  Poetry  and  Science,  as  they  have  died  already  in  a 
thousand  thousand  men." 

This  Conkling  thought  rather  tame. 

Conkling  looked  upon  Blaine's  promotion  as  nothing  but 
a  deliberate  attempt  to  humiliate  himself,  and  his  friends  con 
curred  in  this  view.  "  Garfield,  of  whose  great  brain-power 
political  sagacity  formed  no  part,  could  not  be  made  to  see  in 
the  opposition  anything  but  an  attempt  by  dictation  to  trench 
upon  his  constitutional  prerogatives  in  the  choice  of  his  own 
councillors,  and  all  Blaine  men  agreed  with  him." 

Bad  was  made  worse  when  Garfield  offered  the  post  of 
Secretary  of  the  Treasury  to  Charles  J.  Folger,  of  New  York, 
not  only  without  consulting  Conkling  but  against  Conkling's 

320 


Plan  Arthur  Conkling  Garfield 

THE  INTER  VIEW  At  THE   RIGGS  HOUSE 


CONKLING  DENOUNCES  GARFIELD 

warm  recommendation  of  Mr.  Morton.  That  Mr.  Folger  de 
clined  the  portfolio  did  not  pacify  Conkling.  No  man  in  the 
Cabinet  represented  Conkling,  whereas  he  and  his  friends 
thought  that  on  account  of  his  great  service  in  the  campaign 
all  New  York  appointments,  at  least,  should  be  rilled  by  him 
from  among  his  friends.  Garfield,  undoubtedly  influenced  by 
Elaine,  would  not  consent  to  this.  He  was  willing  to  do  what 
he  reasonably  could  to  pacify  Conkling,  but  he  refused  to  re 
nounce  his  constitutional  privilege  of  personally  selecting  the 
men  who  were  to  aid  him  in  discharging  his  arduous  duties. 

Shortly  before  the  inauguration,  in  the  spring  of  1881, 
Senator  Platt,  who  was  politically  and  sympathetically  in  accord 
with  his  colleague,  received  the  information  that  Mr.  James 
had  been  selected  for  the  position  of  Postmaster-General.  Up 
to  this  time  the  two  New  York  Senators  had  received  assur 
ances  from  the  President-elect  that  the  Empire  State  was  to  be 
favored  with  the  portfolio  of  the  Treasury  Department,  which 
was  regarded  as  a  more  dignified  and  more  influential  position 
in  every  respect.  As  soon  as  Mr.  Platt  heard  of  the  Presi 
dent's  change  of  mind,  he  repaired  at  once  to  Chamberlain's, 
where  he  found  Vice-President  Arthur  and  Senator  Conkling 
at  breakfast.  He  broke  the  news  to  them.  Arthur  and 
Conkling  at  once  left  the  table  and  all  three  repaired  to  the 
Riggs  House,  where  Garfield  had  rooms.  They  received  an 
audience  without  delay,  and  for  over  an  hour  Conkling  stormed 
up  and  down  the  room,  charging  Garfield  with  treachery  to  his 
friends  in  New  York  and  asserting  that  he  was  false  to  his 
party.  Garfield  sitting  on  the  side  of  the  bed  listened  in 
silence  to  the  tirade,  violent  and  unseemly  as  all  thought  it. 
Both  General  Arthur  and  Senator  Platt  subsequently  declared 
that  for  invective,  sarcasm  and  impassioned  eloquence  this  was 
the  speech  of  Conkling's  life. 

On  March  23,  1881,  Conkling's  dearest  foe,  Mr.  Robert 
son,  was  nominated  by  the  President  as  Collector  of  Customs 
at  the  Port  of  New  York,  the  then  incumbent,  E.  A.  Merritt, 


3*3 


THE  UNITED  STATES  IN  OUR  OWN  TIME 

being  nominated  for  the  post  of  Consul-General  at  London. 
Both  appointments  were  opposed  by  Conkling  and  his  col 
league,  Mr.  Platt,  but  in  spite  of  this  they  were  subsequently 
confirmed  by  the  Senate.  Conkling's  ire  grew  into  a  frenzy. 
Sober  Republicans  were  aghast  at  the  chasm  widening  in  the 
party.  A  committee  of  conciliation,  consisting  of  five  gen 
tlemen  representing  different  attitudes  to  the  litigants,  was 
appointed  to  try  and  harmonize  them.  Conkling  met  these 
gentlemen  to  recount  his  wrongs.  Said  Mr.  Dawes,  who  was 
chairman  of  the  committee  :  "  On  that  occasion  he  surpassed 
himself  in  all  those  elements  of  oratorical  power  for  which  he 
was  so  distinguished.  .  .  He  continued  for  two  hours  and  a 
half  to  play  with  consummate  skill  upon  all  the  strings  known 
to  the  orator  and  through  all  the  notes  from  the  lowest  to  the 
highest  which  the  great  masters  command,  and  concluded  in  a 
lofty  apostrophe  to  the  greatness  and  glory  of  the  Republican 
party  and  his  own  devotion  to  its  highest  welfare.  c  And,'  said 
he,  f  I  trust  that  the  exigency  may  never  arise  when  I  shall  be 
compelled  to  choose  between  self-respect  and  personal  honor 
on  the  one  side  and  the  temporary  discomfiture  of  that  party 
on  the  other;  but  if  that  time  shall  ever  come  I  shall  not  hesi 
tate  in  the  choice,  and  I  now  say  to  you,  and  through  you  to 
those  whom  it  most  concerns,  that  I  have  in  my  pocket  an 
autograph  letter  of  this  President,  who  is  now  for  the  time 
being  its  official  head,  which  I  pray  God  I  may  never  be  com 
pelled  in  self-defence  to  make  public  ;  but  if  that  time  shall 
ever  come,  I  declare  to  you,  his  friends,  he  will  bite  the  dust.'" 
This  letter  proved  to  be  one  like  the  "  My  dear  Hubbell" 
epistle  mentioned  below.  It  had  been  written  in  the  course 
of  the  campaign  to  press  collections  from  government  officials 
and  clerks  for  campaign  expenses.  President  Garfield  had 
retained  a  copy.  His  friends  urged  him  to  publish  it  forth 
with,  thus  anticipating  Conkling;  and  he,  at  first,  consented, 
but  Mr.  Elaine  dissuaded  him.  True  to  his  threat,  Conkling 
gave  it  out,  but  too  late,  so  that  it  fell  flat.  The  conciliation 

3*4 


H.  L.  Dawes,  Mass.  J.  P.  Jones,  Nevada 

E.  H.  Rollins,  N.  H. 


Roscoe  Conkling 


I  DECLARE   TO   YOU,  HIS  FRIENDS,  HE   WILL   BITE   THE  DUST" 
Conkling' s  speech  before  the  "  Committee  of  Conciliation  " 


CONKLING  AND  PLATT  OUT  OF  THE  SENATE 

committee  waited  on  the  President  to  see  if  there  was  not  some 
way  by  which  he  could  consistently  accord  Conkling  fuller 
recognition.  Nothing  came  of  the  effort,  as  Conkling  would 
be  satisfied  only  by  the  President's  utter  neglect  and  humilia 
tion  of  the  Robertson  faction  in  New  York.  Conkling  was 
labored  with  again  and  begged  to  be  magnanimous,  but  he 
would  not  yield  a  hair.  Instead  of  placing  the  good  of  the 
party  before  his  personal  spite,  he  proposed  to  rule  or  ruin. 
"  Should  I  do  as  I  am  urged,"  he  said,  "  I  should  myself  go 
under,  and  should  be  burned  in  effigy  from  Buffalo  to  Mon- 
tauk  Point,  and  could  not  be  elected  a  delegate  to  a  county 
convention  in  Oneida  County."  It  is  said  that  he  did  actually 
seek,  later,  an  election  to  a  convention  in  that  county,  but 
without  success. 

Republicans  after  the  heart  of  Conkling  and  Arthur,  con 
stituting  "the  Prince  of  Wales's  Party,"  now  called  themselves 
"  Stalwarts,"  a  term  invented  by  Mr.  Elaine,  at  the  same  time 
styling  administration  Republicans  "  Half-breeds."  Those 
declining  to  take  sides  either  way  they  dubbed  "  Jelly-fish." 
On  May  i6th,  before  Robertson's  confirmation,  the  two  New 
York  Senators,  Conkling  and  Platt,  resigned  their  places, 
expecting  the  honor  and  indorsement  of  an  immediate  re-elec 
tion.  In  this  they  were  disappointed.  They  were  defeated  in 
the  New  York  Legislature  by  E.  C.  Lapham  and  Warner 
Miller,  administration  or  "  Half-breed "  Republicans.  Mr. 
Conkling  never  again  reappeared  in  politics.  Mr.  Platt,  on 
the  contrary,  suffered  only  a  temporary  loss  of  influence.  Dis 
liked  by  a  large  section — perhaps  a  majority — of  the  New 
York  Republicans,  he  still  did  not  cease  to  be  the  determining 
factor  of  the  fortunes  of  the  party  in  his  State.  It  is  not 
unlikely  that  Mr.  Bryce  had  Conkling  and  Platt  in  mind  when, 
in  his  chapter  upon  "  Rings  and  Bosses,"  he  wrote  :  "  There 
have  been  brilliant  instances  of  persons  stepping  at  once  to 
the  higher  rungs  of  the  ladder  in  virtue  of  their  audacity  and 
energy,  especially  if  coupled  with  oratorical  power.  However, 

3*7 


THE  UNITED  STATES  IN  OUR  OWN  TIME 


THE  ANTI-CHINESE  RIOT  OF  1880,  IN  DENSER,  COL* 

the  position  of  the  rhetorical  boss  is  less  firmly  rooted  than 
that  of  the  intriguing  boss,  and  there  have  been  instances  of 
his  suddenly  falling  to  rise  no  more." 

Mr.  James  was  well  succeeded  in  the  New  York  Post- 
office  by  Mr.  Pearson,  who  had  been  the  Assistant  Postmaster. 
Robert  T.  Lincoln,  of  Illinois,  Secretary  of  War,  was  not  well 
known,  but  the  illustrious  name  of  his  father  made  the  selec 
tion  a  popular  one.  He  had  supported  Grant  in  the  conven 
tion,  and  his  appointment  was  an  acknowledgment  of  the 
Logan  faction.  Of  Mr.  Kirkwood,  Secretary  of  the  Interior, 
it  is  sufficient  to  say  that  he  was  indorsed  by  Carl  Schurz,  his 
predecessor  in  the  department.  Judge  William  H.  Hunt  was 
placed  in  charge  of  the  navy  portfolio.  He  was  an  Old-Line 

*The  publication  of  the  "Morey  Letter"  (see  p.  315)  stirred  up  a  general  anti- 
Chinese  feeling,  particularly  through  the  West.  On  October  31,  1880,  a  mob  attacked  the 
Chinese  quarter  in  Denver,  and  were  only  driven  back  when  the  firemen  turned  the  stream 
from  their  hose  on  them. 

328 


GARFIELD'S  CABINET 

Whig,  born  in  South  Carolina,  who  had  moved  to  Louisiana. 
Throughout  the  war  he  was  a  staunch  Union  man,  and  after 
ward  a  consistent  Republican.  He  had  been  counsel  for 
Governor  Kellogg  against  McEnery  in  the  famous  Durell 
case,  and  also  a  candidate  for  the  office  of  Attorney-General 
on  the  Louisiana  State  ticket  with  Packard.  President  Hayes 
made  him  a  judge  of  the  Court  of  Claims,  a  position  which 
he  held  till  he  received  this  promotion  from  Mr.  Garfield. 

Wayne  MacVeagh,  of  Pennsylvania,  Attorney-General  in 
Garfield's  Cabinet,  was  universally  respected  for  his  high  char 
acter  and  ability.  Though  a  son-in-law  of  Simon  Cameron, 
he  was  an  Independent,  and  therefore,  politically,  no  friend  to 
either  of  the  Camerons.  William  Windom,  of  Minnesota, 
Secretary  of  the  Treasury,  the  East  suspected  of  monetary 
"  unsoundness,"  but  this  occasioned  little  anxiety,  as  Garfield 
was  well  known  to  be  perfectly  trustworthy  in  this  regard. 
Windom  was  immensely  popular  in  the  West  because  of  his 
antagonism  to  monopolies,  some  of  which  had  already  made 
themselves  formidable  and  odious.  By  this  time  telegraph 
and  railway  lines  had  become  consolidated  and  one  or  two 
"  Trusts  "  had  arisen. 

In  the  fall  of  1880  a  Mr.  Hudson,  of  Detroit,  confided 
to  Senator  Sherman  a  fear  that  General  Garfield  would  be 
assassinated,  giving  particulars.  Being  at  once  apprised,  Mr. 
Garfield,  under  date  of  November  16,  1880,  replied:  "I  do 
not  think  there  is  any  serious  danger  in  the  direction  to  which 
he  refers,  though  I  am  receiving  what  I  suppose  to  be  the 
usual  number  of  threatening  letters  on  that  subject.  Assassi 
nation  can  no  more  be  guarded  against  than  death  by  lightning; 
and  it  is  not  best  to  worry  about  either."  Hardly  had  President 
Garfield  entered  upon  his  high  duties  when  Mr.  Hudson's 
fears  were  realized.  This  was  only  six  weeks  after  the  mur 
der  of  Czar  Alexander  II.  The  President  had  never  been  in 
better  spirits  than  on  the  morning  of  July  i,  1881.  Before  he 
was  up  one  of  his  sons  entered  his  room.  Almost  the  boy's 

3*9 


1* 


THE  UNITED  STATES  IN  OUR  OWN  TIME 

first  words  were  "  There  !  " — taking  a  flying  leap  over  his  bed 
— "  you  are  the  President  of  the  United  States,  but  you  can't 
do  that."  Whereupon  the  Chief  Magistrate  arose  and  did  it. 
Later  in  the  morning,  thus  healthy  and  jovial,  he  entered  the 
railway  station  at  Washington,  intending  to  take  an  Eastern 
trip.  Charles  J.  Guiteau,  a  disappointed  office-seeker,  crept 
up  behind  him  and  fired  two  bullets  at  him,  one  of  which 
lodged  in  his  back. 

The  country  already  had  a  deep  affection  for  Mr.  Gar- 
field,  all  except  those  immediately  interested  in  party  politics 
and  many  of  these,  sympathizing  with  him  against  Conkling 
in  the  struggle  that  had  arisen  over  appointments.  Demo 
crats  honored  him  for  his  course  in  this  business.  The  terrible 
misfortune  now  come  upon  him  ostensibly  in  consequence  of 
his  boldness  in  that  matter  wonderfully  endeared  him  to  the 
popular  heart.  He  was  likened  to  Lincoln,  as  another  "  mar 
tyr  President."  In  all  the  churches  throughout  the  North 
often  as  the  congregations  met  for  worship,  earnest  prayers 
were  offered  for  the  President's  recovery.  In  every  city  crowds 
watched  the  bulletin  boards  daily  from  morning  till  night  to 
learn  from  the  despatches  constantly  appearing  the  disting 
uished  sufferer's  condition.  The  bullet  had  pierced  the  tissues 
by  a  long,  angry  and  crooked  course,  leaving  a  wound  that 
could  not  be  properly  drained.  Spite  of  treatment  by  the 
most  famous  medical  practitioners — whom,  however,  high  au 
thorities  deemed  somewhat  fussy  and  irresolute  in  handling 
the  case — blood-poisoning  set  in,  and  at  length  proved  fatal. 
The  President's  hardy  constitution  enabled  him  to  fight  for 
life  as  few  could  have  done.  He  languished  on  and  on 
through  weeks  of  dreadful  suffering,  till  September  1 9th,  when 
he  died. 

On  the  2  ist  of  December  the  Houses  of  Congress  passed 
resolutions  for  memorial  services,  to  occur  on  February  27, 
1882,  to  which  were  invited  the  President  and  ex- Presidents, 
the  heads  of  departments,  Supreme  Court  Judges,  Ministers  of 

33° 


ELAINE'S  ORATION  ON  GARFIELD 


foreign  countries,  Gov 
ernors  of  States,  and 
distinguished  officers  of 
the  army  and  the  navy. 
Upon  that  occasion 
Mr.  Elaine  delivered  an 
oration  on  the  life  and 
character  of  the  dead 
Chief  Magistrate.  The 
closing  periods  ran :  "  As 
the  end  drew  near,  his 
early  craving  for  the  sea 
returned.  The  stately 
mansion  of  power  had 
been  to  him  the  weari 
some  hospital  of  pain, 
and  he  begged  to  be 
taken  from  its  prison 
walls,  from  its  oppres 
sive,  stifling  air,  from  its  homelessness  and  its  hopelessness. 
Gently,  silently,  the  love  of  a  great  people  bore  the  pale  sufferer 
to  the  longed-for  healing  of  the  sea,  to  live  or  to  die,  as  God 
should  will,  within  sight  of  its  heaving  billows,  within  sound 
of  its  manifold  voices.  With  wan,  fevered  face  tenderly  lifted 
to  the  cooling  breeze,  he  looked  out  wistfully  upon  the  ocean's 
changing  wonders  ;  on  its  far  sails,  whitening  in  the  morning 
light ;  on  its  restless  waves  rolling  shoreward  to  break  and  die 
beneath  the  noonday  sun  ;  the  red  clouds  of  evening,  arching 
low  to  the  horizon  ;  on  the  serene  and  shining  pathway  of 
the  stars.  Let  us  think  that  his  dying  eyes  read  a  mystic 
meaning  which  only  the  rapt  and  parting  soul  may  know. 
Let  us  believe  that  in  the  silence  of  the  receding  world  he 
heard  the  great  waves  breaking  on  a  further  shore,  and  felt 
already  upon  his  wasted  brow  the  breath  of  the  eternal  morn- 
ing." 

333 


After 


JAMES  A.   GARFIELD 

a  photograph  by  Bell — the  last  picture  made  before 
the  assassination 


THE  UNITED  STATES  IN  OUR  OWN  TIME 

The  sorrow  over  President  Garfield's  death,  said 
George  William  Curtis,  in  another  eulogy,  was  "  more  world 
wide  and  pathetic  than  ever  before  lamented  a  human  being. 
In  distant  lands  men  bowed  their  heads.  The  courts  of  kings 
were  clad  in  mourning.  The  parish  bells  of  rural  England 
tolled,  and  every  American  household  was  hushed  with  pain 
as  if  its  first-born  lay  dead." 

It  may  be  doubted  whether  posterity  will  give  Mr. 
Garfield  quite  the  high  place  assigned  him  by  contemporary 
judgment;  yet  he  was  certainly  among  our  greater  men. 
Somewhat  vacillating  and  passive,  and  too  much  dominated 
by  Elaine's  stronger  nature,  Garfield  was  a  man  of  solid 
character,  no  little  personal  magnetism,  and  great  information. 
In  many  respects  he  and  Elaine  were  alike.  In  aptness  for 
personal  intercourse  with  men,  and  in  the  power  of  will,  he 
was  Elaine's  inferior,  while  in  logic,  learning  and  breadth  of 
view  he  was  in  advance  of  Elaine. 

Guiteau  had  been  by  spells  a  politician,  lawyer,  lecturer, 
theologian  and  evangelist.  He  pretended  to  have  been  in 
spired  by  Deity  with  the  thought  that  the  removal  of  Mr. 
Garfield  was  necessary  to  the  unity  of  the  Republican  party 
and  to  the  salvation  of  the  country.  He  is  said  to  have  ex 
claimed,  on  being  arrested  :  "  All  right,  I  did  it  and  will  go  to 
jail  for  it.  I  am  a  Stalwart,  and  Arthur  will  be  President." 
His  trial  began  in  November  and  lasted  over  two  months. 
The  defense  was  insanity.  The  prosecution  showed  that  the 
man  had  long  been  an  unprincipled  adventurer,  greedy  for  no 
toriety  ;  that  he  first  conceived  the  project  of  killing  the  Presi 
dent  after  his  hopes  of  office  were  finally  destroyed  ;  and  that 
he  had  planned  the  murder  several  weeks  in  advance. 

The  public  rage  against  Guiteau  knew  no  bounds.  Only 
by  the  utmost  vigilance  on  the  part  of  his  keepers  was  his  life 
prolonged  till  the  day  of  his  execution.  Sergeant  Mason,  a 
soldier  set  to  guard  him,  fired  into  Guiteau's  cell  with  the 
evident  intention  of  applying  to  the  assassin  assassins'  methods. 

334 


GUITEAU  IN  COURT 

The  sergeant  was  tried  by  court-martial,  dismissed  from  the 
army,  deprived  of  his  back  pay,  and  sentenced  to  eight  years 
in  the  Albany  Penitentiary.  Two  months  later,  as  they  were 
taking  the  wretched  Guiteau  from  jail  to  court,  a  horseman, 
dashing  past,  fired  a  pistol  at  him,  the  bullet  grazing  his  wrist. 
The  prisoner's  disorderly  conduct  and  scurrilous  inter 
ruptions  of  the  proceedings  during  his  trial,  apparently  to  aid 
the  plea  of  insanity,  impaired  the  dignity  of  the  occasion  and 


PRESIDENT  GARFIELD'S  REMAINS  LTING  IN  STATE  AT   THE   CAPITOL 

elicited,  both  at  home  and  abroad,  comment  disparaging  to 
the  court.  Judge  Cox  threatened  to  gag  the  prisoner  or  send 
him  out  of  court ;  but  as  neither  of  these  courses  could  be 
taken  without  infringing  Guiteau's  right  to  confront  his  ac 
cusers  and  to  speak  in  his  own  behalf,  the  threats  were  of 
no  avail. 

335 


THE  UNITED  STATES  IN  OUR  OWN  TIME 

Guiteau  was  found  guilty  in  January,  1882.  As  the  last 
juror  signified  his  assent  to  the  verdict  the  condemned  man 
sprang  to  his  feet  and  shrieked  :  "  My  blood  will  be  upon 
the  heads  of  that  jury.  Don't  you  forget  it !  God  will  avenge 
this  outrage  !  "  He  was  executed  at  Washington  on  June  30, 
1882,  and  his  skeleton  is  now  in  the  Army  Medical  Museum 
in  that  city.  The  autopsy  showed  no  disease  of  the  brain. 

Although  it  had  no  logical  connection  with  the  spoils 
system,  the  assassination  of  President  Garfield  called  the  atten 
tion  of  the  country  to  the  crying  need  of  reform  in  the  civil 
service.  Through  March,  April,  May  and  June,  1 88 1,  Wash 
ington  streets  had  been  blockaded  with  office-seekers  and  politi 
cal  adventurers,  bearing  "  testimonials  "  of  their  worth,  seeking 
indorsers  and  backers  and  awaiting  chances  to  "  interview " 
the  President  himself.  Contributors  to  the  election  fund  were 
especially  forward  in  demanding  positions.  The  President's 
time  and  strength  were  wasted  in  weighing  the  deserts  of  this 
or  that  politician  or  faction  of  a  State  to  control  patronage 
there.  All  who  had  known  him  in  the  army,  in  Congress  or 
at  home  now  made  the  most  of  such  acquaintance. 

We  have  seen  that  Hayes's  administration  marked  in 
this  respect,  as  in  others,  an  immense  improvement.  Secretary 
Schurz  in  the  Interior  Department  enforced  competitive  ex 
aminations.  They  were  applied  by  Mr.  James  to  the  New 
York  Post-office,  and,  as  a  result,  one-third  more  work  was 
done  with  less  cost.  Similar  good  results  followed  the  adop 
tion  of  the  "  merit  system  "  in  the  New  York  Custom-house 
after  1879.  President  Hayes  also  strongly  condemned  politi 
cal  assessments  upon  office-holders,  but  with  small  practical 
effect,  as  his  effort  lacked  full  legislative  sanction  and  sym 
pathy. 

But  the  corruption  which  had  enjoyed  immunity  so  long 
could  not  be  put  down  all  at  once.  During  Hayes's  last 
years,  and  thereafter,  much  public  attention  was  drawn  to  the 
"  Star  Route  "  frauds.  The  Star  Routes  were  stage-lines  for 

336 


SCENE    AT  A   STATION    ON   THE  PENNSYLVANIA   RAILROAD  AS    THE    GARFIELD  AMBU 
LANCE    TRAIN   PASSED    ON   ITS    WAY   TO   ELBERON* 


*0n  September  6th,  the  President  was  removed  to  Elberon,  N.  J.,  in  a  specially  designed  car,  the  bed  being  arranged  so  as 
to  minimise  the  jolting.  It  was  an  extremely  hot  day  and  the  train  went  very  fast,  the  President  sending  a  mes 
sage  to  the  engineer  to  increase  the  speed.  At  the  stations  and  in  the  fields  knots  of  people  congregated  to  watch  the 
passage  of  the  train,  instinctively  removing  their  hats  as  it  came  into  sight. 


THE  STAR  ROUTES 


i 


THE  GARFIELD  FUNERAL  CAR  ABOUT  TO  START  FROM  THE  PUBLIC  SQUARE, 

CLEVELAND,  0.,  FOR   THE   CEMETERT 
Drawn  by  T.  L.   Thulstrup  from  a  photograph  by  Ryder 

carrying  the  mails  in  sections  of  the  West  where  railroads  and 
steamboats  failed.  In  1878  there  were  9,225  of  these  Star 
Routes,  for  the  maintenance  of  which  Congress  in  that  year 
appropriated  $5,900,000.  A  Ring  made  up  on  the  one  hand 
of  Democratic  and  Republican  public  men,  some  of  these, 
very  prominent,  and  on  the  other  hand  of  certain  mail  con 
tractors,  managed  to  increase  the  remuneration  for  service  on 
135  pet  routes  from  $143,169  to  $622,808.  On  twenty-six 
of  the  routes  the  pay-roll  was  put  up  from  $65,216  to  $530,- 
319.  The  method  was,  first,  to  get  numerously  signed  peti 
tions  from  the  districts  interested,  praying  for  an  increase  in 
the  number  of  trips  per  week  and  shortening  the  schedule 

339 


THE  UNITED  STATES  IN  OUR  OWN  TIME 


time  of  each  trip,  get  "  estimates  "  from  the  contractors  vastly 
in  excess  of  actual  cost  for  the  service,  get  these  estimates 
allowed  at  Washington,  and  then  divide  profits  between  the 
"  statesmen "  and  citizens  interested  in  the  "  deal."  Over 
some  of  these  lines,  it  was  asserted,  not  more  than  three  letters 
a  week  were  carried. 

Attention  was  drawn  to  the  Star  Route  matter  before  the 
close  of  Hayes's  term,  but  exposure  was  staved  off  until  Mr. 
James,  "the  model  New  York  Postmaster,"  assumed  the  office 
of  Postmaster-General.  On  May  6,  1881,  Mr.  James  wrote 
Thurlow  Weed :  "  Rest  assured  I  shall  do  my  whole  duty  in 
the  matter  of.  the  Star  Route  swindlers.  It  is  a  hard  task, 
but  it  shall  be  pushed  fearlessly,  regardless  of  whom  it  may 
involve." 

Thomas  W.  Brady,  Second  Assistant  Postmaster-General, 
was  supposed  to  be  a  member  of  the  Ring.  At  any  rate,  he 
threatened,  unless  proceedings  were  stopped,  to  publish  a  let 
ter  of  President  Garfield's  written  during  the  campaign.  This 
he  did.  It  was  the  famous  "My  dear  Hubbell"  epistle.  The 
writer,  addressing  "  My  dear  Hubbell,"  hoped  that  "  he  "  (re 
ferring  to  Brady)  "  would  give  them  all  the  assistance  possible." 
According  to  Brady,  this  meant  that  he  should,  among  other 
things,  get  money  from  the  Star  Route  contractors.  Garfield  in 
sisted  that  it  was  simply  a  call  on 
Brady  to  contribute  from  his  own 
pocket.  In  the  next  sentence  of 
the  letter,  however,  the  presidential 
candidate  asks :  "  Please  tell  me 
how  the  departments  generally  are 
doing."  This  will  hardly  bear  any 
other  construction  than  that  of  party 
extortion  from  the  government  em 
ployes,  especially  since  this  same 
Hubbell,  as  rhairm™  of  tK-  E.  -uli- 
lican  Congressional  < 


GEORGE  H.   PENDLETON 


34° 


PENDLETON  CIVIL  SERVICE  ACT 


Dorman  B.  Eaton  John  M.  Gregory  Leroy  D.  Tboman 

THE   CIVIL   SERVICE   COMMISSIONERS  APPOINTED   BY  PRESIDENT  ARTHUR 

later  called  to  account  by  the  reformers  for  levying  two  per 
cent,  assessments  upon  the  clerks — styled  by  him  and  his  friends 
"  voluntary  contributions."  Whether  Brady's  tu  quoque 
availed  him,  or  for  some  other  reason,  his  trial  was  postponed 
and  he  was  never  convicted.  Senator  Dorsey,  of  Arkansas, 
was  also  arraigned,  but,  upon  his  second  trial,  in  1883,  was 
acquitted.  Indeed,  of  those  prosecuted  for  fraud  in  connec 
tion  with  the  Star  Routes,  only  one  was  ever  punished ;  and 
in  this  case  the  Government  was  in  error,  as  the  man  was 
innocent. 

The  tragic  fate  of  President  Garfield,  taken  in  connection 
with  these  and  other  revelations  of  continuing  political  corrup 
tion,  brought  public  sentiment  on  Civil  Service  Reform  to  a 
head.  A  bill  prepared  by  the  Civil  Service  Reform  League, 
and  in  1880  introduced  in  the  Senate  by  Senator  Pendleton, 
of  Ohio,  passed  Congress  in  January,  1883,  and  on  the  i6th 
of  that  month  received  the  signature  of  President  Arthur. 

Renewing,  in  the  main,  the  provisions  adopted  under  the 
Act  of  1 87 1 ,  it  authorized  the  President,  with  the  consent  of  the 
Senate,  to  appoint  three  Civil  Service  Commissioners,  who  were 
to  institute  competitive  examinations  open  to  all  persons  desir- 

44-1 


THE  UNITED  STATES  IN  OUR  OWN  TIME 

ing  to  enter  the  employ  of  the  Government.  It  provided  that 
the  clerks  in  the  departments  at  Washington,  and  in  every 
customs  district  or  post-office  where  fifty  or  more  were  em 
ployed,  should  be  arranged  in  classes,  and  that  in  the  future 
only  persons  who  had  passed  the  examinations  should  be  ap 
pointed  to  service  in  these  offices  or  promoted  from  a  lower 
class  to  a  higher,  preference  being  given  according  to  rank  in 
the  examinations.  Candidates  were  to  serve  six  months'  pro 
bation  at  practical  work  before  receiving  a  final  appointment. 
The  bill  struck  a  heavy  blow  at  political  assessments,  by 
declaring  that  no  official  should  be  removed  for  refusing  to 
contribute  to  political  funds.  A  Congressman  or  government 
official  convicted  of  soliciting  or  receiving  political  assessments 
from  government  employes  became  liable  to  $5,000  fine  or 
three  years'  imprisonment,  or  both.  Persons  in  the  govern 
ment  service  were  forbidden  to  use  their  official  authority  or 
influence  to  coerce  the  political  action  of  anyone,  or  to  inter 
fere  with  elections.  Dorman  B.  Eaton,  Leroy  D.  Thoman, 
and  John  M.  Gregory  were  appointed  commissioners  by 
President  Arthur.  By  the  end  of  the  year  the  new  system 
was  fairly  in  operation.  Besides  the  departments  at  Wash 
ington,  it  applied  to  eleven  customs  districts  and  twenty-three 
post-offices  where  fifty  or  more  officials  were  employed. 


CHAPTER   XIII 

DOMESTIC  EVENTS  DURING  MR.  ARTHUR'S 
ADMINISTRATION 

MR.  ARTHUR'S  DILEMMA. — HIS  ACCESSION. — RESPONSIBILITY  EVOKES 

HIS  BEST. THE  PRESIDENTIAL  SUCCESSION  QUESTION. SUCCESSION 

ACT  PASSED. ELECTORAL  COUNT  ACT  PASSED. ARTHUR'S   CABI 
NET. CONDITION  OF  THE  COUNTRY  IN  l88l. DECADENCE  OF  OUR 

OCEAN  CARRYING. TARIFF  COMMISSION  OF  1882  AND  THE  TARIFF 

OF  I  88.3. MAHONE  AND  THE  VIRGINIA  "READJUSTERS." MAHONE'S 

RECORD. HIS  ENTRY  INTO  THE  SENATE. PRESIDENT  ARTHUR  AND 

THE    CHINESE. — ORIGIN     OF     THE     CHINESE     (QUESTION. ANSON 

BURLINGAME. — THE  1878  EMBASSY. CHINESE  THRONG  HITHER. — 

EARLY  CALIFORNIA. THE  STRIKE  OF  1877  AFFECTS  CALIFORNIA. 

RISE   AND  CHARACTER  OF  DENIS  KEARNEY. HIS  PROGRAM. THE 

"SAND-LOT"  CAMPAIGN. — KEARNEY'S  MODERATION. — HE  is  COURT 
ED. AND       OPPOSED. HIS      CONSTITUTIONAL      CONVENTION. ITS 

WORK. KEARNEYISM    TO    THE   REAR. THE    JAMES    DESPERADOES. 

THEIR  CAPTURE. THE   YORKTOWN   CELEBRATION. MEMENTOES    OF 

OLD       YORKTOWN. THE      PAGEANT. "SURRENDER"      DAY. THE 

OTHER   DAYS. CLOSE    OF    THE    FETE. — FLOOD    AND  RIOT  IN  CINCIN 
NATI. 

DURING  Garfield's  illness  Mr.  Arthur's  predicament  had 
been  most  delicate.  The  second  article  of  the  Consti- 
tion  provides  that  "  in  case  of  the  removal  of  the  President 
from  office,  or  of  his  death,  resignation  or  inability  to  dis 
charge  the  powers  and  duties  of  said  office,  the  same  shall 
devolve  on  the  Vice-President."  What  is  here  meant  by  a 
President's  "  inability,"  and  how  or  by  whom  such  inability 
is  in  any  case  to  be  ascertained,  had  never  been  determined. 
Was  the  question  of  "  inability  "  to  be  decided  by  the  Presi 
dent  himself,  by  the  Vice-President,  or  by  Congress  ?  Could 
the  Vice-President  take  up  Presidential  duties  temporarily, 
giving  way  again  to  the  President  in  case  the  latter  recovered, 
or  must  he,  having  begun,  serve  through  the  remainder  of 

343 


THE  UNITED  STATES  IN  OUR  OWN  TIME 

the  four  years,  the  once  disabled  President  being  permanently 
out  of  office  ?  These  problems  doubtless  weighed  heavily 
upon  Mr.  Arthur's  mind  while  his  chief  lay  languishing. 
They  were  everywhere  discussed  daily.  A  popular  view  was 
advocated  by  General  Butler,  to  the  effect  that  the  Vice-Presi- 
dent  himself  was  charged  with  the  duty  of  deciding  when  to 
take  up  the  higher  functions.  As  Garfield's  was  a  clear  case 
of  "  inability  to  discharge  the  powers  and  duties  of  the  Presi 
dency,"  Mr.  Arthur  may  actually  have  felt  it,  from  a  techni 
cally  legal  point  of  view,  incumbent  upon  him  to  assume 
these  "  powers  and  duties."  In  a  Cabinet  meeting  Mr.  Elaine 
suggested  that  Mr.  Arthur  be  summoned  to  do  this,  intimat 
ing  that  the  chief  direction  ought  certainly  to  be  devolved 
on  Arthur  should  an  extraordinary  emergency  in  administra 
tion  arise.  It  was  fortunate  that  no  such  emergency  occurred, 
and  that  Mr.  Arthur  did  not  feel  for  any  reason  called  upon 
to  grasp  the  reins  of  government.  At  this  critical  juncture  he 
might  easily  have  acted,  or  even  spoken,  in  a  manner  seriously 
to  compromise  himself  and  his  country.  Far  from  doing  any 
thing  of  the  sort,  he  was  singularly  discreet  through  the  whole 
trial. 

Hardly  had  Garfield  breathed  his  last,  when,  the  same 
night,  in  the  small  morning  hours  of  September  20,  1881, 
Mr.  Arthur  took  oath  as  President.  This  occurred  in  his 
house  in  New  York  City,  Judge  Brady,  of  the  New  York  State 
Supreme  Court,  officiating.  The  next  day  but  one,  the  oath 
was  again  administered  by  Chief  Justice  Waite  in  the  Senate 
Chamber  at  Washington.  On  this  occasion  Mr.  Arthur 
delivered  a  brief  inaugural  address.  He  said  :  "  The  mem 
ory  of  the  murdered  President,  his  protracted  sufferings,  his 
unyielding  fortitude,  the  example  and  achievements  of  his 
life  and  the  pathos  of  his  death,  will  forever  illuminate  the 
pages  of  our  history.  Men  may  die,  but  the  fabrics  of  our 
free  institutions  remain  unshaken.  No  higher  or  more  assur 
ing  proof  could  exist  of  the  strength  and  power  of  popular 

344 


D.  G.  Rollins     EHhu  Root 


President  Arthur 


Judge  Brady 


PRESIDENT  ARTHUR   TAKING  THE  INAUGURAL   OATH  AT  HIS  LEXINGTON  AVENUE 

RESIDENCE 


IMPORTANT   LEGISLATION 

government  than  the  fact  that,  though  the  chosen  of  the 
people  be  struck  down,  his  constitutional  successor  is  peace 
fully  installed  without  shock  or  strain." 

Responsibility  brought  out  the  new  President's  best  quali 
ties.  He  had  little  special  preparation  for  his  exalted  office. 
Save  among  the  New  York  Republicans,  he  was  almost  un 
known  till  his  nomination  as  Vice-President,  and  when  he 
succeeded  Garfield  there  was  much  misgiving.  Yet  his  admin 
istration  was  distinguished  as  few  have  been  for  ability,  fairness, 
elevation  of  tone  and  freedom  from  mean  partisanship.  He 
was  extremely  diligent,  circumspect,  considerate  and  firm. 
That  he  had  nerve  men  saw  when,  in  1882,  he  resolutely 
vetoed  a  portentously  large  River  and  Harbor  Bill.  His 
public  papers  were  in  admirable  spirit,  thoroughly  considered, 
and  written  in  a  style  finer  than  those  of  any  preceding  Presi 
dent  since  John  Quincy  Adams. 

The  country's  ordeal  in  connection  with  Garfield's  death 
led  to  an  important  piece  of  legislation.  Few  were  then  or 
are  now  aware  by  what  a  slender  thread  the  orderly  govern 
ment  of  our  country  hung  between  the  shooting  of  Garfield 
in  July,  1 88 1,  and  the  second  special  session  of  the  Senate  of 
the  Forty-seventh  Congress  the  following  October.  Had  Mr. 
Arthur  died  at  any  moment  during  this  period — and  it  is  said 
that  he  was  for  a  time  in  imminent  danger  of  death — or  had 
he  become  in  any  way  unable  to  perform  a  President's  duties, 
there  could  have  been  no  constitutional  succession  to  the 
Presidency.  The  law  of  March,  1792,  declares  that  in  case 
the  Vice-President  as  well  as  the  President  dies,  is  removed, 
or  is  disqualified,  "the  President  of  the  Senate  pro  tempore,  or,  if 
there  is  none,  then  the  Speaker  of  the  House  of  Representa 
tives  for  the  time  being,  shall  act  as  President  until  the  disa 
bility  is  removed  or  a  President  elected."  But  at  the  time  of 
Garfield's  assassination,  neither  a  President  pro  tempore  of  the 
Senate  nor  a  Speaker  of  the  House  existed.  It  had  been  cus 
tomary  for  the  Vice-President  before  the  end  of  a  session  of 

347 


or  THE 
UNIVERSITY 

OF 


THE  UNITED  STATES  IN  OUR  OWN  TIME 

the  Senate  to  retire,  and  so  require  the  appointment  of  a  Presi 
dent  ^>r0  tempore  who  should  continue  as  such  during  the  re 
cess  ;  but  on  this  occasion  the  special  session  of  the  Senate  in 
May  had  adjourned  without  electing  any  such  presiding  offi 
cer.  On  October  loth  Senator  Bayard  was  made  President 
pro  tempore  of  the  Senate,  followed  on  the  ijth  by  Senator 
David  Davis.  Of  course  there  could  be  no  Speaker  at  this 
time,  as  the  Forty-sixth  Congress  had  ceased  to  exist  in 
March,  and  the  House  of  the  Forty-seventh  did  not  convene 
till  December. 

In  his  first  annual  message  President  Arthur  commended 
to  the  "  early  and  thoughtful  consideration  of  Congress  "  the 
important  questions  touching  the  Presidential  succession  which 
had  so  vividly  emerged  in  consequence  of  his  predecessor's 
assassination.  It  had  been  a  question  whether  the  statute  of 
1792  was  constitutional.  The  ground  of  the  doubt  was  that, 
according  to  the  doctrine  agreed  to  when,  in  1798,  an  attempt 
was  made  to  impeach  Senator  Blount,  of  Tennessee,  Speakers 
of  the  House  and  temporary  Presidents  of  the  Senate  are  not, 
technically,  "  officers  of  the  United  States."  Hence,  were 
either  a  speaker  or  a  temporary  head  of  the  Senate  to  take  a 
President's  place,  Presidential  duties  would  be  devolved  on 
an  official  who  could  not  be  impeached  for  malfeasance.  The 
law  of  1792  was  objectionable  for  other  reasons.  It  originally 
passed  only  by  a  narrow  majority.  Many  then  wished  that 
the  Presidential  succession  should  take  the  direction  of  the 
Secretary  of  State,  and  had  not  Jefferson  held  this  office  at  the 
time  the  law  would  probably  have  so  provided. 

On  the  second  day  of  its  first  regular  session  the  Senate  of 
the  Forty-seventh  Congress  ordered  its  Judiciary  Committee 
to  consider  the  question  of  the  Presidential  succession,  inquire 
whether  any,  and  if  so,  what,  further  legislation  was  necessary 
in  respect  to  the  same,  and  to  report  by  bill  or  otherwise.  A 
bill  to  meet  the  case  was  soon  introduced  by  Senator  Garland, 
of  Arkansas.  The  matter  was  briefly  debated  both  then  and 


PRESIDENTIAL    SUCCESSION   ACT 


at  intervals  for  a  number  of  years  ;  but  no  legislation  upon  it 
occurred  till  January,  1886,  when  the  Forty-ninth  Congress 
passed  a  law  based  on  Garland's  draft.  It  provided  that  if  the 
Presidency  and  the  Vice- Presidency  are  both  vacant  the  Presi 
dency  passes  to  the  members  of  the  Cabinet  in  the  historical 
order  of  the  establishment  of  their  departments,  beginning 
with  the  Secretary  of  State.  If  he  dies,  is  impeached  or  dis 
abled,  the  Secretary  of  the  Treasury  becomes  President,  to  be 
followed  in  like  crisis  by  the  Secretary  of  War,  he  by  the 
Attorney-General,  he  by  the  Postmaster-General,  he  by  the 
Secretary  of  the  Navy,  and  he  by  the  Secretary  of  the  Interior. 
To  be  thus  in  the  line  of  the  Presidential  succesion  a  Cabinet 
officer  must  have  been  duly  confirmed  as  such  and  must 
be  constitutionally  eligible  to  the  Presidency.  If  Congress  is 
not  in  session  when  one  of  these  officers  thus  comes  to  the 
Presidency,  and  is  not  to  convene  in  twenty  days,  the  new 

President  must  issue  a 
proclamation  convening 
Congress  after  twenty 
days,  and  Congress  must 
then  order  a  new  election 
for  President. 

The  Forty-ninth  Con 
gress  also  passed,  on  Feb 
ruary  3,  1887,  an  act  to 
fix  the  day  for  the  meet 
ing  of  the  electors  of 
President  and  Vice- Presi 
dent,  and  to  provide  for 
and  regulate  the  counting 
of  the  votes  for  President 
and  Vice-President  and 
the  decision  of  questions 
arising  thereon.  The  as 
certainment  of  the  electors 


CHESTER    A.   ARTHUR 


349 


THE  UNITED  STATES  IN  OUR  OWN  TIME 

within  and  for  any  State  is  so  far  as  possible  made  the  busi 
ness  of  that  State,  any  judicial  determination  made  for 
this  purpose  within  six  days  of  the  electors'  meeting  being 
binding  on  Congress.  In  case  of  a  single  return  fixing  the 
personnel  of  the  electors  the  vote  of  any  elector  can  be  re 
jected  only  by  the  two  Houses  concurrently  agreeing  that  it 
was  not  legally  cast.  In  case  of  conflicting  returns  one  of 
which  a  State  tribunal  has  adjudged  to  be  legal,  only  those 
votes  denoted  by  this  return  can  be  counted.  If  there  is  ques 
tion  which  of  two  or  more  authorities  or  tribunals  had  the  right 
to  determine  the  legal  electoral  vote  of  the  State,  the  votes, 
being  regularly  cast,  of  the  electors  whose  title  the  two  Houses 
acting  separately  concurrently  decide  to  be  the  legal  ones,  are 
counted.  If  there  has  been  no  determination  of  the  question 
of  electors'  legitimacy,  those  votes  and  those  only  are  counted 
which  the  two  Houses  concurrently  decide  to  have  been  cast 
by  the  lawful  electors;  unless  the  two  Houses  acting  sep 
arately  concurrently  decide  that  such  votes  were  not  the  legal 
votes  of  the  legally  elected  electors. 

We  still  have  no  legal  or  official  criterion  of  a  President's 
"  inability  to  discharge  the  powers  and  duties  of  his  office,"  nor 
has  any  tribunal  been  designated  for  the  settlement  of  the  ques 
tion  when  it  arises.  We  do  not  know  whether,  were  another 
President  so  ill  as  Garfield  was,  it  would  be  proper  for  the 
Cabinet  to  perform  Presidential  duties,  as  Garfield's  did,  or 
whether  the  Vice-President  would  be  bound  to  assume  those 
duties.  Barring  this  chance  for  conflict,  it  is  not  easy  to  think 
of  an  emergency  in  which  the  chief  magistracy  can  now  fall 
vacant  or  the  appropriate  incumbent  thereof  be  in  doubt. 

The  only  member  of  Garfield's  Cabinet  whom  Arthur 
permanently  retained  was  Robert  T.  Lincoln,  Secretary  of 
War.  However,  the  old  Cabinet  did  not  dissolve  at  once. 
Not  till  December  19,  1881,  did  Mr.  Elaine,  who  had  prac 
tically  been  at  the  head  of  the  Government  from  the  Presi 
dent's  assassination  till  his  death,  surrender  the  State  portfolio. 


35° 


CONDITION   OF   THE    COUNTRY 

Frederick  T.  Frelinghuysen,  of  New  Jersey,  took  his  place. 
Ex-Governor  Edwin  D.  Morgan,  of  New  York,  had  been 
nominated  and  confirmed  as  Secretary  of  the  Treasury,  but 
had  declined  on  account  of  ill  health.  Judge  Charles  J.  Folger 
took  the  Treasury  portfolio  November  15,  1881.  In  April, 
1882,  William  E.  Chandler,  of  New  Hampshire,  and  Henry 
M.  Teller,  of  Colorado,  were  called  to  the  Navy  and  Inte 
rior  Departments  respectively.  January  5,  1882,  Timothy  O. 
Howe,  of  Wisconsin,  was  confirmed  as  Postmaster-General,  but 
he  died  in  March,  1883.  Walter  Q.  Gresham  succeeded  him. 
Benjamin  H.  Brewster,  of  Pennsylvania,  was  confirmed  At 
torney-General  in  December,  1881.  Secretary  Folger  died  in 
1884.  Gresham  was  then  transferred  to  the  Treasury,  As 
sistant  Postmaster-General  Frank  Hatton  being  advanced  to 
the  head  of  the  Post-office  Department.  Mr.  Gresham  soon 
resigned  to  accept  a  Circuit  Judgeship  on  the  Seventh  Circuit. 
His  place  as  Secretary  of  the  Treasury  was  filled  by  Hugh 
McCulloch,  who  had  administered  most  acceptably  the  same 
office  from  1865  to  1869. 

In  addressing  Congress  for  the  first  time,  President  Ar 
thur  was  able  to  represent  the  condition  of  the  country  as 
excellent.  Colorado  had  been  admitted  to  the  Union  in  1876. 
During  the  decade  ending  in  1880  our  population  had  grown 
somewhat  over  twenty-five  per  cent.,  that  is,  from  thirty-eight 
millions  to  fifty  millions.  The  net  public  debt,  December  31, 
1880,  was  a  trifle  less  than  $1,900,000,000,  a  decrease  in  the 
face  of  the  debt  of  $600,000,000,  in  the  ten  years.  Agricul 
tural  production  was  found  to  have  advanced  one  hundred 
per  cent.,  while,  according  to  the  ninth  census,  the  increase 
from  1870  to  1880  had  been  but  twelve  per  cent.  The  tenth 
census  corrected  certain  figures  relating  to  our  national  area, 
making  the  country  eight  hundred  square  miles  smaller  than 
it  had  been  supposed  to  be. 

Americans  thought  it  a  serious  matter  that  for  the  year 
1879  tne  foreign  trade  of  Great  Britain  exceeded  $3,000,000,- 

351 


THE  UNITED  STATES  IN  OUR  OWN  TIME 

ooo,  two  and  a  half  times  the  amount  of  ours.  It  was  also  a 
source  of  solicitude  that  we  were  the  only  civilized  country  in 
the  world  whose  ocean-carrying  had  absolutely  decreased  since 
1 856.  In  that  year  American  ships  bore  seventy-five  per  cent. 
of  all  we  exported  and  of  all  we  imported.  In  1878  American 
ships  bore  twenty-five  per  cent.;  in  1882  fifteen  per  cent. 
Though  our  foreign  commerce  had  increased  seventy  per 
cent,  in  amount,  the  cargoes  transported  in  American  ships 
were  $200,000,000  less  valuable  in  1878  than  in  1857.  In 
1856  foreign  vessels  entered  at  our  ports  had  a  tonnage  of 
3,117,034.  By  1 88 1  it  had  increased  308  per  cent,  or  to 
12,711,392  tons,  of  which  8,457,797  sailed  under  the  Union 
Jack.  On  the  other  hand,  American  tonnage  from  foreign 
ports,  in  the  same  period,  increased  from  1,891,453  to  2,919,- 
149,  or  only  54  per  cent.  "  The  continuing  decline  of  the 
merchant  marine  of  the  United  States,"  wrote  President 
Arthur,  "  is  greatly  to  be  deplored.  In  view  of  the  fact  that 
we  furnish  so  large  a  proportion  of  the  freights  of  the  com 
mercial  world,  and  that  our  shipments  are  steadily  and  rapidly 
increasing,  it  is  a  cause  of  surprise  that  not  only  is  our 
navigation  interest  diminishing,  but  it  is  less  than  when  our 
exports  and  imports  were  not  half  so  large  as  now  either  in 
bulk  or  in  value." 

An  Act  of  Congress  passed  May  15,  1882,  created  a 
Tariff  Commission  consisting  of  prominent  manufactures  and 
others,  viz.:  J.  L.  Hayes,  H.  W.  Oliver,  A.  M.  Garland, 
J.  A.  Ambler,  Robert  P.  Porter,  J.  W.  H.  Underwood,  A.  R. 
Boteler  and  Duncan  F.  Kennon.  After  long  investigation 
and  deliberation,  having  examined  many  witnesses,  these 
gentlemen  brought  in  in  December  an  able,  luminous  and 
comprehensive  report  of  2,500  printed  pages,  forming  an 
invaluable  exhibit  of  our  then  customs  laws,  their  merits  and 
defects.  Part  of  it  ran:  "In  the  performance  of  the  duty 
devolved  upon  them,  all  the  members  of  the  Commission 
have  aimed,  and,  as  they  believe,  with  success,  to  divest  them- 

35* 


TARIFF  COMMISSION  AND  BILL 

selves  of  political  bias,  sectional  prejudice  or  considerations  of 
personal  interest.  It  is  their  desire  that  their  recommenda 
tions  shall  serve  no  particular  party,  class,  section  or  school 
of  political  economy." 

In  this  report  the  Commission  recommended  an  average 
reduction  in  tariff  rates  of  not  less  than  20  per  cent.  In 
certain  rates  a  lowering  of  50  per  cent,  was  urged.  The  Sen 
ate  amended  a  House  internal  revenue  measure  by  adding  a 
tariff  bill  calculated  to  effect  some  reduction,  though  less  radi 
cal  and  less  impartial  than  that  wished  by  the  Commission. 
"  If  the  Senate  Finance  Committee  had  embodied  in  this  bill 
the  recommendations  of  the  Tariff  Commission,  including 
the  schedules,  without  amendment  or  change,  the  tariff  would 
have  been  settled  for  many  years.  Unfortunately,  this,  was 
not  done,  but  the  schedules  prescribing  the  rates  of  duty  and 
their  classification  were  so  radically  changed  by  the  Commit 
tee  that  the  scheme  of  the  Tariff  Commission  was  practically 
defeated.  Many  persons  wishing  to  advance  their  particular 
industries  appeared  before  the  Committee  and  succeeded  in 
having  their  views  adopted."* 

A  two-thirds  vote  was  required  to  bring  this  Senate  bill 
before  the  House.  Wishing  it  referred  to  a  conference  com 
mittee,  which  would  be  to  their  advantage,  the  high-protection 
leaders  in  the  House  adroitly  got  the  rules  revised,  enabling 
a  bare  majority  to  non-concur  in  the  Senate  amendment,  but 
not  to  concur  therein  so  as  to  pass  the  bill.  The  measure, 
therefore,  went  to  the  Conference  Committee.  There  it  took 
on  features  much  more  highly  protectionist.  The  resulting 
act,  the  tariff  law  of  1883,  in  some  instances  advanced  customs 
rates  even  over  their  former  figures,  making  them  higher  than 
either  Commission,  Senate  or  House  had  proposed,  closely 
approximating  those  of  the  old  War  tariff.  The  average 
diminution  from  the  tariff  as  it  previously  stood  was,  perhaps, 
about  four  per  cent. 

*John  Sherman,  Recollections. 
353 


THE  UNITED  STATES  IN  OUR  OWN  TIME 

This  Act  paved  the  way  for  infinite  trouble  over  the 
tariff.  It  was  full  of  irrational  and  contradictory  provisions, 
and,  as  a  whole,  pleased  nobody.  Each  industry  wished  what 
it  purchased  treated  as  raw  material,  to  be  tariffed  low  or  not 
at  all,  and  what  it  sold  considered  as  the  finished  article,  to 
receive  the  highest  rates.  Struggle  over  these  conflicting 
interests  was  apparent  in  the  many  incongruous  features  of 
the  Act. 

It  was  significant  that  Mr.  Arthur's  first  message  made 
no  allusion  to  the  Southern  question.  All  felt,  so  well  had 
Mr.  Hayes's  policy  worked,  that  that  section  might  now  be 
safely  left  to  itself.  Meantime  the  "  Readjuster  "  controversy 
in  Virginia  bade  fair  to  be  the  entering  wedge  for  a  split  in  the 
solid  South.  The  Readjusters  were  a  Democratic  faction  tak 
ing  name  from  their  desire  to  "  readjust"  the  State  debt  on  a 
basis  that  meant  partial  repudiation.  In  1879,  by  a  fusion 
with  the  Republicans,  the  Readjusters  controlled  the  State  and 
elected  their  leader,  William  Mahone,  to  the  United  States 
Senate.  Mahone  had  been  a  major-general  in  the  Confeder 
ate  Army,  and  his  bravery  greatly  endeared  him  to  the  South 
ern  heart.  He  it  was  who  commanded  the  slender  contingent 
of  Confederates  at  Petersburg  on  July  30,  1864,  when  the 
mine  on  Burnside's  front  was  exploded.  He  there  fought  like 
a  tiger,  and  made  his  dispositions  with  the  utmost  skill  and 
coolness.  To  him  almost  alone  was  due  the  credit  that  day 
of  keeping  Petersburg  from  Union  hands  and  of  replacing  the 
Confederate  lines  by  sunset  exactly  where  they  were  at  sun 
rise.  Had  the  Confederacy  endured,  he  should  have  been 
one  of  its  presidents  for  his  meritorious  services  in  this  battle. 
The  negro  vote  helped  Mahone.  He  had  always  favored  fair 
treatment  for  the  black  man.  In  his  county  the  blacks  had 
voted  freely  and  their  votes  had  been  counted  as  cast.  Good 
provision  for  colored  schools  had  also  been  made  there. 

The  Virginian's  entry  into  the  Senate  in  1881  was  marked 
by  a  dramatic  passage  at  arms.  His  personal  appearance  drew 

354 


MAHONE  ENTERS  THE  SENATE 

attention.  He  had  been  a  striking  figure  in  battle  uniform, 
and  he  was  hardly  less  so  in  citizen's  attire.  He  wore  a  close- 
bodied  suit  of  brown  broadcloth,  frilled  cuffs  extending  beyond 
the  sleeves.  He  had  a  small  head  and  spindle  legs.  His 
hair  and  beard  were  long,  his  stature  diminutive.  One  de 
scribed  him  as  "  a  spry  midget,  full  of  Irish  fire,  who  enjoyed 
cutting  a  national  figure."  As  elected,  the  Senate  of  the 
Forty-seventh  Congress  had  a  small  Republican  majority,  but 
Garfield's  Cabinet  appointments,  calling  away  the  three  Repub 
lican  Senators — Elaine,  Kirkwood  and  Windom — left  the  two 
parties  in  the  body  equally  divided.  When  the  fight  for 
organization  came  on  there  were  thirty-seven  sure  Republicans 
and  thirty-seven  sure  Democrats,  not 
counting  David  Davis  or  Mahone,  both 
of  whom  were  expected  to  act  more 
or  less  independently  of  party.  Davis, 
favoring  the  status  quo  and  evidently  ex 
pecting  Mahone  to  vote  with  the  Dem 
ocrats  in  organizing,  declared  himself 
resolved  "  to  support  the  organization  of 
the  Senate  as  it  stood."  It  had  till  now 
been  Democratic.  Had  Mahone  sided 
with  him,  the  committees  as  made  up  by  WILLIAM 
the  Democratic  caucus  would  have  been  elected.  But  in 
spite  of  Democtratic  pleadings  and  denunciation,  Mahone 
concluded  to  support  the  Republicans.  This  tied  the  Sen 
ate,  even  if  Davis  voted  with  the  Democrats,  and  Vice- 
President  Arthur  could  of  course  be  counted  on  to  turn  the 
vote  the  Republican  way.  This  he  did  in  postponing  indefi 
nitely  the  motion  to  elect  the  Democratic  committees  and  in 
electing  the  Republican  list.  When  it  came  to  choosing  ser- 
geant-at-arms  and  clerks,  Davis,  now  favoring  the  new  status, 
as  before  he  had  the  old,  voted  with  the  Republicans. 

Mahone's  course  aroused  great  wrath,  especially  among 
the  Southern  Senators.     "  Who  is  that  man  ?  "  cried  Senator 

355 


THE  UNITED  STATES  IN  OUR  OWN  TIME 

Hill,  of  Georgia,  amid  laughter  from  the  Republican  side  of 
the  Chamber  :  "  Who  is  that  man  so  ambitious  to  do  what 
no  man  in  the  history  of  this  country  has  ever  yet  done- 
stand  up  in  this  high  presence  and  proclaim  from  this  proud 
eminence  that  he  disgraces  the  commission  he  holds  ?  Such 
a  man  is  not  worthy  to  be  a  Democrat.  Is  he  worthy  to 
be  a  Republican  ?  "  In  rejoinder  Mahone,  while  declaring 
himself  a  Democrat  in  principle,  denied  that  he  was  indebted 
to  the  Democratic  party  for  his  place  in  the  Senate.  He  con 
cluded  :  "  I  want  that  gentleman  to  know  henceforth  and 
forever  that  here  is  a  man  who  dares  stand  and  defend  his 
right  against  you  and  your  caucus."  Senator  Hill's  query 
was  forthwith  answered.  Mahone  was  welcomed  by  the  Re 
publicans  with  open  arms.  A  bouquet  of  flowers,  said  to  be 
from  President  Garfield,  was  sent  to  his  desk,  and  Federal 
patronage  in  Virginia  was  placed  at  his  disposal. 

A  storm  of  indignation  from  the  Pacific  Coast  fell  upon 
President  Arthur's  head  when,  in  1882,  he  vetoed  a  bill  for 
restricting  Chinese  immigration.  To  understand  the  reason 
of  his  act  and  of  his  unpopularity,  a  brief  review  is  necessary. 

What  originally  brought  the  Chinaman  to  our  shores 
was  the  discovery  of  gold  in  California.  At  first  he  was  not 
unwelcome.  Said  the  Alt  a  California  of  May  12,  1851  : 
"  Quite  a  large  number  of  Celestials  have  arrived  among  us 
of  late,  enticed  hither  by  the  golden  romance  which  has  filled 
the  world.  Scarcely  a  ship  arrives  that  does  not  bring  an 
increase  of  this  worthy  integer  of  our  population."  The 
"  worthy  integer "  was  soon  engaged  in  an  exciting  though 
not  enviable  part  of  the  "  golden  romance,"  for  the  next  year 
we  read  that  gangs  of  miners  were  "  running  out "  Chinese 
settlers.  This  race  strife  on  the  coast  was  incessant  both 
during  and  after  the  war. 

Meantime,  Anson  Burlingame,  our  Minister  to  China, 
who  during  an  intercourse  of  some  years  had  come  to  possess 
the  confidence  of  the  Chinese  in  an  unusual  degree,  had  been 

356 


RELATIONS  WITH  CHINA 

entrusted  by  them  with  a  mission  which  at  first  seemed  as 
though  it  might  lead  to  new  relations.  On  his  return  he 
bore  credentials  constituting  him  China's  ambassador  to  the 
United  States  and  to  Europe.  He  proceeded  to  negotiate 
with  this  country  a  treaty  of  amity,  which  was  signed  on  July 
4,  1868.  But  anti-Chinese  agitation  did  not  cease.  In  1871 
occurred  a  riot  in  the  streets  of  Los  Angeles,  when  fifteen 
Chinamen  were  hanged  and  six  others  shot,  Chinamen  having 
murdered  one  police  officer  and  wounded  two  others.  In 
1878  an  anti-Chinese  bill  passed  Congress,  but  was  vetoed  by 
President  Hayes  as  repugnant  to  the  Burlingame  treaty. 
Rage  against  the  Celestials,  to  which  all  forces  in  the  Pacific 
States  had  bent,  being  thus  baffled  at  Washington,  grew  more 
clamorous  than  ever. 

On  September  28,  1878,  a  new  Chinese  embassy  waited 
upon  President  Hayes.  The  ambassador,  Chen  Lan  Pin, 
wore  the  regulation  bowl-shaped  hat,  adorned  with  the  scar 
let  button  of  the  second  order  and  with  a  depending  pea 
cock  plume,  caught  by  jeweled  fastenings.  His  garments 
were  of  finest  silk.  He  had  on  a  blouse  with  blue  satin  col 
lar,  a  skirt  of  darker  stuff,  sandal-shaped  shoes  and  leggings 
of  the  richest  kid.  His  letter  of  credence  was  drawn  by  an 
attendant  from  a  cylinder  of  bamboo  embellished  with  gold. 
In  this  document  the  Emperor  expressed  the  hope  that  the 
embassy  would  "  eventually  unite  the  East  and  the  West  under 
an  enlightened  and  progressive  civilization."  The  indirect 
issue  of  this  embassage  was  a  fresh  treaty,  ratified  in  March, 
1 88 1,  amending  the  Burlingame  compact. 

That  compact,  recognizing  as  inalienable  the  right  ot 
every  man  to  change  his  abode,  had  permitted  the  free  immi 
gration  of  Chinamen  into  the  United  States.  The  new  treaty 
of  1 88 1  so  modified  this  feature  that  immigration  might  be 
regulated,  limited  or  suspended  by  us  for  no  specified  period 
should  it  threaten  to  affect  the  interests  of  the  United  States 
or  to  endanger  their  good  order.  A  bill  soon  followed 

359 


THE  UNITED  STATES  IN  OUR  OWN  TIME 


TTPES  OF  THE  OFFICIAL  CLASS.    THE  CHINESE  CONSULATE  IN 

IN  SAN  FRANCISCO 
After  a  fhotografh  by  Taker 

prohibiting  Chinese  immigration  for  a  period  of  twenty  years, 
on  the  ground  that  the  presence  of  the  Mongolians  caused  dis 
order  in  certain  localities.  This  was  the  bill  which  President 
Arthur  vetoed  as  contravening  the  treaty,  he  objecting,  among 
much  else,  to  the  systems  of  passports  and  registration  which 
the  bill  would  impose  upon  resident  Chinese.  But  the  advo 
cates  of  the  exclusion  policy  were  in  earnest,  wrought  up  by 
the  growing  hordes  of  Celestials  pressing  hither. 

Only  sixty-three  thousand  Chinese  had  been  in  the  coun 
try  in  1870;  in  1880  there  were  one  hundred  and  five  thou 
sand.  Another  bill  was  at  once  introduced,  substituting  ten 
for  twenty  years  as  the  time  of  suspension,  and  it  became  a 
law  in  1882.  China  sent  a  protest,  which  availed  naught. 

Interwoven  with  the  Chinese  agitation,  as  well  as  with 

36o 


AFFAIRS  IN  CALIFORNIA 

nearly  all  the  national  problems  of  that  day  and  this,  was  the 
movement  known  as  Kearneyism,  which  took  form  in  Cali 
fornia  in  1877  and  found  expression  in  the  State  Constitution 
of  1 879.  His  habits  of  mental  unrest  engendered  by  speculation 
and  the  gold  fever,  had  marked  California  society  since  1849. 
A  tendency  existed  to  appeal  to  extra-legal  measures  for  peace 
and  justice.  The  golden  dream  had  faded.  Although  wages 
were  higher  in  California  than  in  most  parts  of  the  coun 
try,  working  people  there  showed  much  discontent.  In  no 
State  had  land  grants  been  more  lavish  or  the  immense  size  of 


A  "  MIXED  FAMILY"  IN  THE  HIGHBINDERS'  QUARTER,  "CHINATOfTN 

From  a  f  holograph  by  Taker 

36l 


THE  UNITED  STATES  IN  OUR  OWN  TIME 


Janded  estates  more  in 
jurious.  Farming  their 
vast  tracts  by  improved 
machinery,  the  propri 
etors  each  season  hired 
great  throngs  of  labor 
ers,  who,  when  work 
was  over,  betook  them 
selves  to  the  cities  and 
swelled  the  ranks  of  the 


•f^.^.r.  \ 

w& 

w<mm^'f^- 

Hl  «V^^?i^V 


GOD   IN  JOSS   TEMPLE,  "  CHINATOWN"   SAN  FRANCISCO 

After  a  photograph  by  Taker 

unemployed.  Worse  yet,  California  was  in  the  hands  of  a 
railroad  monopoly  which  by  threats  or  blandishments  con 
trolled  nearly  every  State  official.  Politics  were  corrupt  and 
political  factions,  with  their  selfish  and  distracting  quarrels, 
were  numerous.  The  politician  was  hated  next  to  the  "  Nob  " 
who  owned  him. 

The  immediate  occasion  of  Kearneyism  was  the  great  rail 
road  strike  at  the  East  in  1877.  The  California  lines,  having 
announced  a  reduction  of  wages,  were  threatened  with  a  simi 
lar  strike,  but  took  alarm  at  the  burning  and  fighting  in  Pitts- 
burg  and  rescinded  the  notice.  Nevertheless  a  mass-meeting 
was  called  to  express  svmpathy  with  the  Eastern  strikers.  It 


THE  "NOBS"  IN  TERROR 


AN  ALLEY  IN  "  CHINATOWN" 
After  a.  photograph  by  Taker 

was  held  on  July  23d.  The  new-rich  grandees  trembled. 
Authorities  took  precautions,  but  at  the  meeting  no  disorder 
occurred.  During  this  and  the  two  following  evenings  a  num 
ber  of  Chinese  wash-houses  were  destroyed  and  some  persons 
killed.  The  violence  was  naturally  ascribed  to  the  working- 
men.  A  Committee  of  Public  Safety  was  organized  under^ 
William  T.  Coleman,  President  of  the  Vigilance  Committee 

365 


THE  UNITED  STATES  IN  OUR  OWN  TIME 


DINING  ROOM  OF  A  CHINESE  RESTAURANT  IN  WASHINGTON  STREET,  SAN  FRANCISCO 

After  photographs  by  Taker 

of  1856.  The  laboring  men  denied  their  alleged  complicity 
with  the  lawlessness,  and  a  number  enlisted  in  Mr.  Coleman's 
"  pick-handle  brigade,"  which  patrolled  the  city  for  a  few  days. 
Among  the  pick-handle  brigadiers  was  Denis  Kearney,  a  man 
at  once  extreme  in  theories  and  language  and  singularly  temper 
ate  in  personal  habits.  Born  in  1847,  at  Oakmount,  Ireland, 
from  eleven  years  of  age  to  twenty-five  he  had  followed  the 
sea,  but  since  1872  had  prospered  as  a  drayman  in  San  Fran 
cisco.  He  was  short,  well  built,  with  a  broad  head,  a  light 
mustache,  a  quick  but  lowering  blue  eye,  ready  utterance  and 
a  pleasant  voice.  He  was  of  nervous  temperament,  and  had 
the  bluster  and  domineering  way  of  a  sailor,  withal  possessing 
remarkable  shrewdness,  enterprise  and  initiative.  For  two 
years  he  had  spent  part  of  each  Sunday  at  a  lyceum  for  self- 
culture,  where  he  had  levelled  denunciations  at  the  laziness  and 

366 


3WR 


A  SAND  LOT  MEETING    IN   SAN   FRANCISCO 

The  Workingmen  passing  a  Resolution  by  Acclamation 
Composition  of  B.  W.  Clinedinst,  with  the  assistance  of  photographs  by  Taker 


KEARNEY  AN  AGITATOR 


extravagance  of  the  working-classes,  at  the  opponents  of  Chi 
nese  immigration,  and  at  anti-capitalists  in  general. 

For  some  reason,  whether  from  a  change  of  heart,  or  on 
account  of  unlucky  dabbling  in  stocks,  or  because  rebuffed  by 
Senator  Sargent,  Kearney  determined  to  turn  about  and  agitate 
against  all  that  he  had  held  dear.  On  September  12,  1877,^ 
company  of  the  unemployed  in  San  Francisco  assembled  and 
organized  "  The  Workingmen's  Party  of  California."  Its 
salient  principles  were  the  establishment  of  a  State  Bureau  of 
Labor  and  Statistics  and  of  a  State  Labor  Commission,  the 
legal  regulation  of  the  hours  of  labor,  the  abolition  of  pov 
erty  along  with  all  land  and  moneyed  monopoly,  and  the 
ejection  of  the  Chinese.  Kearney,  conspicuous  among  the 
extremists,  was  chosen  president.  His  advanced  ideas  were 
incorporated  into  the  party's  creed,  as  follows  : 

"  We  propose  to  wrest  the  government  from  the  hands 
of  the  rich  and  place  it  in  those  of  the  people.  We  propose 
to  rid  the  country  of  cheap  Chinese  labor.  We  propose  to 
destroy  land  monopoly  in  our  State.  We  propose  to  destroy 
the  great  money  power  of  the  rich  by  a  system  of  taxation 
that  will  make  great  wealth  impossible.  We  propose  to  pro 
vide  decently  for  the  poor  and  unfortunate,  the  weak,  the 
helpless  and  especially  the  young,  because  the  country  is  rich 
enough  to  do  so,  and  religion,  humanity 
and  patriotism  demand  that  we  should 
do  so.  We  propose  to  elect  none  but 
competent  workingmen  and  their  friends 
to  any  office.  The  rich  have  ruled  us 
till  they  have  ruined  us.  We  will  now 
take  our  own  affairs  into  our  own  hands. 
The  republic  must  and  shall  be  pre 
served,  and  only  workingmen  will  do  it. 
Our  shoddy  aristocrats  want  an  emperor 
and  a  standing  army  to  shoot  down  the 
people.  When  we  have  10,000  members 

369 


DENIS   KEARNEY 


THE  UNITED  STATES  IN  OUR  OWN  TIME 

we  shall  have  the  sympathy  and  support  of  20,000  other  work- 
ingmen.  The  party  will  then  wait  upon  all  who  employ  Chi 
nese  and  ask  for  their  discharge,  and  it  will  mark  as  public 
enemies  those  who  refuse  to  comply  with  their  request.  This 
party  will  exhaust  all  peaceable  means  of  attaining  its  ends, 
but  it  will  not  be  denied  justice  when  it  has  power  to  enforce 
it.  It  will  encourage  no  riot  or  outrage,  but  it  will  not  vol 
unteer  to  repress,  or  put  down,  or  arrest  or  prosecute  the 
hungry  and  impatient  who  manifest  their  hatred  of  the  China 
men  by  a  crusade  against  John  or  those  who  employ  him. 
Let  those  who  raise  the  storm  by  their  selfishness  suppress  it 
themselves.  If  they  dare  raise  the  devil,  let  them  meet  him 
face  to  face." 

Soon  began  the  memorable  sand-lot  meetings,  made 
famous  by  the  San  Francisco  Chronicle^  which  sent  its  best  re 
porters  to  describe  them.  From  his  new  eminence  the  agi 
tator  returned  this  favor  by  advising  his  hearers  to  boycott 
the  Morning  Call  and  subscribe  for  its  rival,  the  Chronicle. 
His  speeches  were  directed  partly  against  the  Chinese,  but 
chiefly  against  the  "  thieving  politicians  "  and  "  blood-sucking 
capitalists."  At  one  gathering  he  suggested  that  every  work- 
ingman  should  get  a  gun,  and  that  some  judicious  hanging  of 
aristocrats  was  needed.  The  sand-lot  audiences  were  largely 
composed  of  foreigners,  Irishmen  being  the  most  numerous, 
but  even  the  Germans  caught  the  infection.  The  orator  could 
cater  to  their  prejudices  with  effect,  as  he  did  in  an  address 
before  the  German  Club  in  March,  1878  :  "  Pixley  said  to  me 
that  the  narrow-faced  Yankees  in  California  would  clean  us 
out,  but  I  just  wish  they  would  try  it.  I  would  drive  them 
into  the  sea  or  die."  On  the  other  hand,  in  the  Kearneyites' 
Thanksgiving  day  parade,  appealing  to  the  whole  people,  none 
but  United  States  flags  were  carried  and  none  but  Union  vet 
erans  carried  them.  The  leader  affected  the  integrity  and 
stoicism  of  a  Cato.  As  Cato  concluded  every  oration  of  his 
with  the  impressive  "Carthago  delenda  esf"  so  Kearney  intro- 

37o 


Drawn  by  G.  W.  Peters 


"THE    CHINESE    MUST   GO/" 
Denis  Kearney  Addressing  the  Workingmen  on  the  night  of  October  2Q,  on  Nob  Hill,  San  Francisco 


KEARNEY'S    MODERATION 

duced  each  of  his  harangues  with  "  The  Chinese  must  go  !  " 
The  contest  against  the  Chinese,  he  said,  would  not  be  given 
up  till  there  was  blood  enough  in  Chinatown  to  float  their 
bodies  to  the  bay.  Still,  on  one  occasion  a  poor  Chinaman  at 
the  mercy  of  hoodlums  owed  his  rescue  to  the  Kearneyites 
alone. 

Much  as  Kearney  delighted  in  scaring  the  timid  nabobs 
of  San  Francisco,  he  was  careful  to  keep  within  the  law. 
More  than  once,  while  himself  breathing  out  threatenings  and 
slaughter,  he  tactfully  restrained  his  devotees  from  excesses. 
Shrewdly  estimating  the  value  of  martyrdom,  he  once  said : 
"  If  I  don't  get  killed  I  will  do  more  than  any  reformer  in  the 
world.  But  I  hope  I  will  be  assassinated,  for  the  success  of 
the  movement  depends  upon  that."  The  horns  of  this  dilemma 
crossed,  but  each  pointed  in  a  hopeful  direction.  The  leader's 
yearning  for  persecution  was  gratified.  On  October  29th 
about  two  thousand  workingmen  collected  at  Nob  Hill,  where 
the  railway  magnates  lived.  Bonfires  being  lighted,  Kearney 
launched  his  philippic.  The  "  Nobs  "  heard  the  jeers  at  their 
expense,  and  looked  out  upon  the  lurid  scene  in  alarm.  They 
had  Kearney  and  other  leading  spirits  arrested  on  the  charge 
of  using  incendiary  language.  The  city  government  passed  a 
sedition  ordinance  known  as  the  Gibbs  gag  law,  and  the  legis 
lature  enacted  a  ridiculously  stringent  riot  act. 

The  two  laws  were  still-born  and  harmless.  The  only 
effect  of  the  arrests  and  of  the  new  legislation  was  to  give 
Kearney  additional  power.  On  his  release  from  jail  he  was 
hailed  as  a  martyr,  crowned  with  flowers  and  drawn  in  triumph 
on  his  own  dray.  A  Yorkshire  shoemaker  and  evangelist 
named  Wellock — "Parson  Wellock  "  he  was  called — preached 
Kearneyism  as  a  religion.  He  was  tall,  with  a  narrow  head, 
high  forehead  and  a  full,  short  beard.  At  each  Sunday  sand- 
lot  assembly  he  used  to  read  a  text  and  expound  its  latter-day 
bearings.  Speaking  of  the  monopolists,  he  said  :  "  These  men 
who  are  perverting  the  ways  of  truth  must  be  destroyed.  In 

373 


THE  UNITED  STATES  IN  OUR  OWN  TIME 

the  Bible  the  Lord  is  called  a  consuming  fire.  When  he  com 
mands  we  must  obey.  What  are  we  to  do  with  these  people 
that  are  starving  our  poor  and  degrading  our  wives,  daughters> 
and  sisters  ?  And  the  Lord  said  unto  Moses,  c  Take  all  the 
heads  off  the  people  and  hang  them  up  before  the  Lord.' 
This  is  what  we  are  commanded  by  the  Supreme  Being  to  do 
with  all  that  dare  to  tread  down  honesty,  virtue  and  truth." 

Both  parties  began  to  court  Kearney.  Aspirants  for 
office  secretly  visited  him.  Office-holders  changed  from  hos 
tility  to  servility.  The  railroad  kings,  if  they  failed  to  moder 
ate  his  language,  found  ways  to  assuage  his  hatred.  Hirelings 
of  corporate  interests  joined  the  Kearneyites  and  assisted  them 
to  carry  out  their  wishes.  Even  the  better  classes  more  and 
more  attended  his  harangues,  partly  from  curiosity,  partly  from 
sympathy,  partly  from  disgust  at  the  old  parties.  The  enthu 
siastic  compared  him  with  Napoleon  and  Caesar.  The  party 
of  the  sand  lots,  Kearney  nominally  its  president,  really  its 
dictator,  spread  over  and  controlled  the  State.  This  result 
assured,  "  reform  "  needed  only  that  a  new  State  constitution 
should  be  adopted,  properly  safeguarding  the  people  against 
monopolies  and  the  Chinese.  Agitation  for  a  Constitutional 
Convention  was  at  once  begun  and  pushed  till  successful. 

The  very  immensity  of  the  new  party's  growth  begot 
reaction.  The  monopolists  intensely  hated  Kearney  at  the 
very  moment  when  they  most  sought  to  use  him.  His  chief 
strength  lay  in  the  city  populace.  The  Grangers  sympathized 
and  in  many  measures  co-operated  with  him,  yet  maintained  a 
becoming  independence.  In  the  city,  too,  there  was  a  rival  labor 
organization,  set  on  foot  at  that  first  mass-meeting  held  to 
express  sympathy  for  the  Pittsburg  strikers.  Though  Kear 
ney's  braggadocio  "  took  "  wonderfully  with  the  people,  this 
body  let  slip  no  chance  for  denouncing  the  man's  extreme 
notions  and  assumption.  Numerous  and  active  enemies  were 
made  by  Kearney's  inability  to  brook  aught  of  opposition  or 
rivalry.  By  a  motion  of  his  hand  he  swept  out  of  existence 

374 


DENIS  KEARNET  BEING  DRAWN  THROUGH  THE  STREETS  OF  SAN  FRANCISCO  AFTER 
HIS  RELEASE   FROM  THE  HOUSE   OF  CORRECTION 

The  procession  passing  the  Lotta  Fountain  in  Market  Street 
Painted  by  Howard  Pyle  from  photographs  by  Taber  and  a  description  by  Kearney  himself 


OPPOSITION  TO  KEARNEY 


THE   OLD   CHRONICLE  BUILDING  IN  SAN  FRANCISCO 
(ft  was  here  that  Charles  De  Young  was  shot  in  i8So  by  Isaac  Kalloch,  Jr.,  son  of  the 

Workingmen^s  Mayor) 
After  a  photografh  by  Taker 

the  Central  Committee  of  his  party.  He  liked  best  his  most 
fulsome  eulogists,  and  selected  lieutenants  whom  he  could 
fling  aside  the  instant  they  hampered  or  crossed  him.  Many 
so  treated  beset  him  afterward  like  fleas.  The  Order  of  Cau 
casians,  a  species  of  anti-Mongolian  Ku-Klux,  with  head 
quarters  at  Sacramento,  was  opposed  to  Kearney.  Many  men 
of  influence  and  apparent  impartiality,  notably  Archbishop 
Alemany,  criticised  his  incendiary  speeches,  alienating  some  of 
his  supporters. 

Democrats  now  felt  that  by  "  united  action  "  the  Consti 
tutional  Convention  which  the  Kearneyites  had  succeeded  in 
getting  called  might  be  saved  from  their  control.  Accordingly 

377 


THE  UNITED  STATES  IN  OUR  OWN  TIME 


a  non-partisan  ticket  was  started,  which,  notwithstanding  some 
grumbling  from  the  old  "  wheel-horses  "  of  the  two  parties, 
received  pretty  hearty  support.  Despite  all,  by  coalescing 
with  the  Grangers,  the  Kearney ites  controlled  the  convention. 
The  new  California  Constitution  which  resulted  was  an  odd 
mixture  of  ignorance  and  good  intentions.  To  hinder  corrup 
tion  in  public  office  it  reduced  the  power  of  the  legislature 
almost  to  a  shadow,  and  made  the  bribery  of  a  legislator  felony. 
To  lighten  taxation,  particularly  v;here  it  bore  unduly  upon 
the  poor,  the  Constitution  set  a  limit  to  State  and  local  debts, 
taxed  uncultivated  land  equally  with  cultivated  land,  made 
mortgage  debts  taxable  where  the  mortgaged  property  lay, 
and  authorized  an  income  tax.  However,  for  the  benefit  of 
the  school  fund,  a  poll  tax  was  laid  on  every  male  inhabitant. 
Corporations  were  dealt  with  in  a  special  article,  which  restricted 
them  in  many  ways.  Among  other  things  it  instituted  a  com 
mission  with  extraordinary  powers,  enabling  it  to  examine  the 
books  and  accounts  of  transportation  companies  and  to  fix 
their  rates  for  carriage.  This  commission,  when  placed  in  the 
hands  of  any  party,  uniformly  violated  pre-election  pledges, 
and  proceeded  against  the  unanimous  wish  of  Californians. 
Only  the  Commission  of  1895  seemed  to  have  taken  some 
steps  toward  lowering  freight  rates. 

After  the  adoption  of  the  Constitu- 
•  tion  a  more  powerful  reaction  set  in  and 
Kearneyism  soon  became  a  thing  of  the 
past.  The  Chronicle  abandoned  Kearney 
and  "  exposed  "  him.  He  was  called  to 
the  East  in  the  interest  of  labor  agita 
tion,  but  had  little  popularity  or  success. 
He  returned  to  San  Francisco,  but  never 
again  became  a  leader.  The  most  pro 
nounced  result,  or  sequel,  which  the  Kear 
ney  movement  left  behind  was  a  fixed 
public  opinion  throughout  California 
378 


ISAAC  KALLOCH 
Elected  Mayor  of  San  Franci 
the  Workingmen 


FALL    OF   THE   JAMES    GANG 

and  all  the  Pacific  States  against  any  further  immigration  of  the 
Chinese.  The  new  California  Constitution  devoted  to  these 
people  an  entire  article.  In  it  they  were  cut  off  from  employ 
ment  by  the  State  or  by  corporations  doing  business  therein. 
"  Asiatic  coolieism "  was  prohibited  as  a  form  of  human 
slavery.  This  sentiment  toward  the  Celestials  spread  eastward, 
and,  in  spite  of  all  opposition  by  interested  capitalists  and  by 
disinterested  philanthropists,  determined  the  subsequent  course 
of  Chinese  legislation  in  Congress  itself. 

During  the  years  under  survey  Missouri  as  well  as  the 
Pacific  States  had  to  contend  with  aggravated  lawlessness. 
When  hardly  a  week  passed  without  a  train  being  "  held  up  " 
somewhere  in  the  State,  Governor  Crittenden  was  driven  to 
the  terrible  expedient  of  using  crime  itself  as  a  police  power. 
In  the  spring  of  1882,  Jesse  James,  the  noted  desperado,  was 
assassinated  by  former  members  of  his  gang,  who  then  sur 
rendered  to  the  authorities  and  were  lodged  in  jail — none  too 
soon,  as  an  angry  populace,  gathering  in  thousands,  hotly  beset 
the  slayers.  Slayers  and  slain  had  been  Confederate  guerrillas 
in  the  war.  On  the  return  of  peace  they  became  train-robbers 
as  easily  as  privateers  turn  pirates.  James,  at  any  rate,  had 
not  been  inspired  by  lust  of  gain,  for  in  spite  of  robberies 
amounting  to  hundreds  of  thousands  of  dollars  he  died  poor. 
He  had  been  a  church  member,  concerned  for  "  his  wayward 
brother  "  Frank's  salvation.  After  his  death  his  sect  in  Mis 
souri  repudiated  him,  while  expressing  strongest  disapproval 
of  the  treachery  used  in  his  taking  off.  For  nearly  twenty 
years  every  effort  to  capture  the  fellow  had  proved  futile. 
The  nature  of  the  country  aided  him,  but  not  so  much  as  the 
enthusiastic  devotion  of  his  neighbors. 

This  murderous  chief,  this  ruthless  man, 
This  head  of  a  rebellious  clan, 

had  made  himself  a  hero.  The  Sedalia  Democrat  said  :  "  It 
was  his  country.  The  graves  of  his  kindred  were  there.  He 

38i 


THE  UNITED  STATES  IN  OUR  OWN  TIME 

refused  to  be  banished  from  his  birthright,  and  when  he  was 
hunted  he  turned  savagely  about  and  hunted  his  hunters. 
Would  to  God  he  were  alive  to-day  to  make  a  righteous 
butchery  of  a  few  more  of  them." 

By  thus  fighting  fire  with  fire.  Governor  Crittenden  suc 
ceeded  in  dispersing  three  other  desperado  bands.  Upon 
being  arraigned  the  men-killers  pleaded  guilty  and  were  sen 
tenced  to  be  hanged,  but  they  were  at  once  pardoned.  The 
Governor's  policy,  however,  was  most  unpopular.  Infinite 
hate  and  scorn  were  visited  upon  the  betrayers.  James's  wife 
and  mother  cursed  them  bitterly;  Dick  Little,  chief  traitor,  be 
ing  the  object  of  their  uttermost  loathing.  "If  Timberlake  or 
Craig  (the  county  sheriff  and  his  deputy)  had  killed  my  poor 
boy,"  cried  the  mother,  "  I  would  not  say  one  word ;  but,  O 
God  !  the  treachery  of  Dick  Little  and  those  boys  !  Craig 
and  Timberlake  are  noble  men,  and  they  have  done  too  much 
for  me.  My  poor  boy  who  now  lies  there  dead  told  me  if 
they  killed  him  not  to  say  one  word."  Craig  and  Timber- 
lake  were  pall-bearers  at  James's  funeral.  The  Hannibal  & 
St.  Joseph  Railroad  extended  courtesies  to  the  bereaved  widow 
and  mother,  who  were  on  all  hands  treated  as  the  heroines  of 
the  hour. 

Close  after  President  Garfield's  funeral  followed  an  event 
which  for  some  days  attracted  the  world's  attention — the  cen 
tennial  celebration  of  Cornwallis's  surrender  at  Yorktown,  Va. 
The  hamlet  of  Yorktown  was  seated  on  a  sandy  river-bank 
among  the  vestiges  of  the  two  sieges  it  had  sustained,  that  of 
1781  and  that  of  1861,  the  Confederate  works  thrown  up  in 
the  last-named  year  not  having  completely  erased  the  defences 
erected  by  Cornwallis.  The  Confederate  fortifications  were 
to  be  seen  in  1881,  as  also  some  of  McClellan's  approaches. 
The  site  of  Washington's  headquarters,  still  known  as  "Wash 
ington's  Lodge,"  was  pointed  out  two  and  a  half  miles  back 
from  the  river.  The  buildings  were  burned  during  the  civil 
war,  but  the  house  had  been  rebuilt.  The  old  Nelson  House, 


MOORE    HOUSE   AT   YORKTOWN 

gray,  ivy-grown,  massive,  was  standing ;  also  the  West  House, 
built  by  Governor  Nelson  for  his  daughter,  Mrs.  Major  West, 
midway  between  the  Nelson  House  and  the  Monument ; 
while  a  mile  away  was  the  Moore  House,  Cornwallis's  quar 
ters  at  the  time  of  his  surrender.  Its  exterior  was  tricked  out 
with  red,  yellow  and  green  paint,  effects  which,  inside,  aesthetic 
wall-paper  and  fine  carpets  strove  to  match. 

The  Moore  House  was,  in  a  very  true  sense,  the  central 
spot  of  American  History.  It  was  historic  sixty  years  before  the 
Revolution,  when  it  was  Governor  Spottswood's  residence.  In 


THE    NELSON   HOUSE    IN   /SSf 
{Showing  holes  made  in  brick  wall  by  cannon  shot) 

the  "  Temple,"  near  by,  was  presented  the  relic  of  a  still  older 
strife,  the  tomb  of  Major  William  Gooch,  who  died  in  1655. 
In  the  chimney  of  the  Moore  House  was  a  cannon-ball  hole, 
and  in  one  of  its  corner  rooms  was  still  preserved  the  table 
whereon  the  articles  of  Cornwallis's  surrender  had  been  drawn. 
Its  roof  sheltered  Lafayette  and  Rochambeau  ;  also  Washing 
ton  in  the  proudest  moment  of  his  life.  It  was  in  1896  the 
residence  of  Mr.  A.  O.  Mauck.  Standing  in  the  midst  of 
Temple  Farm,  it  commanded  a  beautiful  view  of  Chesapeake 

383 


THE  UNITED  STATES  IN  OUR  OWN  TIME 


THE   WEST  HOUSE  AT 

(Showing  the  shot  holes) 


Bay,  of  Yorktown  Mon 
ument  and  of  quaint 
old  Yorktown.  Near  by 
was  a  mill,  built  on  the 
very  foundations  of  the 
one  where  was  fired  the 
first  shot  in  the  Corn- 
wallis  siege.  A  shaft  fif 
teen  feet  high,  made  of 
brick  taken  from  the 
first  court-house  in  York 
County,  laid  in  German 
cement,  has  been  erected 
by  the  Superintendent  of 
the  National  Cemetery 
on  the  spot  where  Corn- 
wallis's  sword  was  deli 
vered  to  General  Lincoln.  This  shaft  was  dedicated  on  Octo 
ber  19,  1895,  and  placed  in  the  care  of  the  school  children 
of  our  country  to  preserve. 

Once  redeemed  from  the  British  and  once  from  Confed 
erate  rule,  Yorktown  was  now,  for  a  few  days,  rescued  from 
its  own  loneliness.  There  was  some  complaint  that  locality 
was  not  ignored  and  the  anniversary  celebrated  where  modern 
conveniences  were  at  hand.  Such  were  the  dust  and  heat  at 
and  about  the  village  on  the  first  day  of  the  fete  that  pilgrims 
admired  Cornwallis's  good  sense  in  surrendering  as  quickly  as 
decency  allowed,  that  he  might  go  elsewhere.  The  second 
day  was  twenty  degrees  colder,  and  dusters  gave  way  to  ulsters. 
Truly  vast  preparations  had  been  originally  planned,  but  so 
obvious  were  the  discomforts  which  could  not  but  attend  a 
long  sojourn  at  the  place,  that  the  programme  was  radically 
docked.  The  events  that  were  left,  however,  amply  repaid 
for  their  trouble  all  who  saw  them. 

Arrangements  had  been  making  at  Yorktown  for  a  month, 

384 


YORKTOWN   DURING   THE    FETE 


during  which  time  the  sandbanks  all  about  were  in  a  stir,  such 
as  neither  Cornwallis's  nor  Magruder's  cannon-wheels  had  occa 
sioned.  When  the  day  marking  the  anniversary  of  the  Briton's 
surrender  arrived,  a  score  of  great  war-ships,  with  other  craft 
of  various  sorts,  lined  the  river  up  and  down,  while  shanties 
and  tents  covered  the  landscape  in  all  directions.  Wagons, 
buggies  and  carriages  by  hundreds  came  and  went,  frequent 

among  them  the  two- 
wheeled  family  vehicle  of 
the  Virginia  negro,  at 
tached  by  a  rope  harness 
to  a  scrawny  "  scalawag." 
Strains  of  martial  music, 
the  thunder  of  heavy 
guns,  throngs  of  civilians 
and  of  soldiers,  thieves 
and  gamblers  plying  their 
art  unmolested  till  a  wel 
come  detachment  of  Rich 
mond  police  arrived — all 
conspired  to  waken  the 
little  place  from  the  dead. 
To  the  credit  of  the  Post- 
office  Department,  no 
hitch  occurred  when  mails 
multiplied  from  three  a 
week  to  two  a  day,  and 
the  daily  delivery  of  let 
ters  mounted  from  fifty  to 
five  thousand. 

The  celebration  began 
on  October  i8th,  "Sur 
render  Day."  Troops 
had  been  pouring  in  all 
night  and  the  influx  in- 


THE  MEMORIAL    MONUMENT 
Corner-stone  laid   Oct.IQ,l88r 


THE  UNITED  STATES  IN  OUR  OWN  TIME 


M.    GLENNAN 
The  Virginia  Commissioner  of  the 
Torktown     Centennial     Cele 
bration 


creased  at  dawn.  Some  had  marched 
far  and  swiftly.  Captain  Sinclair's 
battery  of  the  Third  Artillery  had 
covered  the  distance  from  Fort  Ham 
ilton,  New  York  Harbor,  to  York- 
town,  470  miles,  in  twenty-one 
marching  days.  At  ten  o'clock  the 
Tallapoosa,  bearing  the  President  and 
most  of  his  Cabinet,  came  up  the 
river,  being  saluted  as  she  passed  the 
batteries.  At  this  notice  "  the  yards 
of  the  ships  of  war  were  manned" — 
the  account  read  quaintly  after  the 
lapse  of  but  fourteen  years.  For  ten 
minutes  smoke-clouds  covered  the 
river  and  the  boom  of  ponderous 
cannon  quenched  all  other  sounds. 
Behind  the  Tallapoosa  were  vessels 
bringing  the  Secretary  of  the  Navy, 
the  Secretary  of  War  and  General 
Sherman.  Distinguished  foreign 
guests  came,  too,  descendants  of  de 
Grasse,  de  Rochambeau,  de  Lafa 
yette,  and  von  Steuben,  the  heroes 
who  had  shared  with  Washington  the  glory  of  humbling 
England's  pride  a  hundred  years  before.  •  Each  dignitary 
being  saluted  according  to  his  rank,  the  deafening  cannonade 
was  kept  up  for  a  number  of  hours. 

Wednesday,  October  I9th,  was  devoted  to  the  ceremony 
of  laying  the  corner-stone  of  the  Yorktown  Centennial  Monu 
ment.  Commemorative  exercises  formed  the  feature  of 
Thursday.  President  Arthur  delivered  an  address,  the  Mar 
quis  de  Rochambeau  responded  in  French,  and  Baron  von 
Steuben  in  German,  all  three  being  loudly  applauded.  Hon. 
Robert  C.  Winthrop  pronounced  the  oration  of  the  day. 

386 


R.  C.  WINTHROP 


CLOSE    OF   THE   YORKTOWN    CELEBRATION 

The  presence  of  Steuben  and  Rochambeau,  of  Generals  Sher 
man  and  Wade  Hampton,  of  Hancock,  the  favorite  and  hero 
of  the  festival,  and  Fitzhugh  Lee,  hardly  second  to 
him  in  receipt  of  applause,  naturally  suggested  the  themes 
of  concord  and  reunion.  Among  those  who  shook  hands  with 
President  Arthur  was  the  widow  of  President  John  Tyler.  At 
the  conclusion  of  these  exercises  all  the  troops  passed  in  review 
before  the  President.  It  was  the  most  brilliant  military  pag 
eant  seen  since  the  war.  Northern  visitors  noticed  with  pleasure 
that  many  of  the  Southern  commands  wore  uniforms  of  blue. 
On  Thursday  evening  fireworks  were  displayed.  All  the  war 
vessels  were  illuminated.  The  steam  corvette  Vandalia,  com 
manded  by  Captain  (subsequently  Rear-Admiral)  Meade,  so 
disposed  her  lights  as  to  bring  out  the  outlines  of  her  hull  and 
rigging  with  charming  effect.  The  splendor  was  produced  by 
the  use  of  Chinese  lanterns,  which  Captain  Meade  purchased 
for  the  occasion.  The  celebration  ended  on  Friday  with  a 
naval  review,  embracing  all  the  men-of-war  in  the  harbor.  A 
graceful  and  handsome  deed,  acknowledged  by  the  British 
press,  was  the  salute  paid  by  the  entire  fleet  to  the  Union 


LAURENCEBURG,  INDIANA,  DURING    THE    FLOODS    OF   1884 
Copyright,  1884,  by  Rombach  &?  Greene 


THE  UNITED  STATES  IN  OUR  OWN  TIME 


Jack  hoisted  at  the 
foremast  of  each  ves 
sel. 

Freshets  in  Feb 
ruary,  1884,  had  in 
duced  an  unprece 
dented  rise  in  the 
Ohio  River,  sub 
merging  country  and 
city  along  the  banks. 
At  Cincinnati  houses 
were  wrecked,  lives 
lost,  destitution  and 
suffering  the  lot  of 
thousands.  To  add 
to  the  horrors,  the 
gas-works  were  under 

water,  and  night  whelmed  the  city  in  Cimmerian  darkness. 
As  the  news  spread,  practical  responses  came  from  all  quar 
ters,  in  the  shape  of  food  and  clothing,  which  steamers 


SECOND  STREET,   CINCINNATI,   LOOKING  EAST 


THE    GAS    TANKS    IN    SECOND    STREET,   CINCINNATI 
388 


RIOT  AND  FLOOD  IN  CINCINNATI 


-. 


THE    CINCINNAn  RIOTS    OF  1884 
The  Barricade  in  South  Sycamore  Street 

From    a     Photograph     by     Rombach     &    Groene 

distributed  up  and  down  the  swollen  stream.  Highest  water 
was  reached  on  February  i4th,  the  highest  ever  recorded,  the 
river  at  Cincinnati  standing  on  that  date  at  seventy-one  feet 
and  three-quarters  of  an  inch. 

Riot  followed  flood.  In  March  two  confessed  murderers 
had  come  off  with  a  conviction  for  mere  manslaughter.  As 
twenty  other  murderers  were  in  prison,  respectable  citizens 
assembled  to  demand  reform  in  murder  trials.  Noisy  leaders 
of  the  mob  element  tried  to  capture  the  meeting,  which  was 
adjourned  to  prevent  mischief.  A  young  man  rushing  out 
shouted,  "  To  the  jail !  Come  on  !  Follow  me  and  hang 
Berner."  The  door  was  burst  open,  but  Berner  had  been 
smuggled  to  Columbus  at  the  first  alarm.  Meantime  the 
militia  were  secretly  introduced  through  the  same  tunnel  which 
afforded  him  exit.  After  a  skirmish  the  rioters  were  driven 
out,  leaving  some  of  their  number  prisoners.  Partly  from 
chagrin,  partly  to  secure  the  release  of  the  captured  leaders, 

389 


THE  UNITED  STATES  IN  OUR  OWN  TIME 

and  partly  to  indulge  their  lawless  humor,  the  hoodlums  set 
the  court-house  on  fire,  robbing  an  armory  and  two  gun-stores 
to  provide  themselves  arms.  Other  shops  were  broken  into 
and  sacked.  They  fired  volley  after  volley  of  musketry  at 
the  militia,  and  fiercely  attacked  barricades  which  these  had 
erected  against  them.  After  repeated  warnings  retaliation  was 
meted  out  with  terrible  effect.  The  disorders  continued  six 
days,  when  the  law  was  so  far  vindicated  that  business  could  be 
resumed.  The  most  authentic  list  put  the  killed  in  this  riot 
at  forty-five,  the  wounded  at  one  hundred  and  thirty-eight. 


39° 


CHAPTER   XIV 

MONROE'S    DOCTRINE    AND    ARTHUR'S 
PRACTICE 

UNCLE    SAM    IN    AFRICA. THE    BRUSSELS    CONFERENCE     OF     1876. 

CONGRESS    OF     1877. THE    UNITED    STATES    REPRESENTED. HENRY 

M.     STANLEY. HIS    CAREER. HIS    FAME. DARKEST    AFRICA. THE 

CONGO  FREE  STATE. THE  UNITED  STATES  HELPS  IN  ITS  FORMA 
TION. SCRAMBLE  FOR  "A  PIECE  OF  AFRICA." ARTHUR'S  POLICY 

CRITICISED. BERLIN  CONFERENCE  OF  1884. ITS  OBJECTS. ITS  RE 
SULTS  —  DE  LESSEPS  AT  PANAMA. ORIGIN  OF  THE  CLAYTON-BULWER 

TREATY. ITS  PROVISIONS. ITS  RESURRECTION  IN  1880. PRES 
IDENT  HAYES'S  ATTITUDE. — ELAINE'S  CONTROVERSY  WITH  LORD 

GRANVILLE. FRELINGHUYSEN' S   CONTENTIONS. GREAT    BRITAIN'S 

POSITION. ELAINE  CRITICISED  AT    HOME. DE    LESSEPS'S    FAILURE 

AT    PANAMA. EARLY    PLANS    FOR    PIERCING     THE     ISTHMUS. THE 

NICARAGUA    CANAL    SCHEME. JOYS    AND    TROUBLES  IN  NICARAGUA. 

CONGRESSMEN  FAVOR  UNITED  STATES    AID    FOR    THE  ENTERPRISE. 

— DESCRIPTION     OF      THE     PROPOSED     CANAL. DIFFICULTIES     AND 

COST. FEASIBILITY  AND  PROFITABLENESS. OPPOSITION. GROW 
ING  INTIMACY  BETWEEN  THE  UNITED  STATES  AND  SPANISH  AMER 
ICA. THE  COMMISSION  OF  1884  PANAMA  CONGRESS  OF  1825. — 

JOHN  qUINCY  ADAMS  AND  CLAY. LATER  EFFORTS  AT  A  PAN-AMER 
ICAN  UNION. — TREPIDATION  AT  WALKER'S  FILIBUSTERING  EXPEDI 
TIONS. UNION  MOVEMENTS  IN  1864,  1877,  1880,  I  88  I  AND  I  888. 

— DAVID  DAVIS  PROPOSES  A  CENTRAL  AND  SOUTH  AMERICAN  RAIL 
WAY. — FRELINGHUYSEN'S  SUGGESTIONS. — THE  CONGRESS  OF  1889 

-90. SCOPE  OF   ITS   POSSIBLE   DELIBERATIONS. THE  DELEGATES' 

"JUNKET"  ACROSS  THE  CONTINENT. — DIFFICULTIES  AND  MIS 
UNDERSTANDINGS. THE  RECIPROCITY  IDEA. OUTCOME  MEAGRE. 

IN    1884    occurred    an    event    presaging  a   change    in    the 
time-honored  foreign  policy  of  the  United  States.     Our 
diplomatic  representatives  took  leading  part  in  the  Berlin  Con 
ference  of  that  year,  a  conference  which  dealt  with  important 
questions  touching  the  Dark  Continent. 

In  September,  1876,  Leopold  fl.,  King  of  the  Belgians, 
had  convened  at  his  palace  a  conference  of  African  travelers,  to 
discuss  the  best  means  of  opening  equatorial  Africa.  Half  a 

391 


THE  UNITED  STATES  IN  OUR  OWN  TIME 


HF.KRT  M.  STANLEY 


year  later  a  Congress  was  convoked  at 
the  same  place,  where  appeared  dele 
gates  from  Austria,  Belgium,  France, 
Germany,  the  Netherlands,  Spain 
Switzerland  and  the  United  States, 
A  committee  of  three,  headed  by  the 
King,  and  including  General  Henry  S. 
Sanford,  of  Florida,  representing  the 
English-speaking  races,  recommended 
the  formation  of  an  International  Afri 
can  Association,  to  found  "  hospitable 
and  scientific  "  stations  in  Africa  under 
the  association's  own  flag.  A  chain  of 
such  stations  was  formed  from  Zanzibar  to  Lake  Tangan 
yika. 

The  royal  enterprise  was  advertised  to  the  world  mainly 
by  the  labors  of  Henry  M.  Stanley.  Born  in  1841,  near 
Denbigh,  Wales,  where  he  was  known  as  John  Rowlands, 
from  three  years  of  age  to  thirteen  the  lad  lived  and  was 
schooled  inside  St.  Asaph  Poor-house.  He  later  ascribed  all 
his  success  to  the  education  here  received.  When  sixteen  he 
shipped  for  New  Orleans,  where  he  found  a  foster-father  in  a 
trader  named  Stanley,  whose  name  he  assumed  and  henceforth 
bore.  At  the  outbreak  of  the  civil  war  his  energy  took  a  military 
turn,  and  the  man  who  was  later  reverenced  by  the  Congo  blacks 
as  "  Father  and  Mother  of  the  Country,"  enlisted  on  the  pro- 
slavery  side.  He  was  taken  prisoner,  escaped  at  night  by  swim 
ming  a  river  amid  a  storm  of  bullets,  and  made  for  Wales,  but 
not  to  stay.  Returning,  he  enlisted  once  more,  this  time  in 
the  Federal  navy,  acting  presently  as  ensign  on  the  flagship 
T^iconderoga.  Peace  restored,  the  path  of  a  newspaper  corre 
spondent  in  wild  and  distant  lands  attracted  the  bold  fellow  ; 
and  we  find  him  by  turns  in  Spain,  Turkey  and  Syria. 

Stanley's  fame  was  not  sealed,  however,  till  James  Gor 
don  Bennett,  of  the  New  York  Herald^  despatched  him  to  the 


STANLEY  TO  FIND  LIVINGSTONE 


Dark  Continent  to  "find  Livingstone."  More  explicit  direc 
tions  would  have  been  impossible  at  the  time,  as  well  as  need 
less  and  insufferable  for  Stanley.  The  new  explorer  found 
the  old  one,  who  refused  to  return  to  civilization  before  com 
pleting  his  explorations.  Livingstone  died  in  Africa,  his 
work  still  incomplete,  but  it  was  taken  up  and  astonishingly 
supplemented  by  his  strong  successor.  The  Queen  sent 
Stanley  a  gold  snuff-box  set  with  diamonds.  France  decor 
ated  him  with  the  cross  of  the  Legion  of  Honor.  Bismarck 
entertained  him.  Leopold  II.  treated  him  as  if  he  had  been 
a  prince  of  the  blood.  The  poor-house  boy  became  the  most 
famous  man  on  earth. 

After  Stanley  had  discovered  the   Upper  Congo  in  1877, 
"  The   Comite  d' Etudes  of  the  Upper  Congo,"   a  branch,  or 


Captain  Nels 


Surgeon  T.  M.  Parke,  A.M.D.  Henry  M.  Stanley  A.  J.  Mounteney-Jepbs 

MR.    STANLEY   AND    HIS  OFFICERS 


THE  UNITED  STATES  IN  OUR  OWN  TIME 

perhaps  a  partner,  of  the  International  African  Association,, 
devoted  its  labors  to  that  region.  In  1884  General  Sanford 
wrote  :  "  This  work  has  developed  into  extraordinary  propor 
tions  and  has  had  for  practical  result  the  opening  up  to  civiliz 
ing  influence  and  to  the  world's  traffic  this  vast,  populous,  and 
fertile  region,  securing  certain  destruction  to  the  slave  trade 
wherever  its  flag  floats."  The  flag — blue,  with  a  golden  star 
in  the  centre — was  as  yet  unrecognized.  The  United  States, 
so  prominent  in  the  inception  of  the  enterprise,  was  the  first 
to  recognize  it.  In  his  annual  message  for  1883,  President 
Arthur  called  attention  to  the  work  of  the  association,  "  of 
which  a  citizen  of  the  United  States  was  the  chief  executive 
officer."  "  Large  tracts  of  territory,"  he  said,  "  have  been 
ceded  to  the  association  by  native  chiefs,  roads  have  been 
opened,  steamboats  placed  on  the  river,  and  the  nuclei  of  States 
established  at  twenty-two  stations  under  the  flag,  which  offers 
freedom  to  commerce  and  prohibits  the  slave  trade.  .  .  The 
United  States  cannot  be  indifferent  to  this  work  nor  to  the  in 
terest  of  their  citizens  involved  in  it.  It  may  become  advisable 
for  us  to  co-operate  with  other  commercial  powers  in  promoting 
the  rights  of  trade  and  residence  in  the  Congo  valley,  free  from 
the  interference  or  political  control  of  any  one  nation." 

The  succeeding  April  the  Secretary  of  State  found  him 
self  authorized  to  proclaim  "  that  in  accordance  with  the  tra 
ditional  policy  of  the  United  States,  which  enjoins  their  careful 
attention  to  the  commercial  interests  of  American  citizens, 
avoiding  at  the  same  time  all  interference  in  the  controversies 
engaged  in  between  other  powers  or  the  conclusion  of  alliances 
with  foreign  nations,  the  Government  of  the  United  States 
declared  its  sympathy  with  and  approbation  of  the  humane  and 
noble  object  of  the  International  Association  of  the  Congo, 
acting  in  the  interest  of  the  Free  State  established  in  that 
region,  and  commanded  all  officers  of  the  United  States,  either 
on  land  or  sea,  to  recognize  the  flag  of  the  International  Asso 
ciation  as  that  of  a  friendly  government." 

394 


AMERICA  AND  THE  BERLIN  CONFERENCE 

This  step  was  much  criticised  abroad.  The  scramble  for 
<(  a  piece  of  Africa  "  had  begun,  and  the  association,  which, 
unrecognized,  might  be  a  cat's  paw,  once  recognized  became  a 
rival.  France  and  Portugal,  each  of  whom  had  her  claim  (one 
very  ancient,  the  other  just  laid,  but  both  much  cackled  about) 
to  lands  occupied  by  the  association,  were  especially  nettled. 
A  French  paper  petulantly  dubbed  Uncle  Sam  the  new  State's 
"  godfather."  Had  the  claims  mentioned  been  fully  conceded 
the  new  State  would  have  been  left  without  sea-coast.  The 
adjustment  gave  to  the  new-flag  nation  a  coast  frontage  of 
from  thirty  to  forty  miles  north  from  the  Congo  estuary,  as 
well  as  a  vast  empire  of  back  country.  The  guarded  recog 
nition  by  the  United  States  at  this  juncture  was,  as  Stanley 
said,  "  the  birth  unto  new  life  of  the  association,  seriously 
menaced  as  its  existence  was  by  opposing  interests  and  am 
bitions."  More  vital  ends  than  these  touching  the  African 
continent  waited  to  be  attained,  appealing  to  "  the  commercial 
interests  of  American  citizens,"  and  to  their  "  sympathy  "  and 
"  approbation."  Besides,  Americans  had  founded  Liberia, 
American  missionaries  were  not  few  in  Africa,  a  wealthy 
American  journalist  had  furnished  the  means  for  rescuing  Dr. 
Livingstone  and  a  famous  American  explorer  performed  the 
task.  All  these  facts  aroused  public  interest  here  and  led  to 
our  participation  in  the  Berlin  Con 
ference. 

This  step  was  as  fiercely  criticised  at 
home  as  our  recognition  of  the  blue  flag 
had  been  abroad.  The  timid  shrieked 
appeal  to  the  Monroe  Doctrine.  Our 
commercial  interests  in  Africa,  it  was 
said,  were  small,  even  in  posse.  Con 
sidered  as  ^interested,  the  action  was 
denounced  as  meddling.  We  should 
regret  it,  critics  said,  when  the  Nicaragua  JOHN  A. 

I          1  1  T~«1  The  Representative  of  the  United. 

controversy  reached  an  acute  phase.    I  he        statei  at  th,  Berim  conference 

395 


THE  UNITED  STATES  IN  OUR  OWN  TIME 


A  Pigmy  Family  in  front  of  Stanley's  Tent 

correspondent  of  the  London  News  considered  the  conspicu 
ous  part  taken  by  our  delegates  in  the  conference  an  intima 
tion  that  this  country  was  henceforth  to  be  more  active  in 
foreign  affairs. 

The  Conference  assembled  in  November,  1884.  It  was 
formally  opened  by  Prince  Bismarck,  who  stated  its  main 
objects  to  be  :  i.  To  secure  free  navigation  and  trade  on  the 
River  Congo.  2.  To  secure  free  navigation  of  the  River 
Niger.  3.  To  determine  the  formalities  to  be  in  future 
observed  for  the  valid  annexation  of  territory  on  the  African 
continent.  The  neutralization  of  the  Congo  and  Niger,  an 
American  proposition  put  forward  by  our  delegate,  Mr.  Kas- 
son,  was  attained  in  part,  but  not  perfectly,  owing  to  the  oppo 
sition  of  France.  The  treaty  powers  promised,  in  case  of  war 
by  or  against  a  possessor  of  Congo  land,  to  lend  their  good 


PURPOSES  OF  THE  BERLIN  CONFERENCE 

offices  to  induce  both  belligerents  to  keep  hands  off  from  the 
free  trade  belt,  which  included  much  French  and  Portuguese 
as  well  as  other  territory.  In  the  event  of  disagreement 
touching  the  free  trade  belt,  the  powers  undertook  to  resort 
to  mediation  before  appealing  to  arms,  and  reserved  the  option 
of  proceeding  by  arbitration.  The  motion  to  restrict  the  sale 
of  liquor  in  the  Congo  basin,  though  introduced  by  Italy,  was 
also  of  American  origin.  It  was  bitterly  assailed  by  Germany 
and  Holland,  but  was  partly  realized  afterward  when  measures 
were  adopted  to  prevent  the  introduction  of  liquor  into  tracts 


A  Pigmy  Village  Discovered  by  Stanley  in  the  Great  African  Forest 

397 


THE  UNITED  STATES  IN  OUR  OWN  TIME 

yet  uninfected,  or  where  the  Mohammedan  religion  forbade  its 
use.  The  United  States,  with  England,  joined  the  enlightened 
King  of  the  Belgians  in  securing  provisions  for  the  preserva 
tion  and  amelioration  of  native  races,  the  suppression  of  slav 
ery  and  the  slave-trade,  and  the  encouragement  of  all  religious, 
scientific  and  charitable  enterprises,  with  perfect  religious 
liberty  for  white  and  black.  Arrangements  were  made  to 
include  the  neutralized  strip  in  the  Postal  Union. 

Mr.  N.  P.  Tisdell,  appointed  by  the  United  States  Gov 
ernment  to  report  upon  its  advantages  for  American  trade,  was 
unfavorably  impressed  with  the  country  and  the  character  of 
the  natives.  Yet  subsequent  events  justified  Stanley's  asser- 


jf 


Hi 


One  of  Stanley's  Stockaded  Camps 

tion  that  the  course  of  the  United  States  toward  the  new  sov 
ereignty  was  "  well  worthy  of  the  great  republic."  The  abo 
rigines  no  longer  dreaded  the  merciless  Arab  slave-raider,  for 
his  power  was  broken.  Cannibals  who  in  1877  assailed 

398 


ORIGIN  OF  THE  CLAYTON-BULWER  TREATY 

Stanley  with  flights  of  poisoned  arrows  soon  enlisted  in  the 
little  standing  army  of  the  Free  State.  The  sale  of  liquor, 
arms  and  gunpowder  was  restricted.  Commerce  more  than 
doubled  the  proportions  it  had  when  the  Conference  rose. 
A  railroad  around  Livingstone  Falls  was  begun  and  part 
of  it  speedily  in  operation.  It  is  to  be  said  that  rumors,  for 
the  time  impossible  either  to  verify  or  to  refute,  reached  the 
press,  of  outrages  upon  natives  at  the  hands  of  Belgian  of 
ficials,  grosser  than  those  which  Burke  imputed  to  Warren 
Hastings. 

While  the  Congo  episode  was  broadening  American  ideas 
of  the  Monroe  doctrine,  events  in  Central  America  led  to  the 
emphatic  reassertion  of  that  doctrine.  M.  de  Lesseps's  ill- 
starred  attempt  to  ditch  the  Isthmus  of  Panama  was  begun  in 
1 88 1.  The  prospect  of  its  success  raised  anew  questions  of 
neutrality  and  control  over  land  or  water  routes  joining  the 
oceans.  During  President  Taylor's  administration  the  United 
States  had  requested  Great  Britain  to  withdraw  her  preten 
sions  to  the  Mosquito  Coast,  that  Nicaragua  and  ourselves 
might  join  to  construct  a  canal  from  there  to  the  Pacific. 
Great  Britain  declined,  but  signified  her  consent  to  a  treaty 
admitting  her  to  a  share  in  the  protection  of  the  proposed 
canal.  The  Clayton-Bulwer  Treaty  resulted,  having  in  view,  so 
far  as  the  United  States  was  concerned,  the  encouragement  of 
a  canal  enterprise  under  the  so-called  "  Hise"  grant  made  us 
by  Nicaragua.  The  treaty  declared  that  neither  government 
should  "  ever  obtain  or  maintain  for  itself  any  exclusive  con 
trol  over  the  said  ship-canal,"  or  "  occupy,  or  fortify,  or  colo 
nize,  or  assume  or  exercise  any  dominion  over  Nicaragua, 
Costa  Rica,  the  Mosquito  Coast  or  any  part  of  Central 
America,"  the  last  provision,  however,  not  to  apply  to  the 
British  settlement  at  Belize.  The  governments  further  agreed 
to  "  facilitate  the  construction  of  the  said  canal  by  every  means 
in  their  power,"  to  protect  it  and  to  guarantee  its  neutrality. 
The  eighth  article  of  the  treaty  extended  the  agreement  to 

399 


THE  UNITED  STATES  IN  OUR  OWN  TIME 

any  other  practicable   communications,  whether  by  canal   or 
railway,  across  the  isthmus. 

The  projected  canal  was  never  begun,  and  interest  in  the 
subject  subsided  until  after  the  American  Civil  War.  It  was 
revived  by  the  attempt  of  France  to  join  us,  perhaps  with  other 
nations,  in  guaranteeing  the  neutrality  of  the  new  isthmus  route 
which  de  Lesseps  was  designing.  On  March  8,  1880,  in  a 
special  message,  President  Hayes  said:  "The  United  States 
cannot  consent  to  the  surrender  of  control  (over  an  inter- 
oceanic  canal)  to  any  European  power  or  to  any  combination 
of  European  powers."  Hayes  evidently  assumed  that  the 
British  guarantee  mentioned  in  the  Clayton-Bulwer  Treaty  had 
relation  solely  to  the  schemes  in  mind  at  that  date.  He  contin 
ued:  "An  inter-oceanic  canal  across  the  American  isthmus  will 
be  a  great  ocean  thoroughfare  between  our  Atlantic  and  our 
Pacific  shores  and  virtually  a  part  of  the  coast  line  of  the 
United  States.  No  other  great  power  would  under  similar 
circumstances  fail  to  assert  a  rightful  control  over  a  work  so 
closely  and  vitally  affecting  its  interest  and  welfare."  Before 
the  close  of  the  Hayes  administration  a  treaty  permitting  such 
control  was  negotiated  with  Colombia,  but  that  republic,  owing 
to  French  influence  or  finding  the  treaty  distasteful,  declined 
to  ratify  it. 

Secretary  Blaine,  under  Garfield,  maintained  the  same  po 
sition  which  his  predecessor  had  assumed.  The  United  States, 
having  guaranteed  the  neutrality  of  any  route  which  might  be 
opened  across  the  isthmus,  would  brook  no  participation  of 
European  nations  in  this  office.  The  London  press  cried 
out  at  the  danger  of  entrusting  the  neutrality  of  one  of  the 
greatest  commercial  routes  in  the  world  to  a  single  very  strong 
power  and  a  single  very  weak  one.  The  American  states 
men  in  time  to  come  could  say  :  "  The  governments  of  the 
two  republics  are  alone  parties  to  the  treaty.  What  they  have 
made  they  can  tear  up.  The  neutrality  of  the  canal  is  for  the 
time  suspended."  Mr.  Blaine  proposed  certain  modifications 

400 


VIEWS  OF  ELAINE  AND  FRELINGHUYSEN 

of  the  Clayton- Bulwer  Treaty,  made,  as  it  was,  under  extraor 
dinary  and  exceptional  conditions,  and  operating,  as  it  would 
in  case  of  war,  to  place  the  canal  in  the  hands  of  England's 
navy.  He  said:  "As  England  insists,  by  the  might  of  her 
power,  that  her  enemies  in  war  shall  strike  her  Indian  posses 
sions  only  by  doubling  the  Cape  of  Good  Hope,  so  the  United 
States  will  equally  insist  that  the  canal  shall  be  reserved  for 
ourselves,  while  our  enemies,  if  we  shall  ever  be  so  unfor 
tunate  as  to  have  any,  shall  be  remanded  to  the  voyage  around 
Cape  Horn." 

In  declining  Elaine's  proposition  to  modify  the  treaty 
Lord  Granville  pointed  out  the  great  interest  of  his  country 
and  of  the  whole  civilized  world  in  an  unobstructed  passage 
from  the  Atlantic  to  the  Pacific.  He  painted  "  the  melan 
choly  spectacle  "  of  "  competition  among  the  nations  in  the 
construction  of  fortifications  to  obtain  the  command  over  the 
canal  and  its  approaches,"  a  consequence  apprehended  (in 
other  words  threatened)  by  Her  Majesty's  government,  should 
the  United  States  persist  in  demanding  supreme  authority  over 
the  canal. 

Under  Mr.  Frelinghuysen,  President  Arthur's  Secretary 
of  State,  the  controversy  assumed  a  tenor  more  legal  and 
less  journalistic.  The  Clayton-Bulwer  Treaty  Frelinghuysen 
thought  certainly  voidable  at  our  option.  It  had  applied  only 
to  inter-oceanic  ways  definitely  contemplated  or  in  prospect  in 
1850,  especially  to  a  canal  under  the  grant  of  1849  from  Nic 
aragua,  a  grant  which  the  United  States,  "poor  in  money  and 
floating  capital,"  was  unable  by  herself  to  make  effective. 
In  consideration  of  the  speedy  construction  of  the  canal  and 
of  Great  Britain's  withdrawal  from  adjoining  soil,  our  govern 
ment  had  "  consented  to  waive  the  exclusive  and  valuable 
rights  which  had  been  given  to  them,  consented  to  agree  with 
Great  Britain  that  they  would  not  occupy,  fortify,  colonize  or 
assume  dominion  over  any  part  of  Central  America,  and  con 
sented  to  admit  Her  Majesty's  government  at  some  future  day 

401 


THE  UNITED  STATES  IN  OUR  OWN  TIME 

to  a  share  in  the  protection  which  they  have  exercised  over  the 
Isthmus  of  Panama."  But,  through  Great  Britain's  fault 
alone,  the  proposed  canal  had  never  been  constructed,  while 
the  tolerated  mahogany-cutting  settlement  at  Belize  had  been, 
in  contravention  of  the  treaty,  erected  into  a  veritable  colony. 

Under  an  international  guarantee  of  neutrality,  Mr.  Fre- 
linghuysen  argued,  a  canal  across  the  isthmus  "  would  affect 
this  republic  in  its  trade  and  commerce  ;  expose  our  western 
coast  to  attack  ;  destroy  our  isolation  ;  oblige  us  to  improve 
our  defences  and  increase  our  navy  ;  and  possibly  compel  us, 
contrary  to  our  traditions,  to  take  an  active  interest  in  the 
affairs  of  European  nations."  On  the  other  hand,  the  politi 
cal  interest  of  this  country  as  sole  guarantor  would  not  nec 
essarily  conflict  with  the  material  interests  of  other  nations, 
to  whose  free  use  the  canal  would  still  be  open.  International 
agreements  of  the  kind  proposed  by  Lord  Granville  our  Sec 
retary  declared  in  peace  useless,  in  times  of  dissension  unen 
forceable. 

The  discussion  was,  for  the  time,  closed  at  the  end  of 
1882,  when  the  British  Secretary  announced  England's  con 
clusions  as  follows  :  "  The  meaning  and  effect  of  article  vin  " 
(as  widening  the  scope  of  the  treaty  and  establishing  a  general 
principle)  "  are  not  open  to  any  doubt ;  the  British  Govern 
ment  has  committed  no  act  in  relation  to  British  Honduras 
or  otherwise  which  can  invalidate  that  treaty  and  justify  the 
United  States  in  denouncing  it ;  and  no  necessity  exists  for 
removing  any  of  the  provisions  of  that  treaty." 

Many  pronounced  our  opening  of  this  question  unwise, 
a  foolish  manifestation  of  a  "jingo  "  policy.  Mr.  Elaine's  spir 
ited  manner  in  the  discussion  was  particularly  reprehended. 
The  criticism  was  unjust.  The  imbroglio  was  not  of  Mr. 
Elaine's  creation,  but  came  to  him  with  the  State  portfolio 
from  Secretary  Evarts,  upon  whom  it  had  been  thrust  by 
the  action  of  Colombia,  incited  by  France.  Mr.  Elaine's 
despatches  upon  the  subject,  perhaps  less  able  than  those  of 

402 


THE  FRENCH  FAIL  AT  PANAMA 


Evarts  or  those  of  Frelinghuysen,  and  almost  dangerously 
bold  in  tone,  yet  took  the  only  ground  which  a  patriotic 
American  Secretary  of  State  could  have  assumed.  Had  Mr. 
Elaine  been  as  reckless  as  many  thought  him,  he  would  have 
moved  to  denounce  the  treaty  forthwith  and  risk  the  conse 
quences  ;  but  the  time  had  not  come  for  that. 

Though  international  control  in  the  isthmus  made  no 
headway,  capital  for  Panama  was  lavishly  provided,  not  by 
rich  Frenchmen,  but  by  the  middle  classes,  who  would  have 
grudged  their  savings  had  not  the  enterprise  been  for  the 
glory  of  France.  The  French  press  grew  more  and  more 
sanguine.  Little  by  little,  reluctantly  acknowledging  the  task 
greater  than  expected,  M.  de  Lesseps 
kept  calling  for  new  support,  and  at 
some  rate  or  other  kept  getting  it. 
He  continued  to  color  the  Panama 
horizon  a  roseate  hue,  but  it  was  sun 
set  and  not  sunrise.  At  the  end  of 
1888  night  fell  upon  the  hopes  of  his 
dupes,  while  day  broke  upon  their 
senses.  Panama  was  fatally  mala 
rial  ;  the  cost  of  excavation  was 
greater  than  supposed ;  the  total 
amount  of  it  not  far  from  twice  as 
large.  The  great  cut  through  Culebra 
Pass  was  said  to  have  unsettled  the  very  mountain  and  to  have 
caused  it  to  tilt  toward  the  canal.  A  dam  more  than  a  mile 
long  to  restrain  the  Chagres  in  flood  time  was  started,  but  aban 
doned.  Gross  mismanagement  marked  every  turn.  Interest 
was  paid  out  of  capital  stock.  Locomotives  ordered  from 
Belgium  were  of  the  wrong  gauge  and  could  be  seen  rusting 
by  the  railway  tracks.  Worst  was  the  unparalleled  corruption 
resorted  to  by  the  desperate  directors  to  keep  the  facts  from 
publicity,  endeavors  which  utterly  failed.  The  populace  of 
Paris  were  furious  at  the  cumulative  revelations.  Over  a 


FERDINAND    DE    LESSEPS 


403 


THE  UNITED  STATES  IN  OUR  OWN  TIME 

hundred  members  of  the  national  Legislature  were  smirched, 
five  ex-ministers  being  among  those  arrested.  The  chief 
culprits,  including  M.  de  Lesseps  himself,  were  given  heavy 
sentences;  the  rest  were  acquitted.  In  Panama  they  knew 
little  of  all  this,  but  still  lamented  the  departure  of  "  canal 
times  "  as  they  contemplated  the  gash  which  not  quite  cut 
their  isthmus. 

So  early  as  the  middle  of  the  sixteenth  century  a  Portu 
guese  navigator  projected  four  possible  routes  for  an  inter- 
oceanic  canal  on  the  western  hemisphere,  at  Darien,  Panama, 
Nicaragua,  and  Tehuantapec.  In  1779  Lord  Nelson  seized 
the  mouth  of  the  San  Juan  as  preliminary  to  the  control  of 
the  waterway.  In  1823  the  President  of  Nicaragua  invited 
the  attention  of  the  United  States  to  the  possibilities  of  this 
route,  and  renewed  negotiations  led  in  1 849  to  the  formation 
of  a  company  in  this  interest,  in  which  Commodore  Vander- 
bilt  was  a  stockholder.  The  doings  of  filibuster  Walker  put 
an  end  to  that  plan.  Several  surveys  made  after  the  war  indi 
cated  that,  should  a  lock  canal  be  contemplated,  the  Nicaragua 
route  was  better  than  any  other.  Preferring  a  tide-water  enter 
prise  like  the  Suez  Canal  however,  the  enthusiast  de  Lesseps 
pursued  the  Panama  chimera.  The  failure  of  any  tide-water 
scheme  being  probable,  the  Nicaragua  proposal  reappeared  as 
a  rival  to  the  Panama  project. 

Treaty  arrangements  initiated  in  1884  between  the  United 
States  and  the  Nicaraguan  Republic  looking  toward  an  inter- 
oceanic  canal,  failed  of  consummation,  as  President  Cleveland, 
taking  office  in  1885  and  dissenting  from  the  opinion  of  his 
predecessor,  feared  that  such  a  scheme  would  lead  to  more 
embarrassments  than  benefits.  In  1887  Nicaragua  and  Costa 
Rica  granted  to  a  private  association  of  United  States 
citizens  the  right,  for  themselves  or  their  assigns,  to  build  a 
trans-Nicaraguan  canal.  In  1889  "  The  Maritime  Canal  Com 
pany  of  Nicaragua  "  succeeded  to  these  rights  agreeing  to 
expend  $ 2,000,000  the  first  year  and  to  complete  the  canal 

404 


"CANAL  TIMES"  IN  NICARAGUA 


Machine  Shop  and  Railroad  Camp  Number  /,  showing  one  of  the  Dredges  at  ff^ork  on  the  Nicaragua  Canal 

by  1900,  though  it,  in  fact,  went  little  further  than  to  make 
preliminary  surveys  and  estimates. 

In  1891  a  construction  company,  of  which  Hon.  Warner 
Miller,  of  New  York,  was  president,  undertook  the  building 
operations.  In  the  same  year  an  attempt  was  made,  without 
success,  to  get  the  United  States  to  guarantee  $100,000,000 
of  the  company's  bonds.  "  Canal  times  "  in  Nicaragua  made 
the  little  republic  tingle  with  speculative  fever.  The  govern 
ment  revelled  in  extravagance  and  waste,  but  was  in  the  midst 
of  its  debaucheries  cut  off  by  a  revolution,  or  rather  by  a 
complicated  series  of  domestic  and  foreign  troubles,  that  for 
the  time  smothered  peaceful  enterprise.  In  1896  a  com 
mission  of  experts  appointed  by  our  Government  made  a 
report  discouraging  to  the  hopes  of  the  promoters,  spite  of 
which  the  bill  for  lending  the  Government  credit  to  the  enter 
prise  mustered  numerous  and  influential  supporters  in  both 
Houses  of  our  Congress. 

At  the  Caribbean  port  a  breakwater  was  to  be  built  and 
the  harbor  deepened.  The  length  of  the  proposed  route 
was  about  170  miles.  For  121.1  miles  ships  were  to  pass 
through  the  lake  and  through  rivers,  for  21.5  through  dammed 
basins,  for  27  through  channels  excavated  at  the  eastern  and 

405 


THE  UNITED  STATES  IN  OUR  OWN  TIME 

western  divides.  From  Greytown  westward  to  the  foot  hills 
a  sea-level  canal  9.25  miles  long  was  to  be  maintained.  Thence 
three  locks  about  650  feet  long  and  65  feet  wide  would 
advance  the  vessel  a  mile  or  two  and  raise  it  106  feet. 
Three  to  five  miles  beyond,  the  eastern  divide  loomed  up5 
requiring  amputation,  the  average  depth  to  be  141  feet,  the 
length  2.9  miles.  Here  the  San  Francisco  and  Machado 
were  to  carry  the  vessel  12  miles,  entering  the  San  Juan 
above  a  huge  dam.  This  river  leads  to  Lake  Nicaragua, 
64.5  miles  farther  on,  through  which  the  ship's  path  would 
extend  for  a  distance  of  56.5  miles.  The  levels  here  were  to 
be  raised  four  feet.  The  western  divide  must  be  channelled 
for  1 1. 2  miles  ;  beyond  for  5.5  miles  a  basin  would  be  formed 
by  penning  the  water  in  natural  valleys.  The  descent  thence 
to  tide-water  was  meant  to  be  accomplished  by  three  locks, 
the  last  a  tidal  lock  a  mile  and  a  half  from  the  ocean.  Finally, 


THE   CLEARING   FOR   THE   NICARAGUA   CANAL 
Looking  West  from  Camp  Daly  across  Laguna  Benard 

406 


DESCRIPTION  OF  PROPOSED  CANAL 


A  Giant  Silk-cotton  free  in  the  line  of  the  Canal  Clea 


a  harbor  must  be 
made  on  the  Pa 
cific.  The  mini 
mum  depth  of  the 
canal  was  to  be  30 
feet  ;  the  width 
sufficient,  except 
at  the  divides,  for 
two  ships  to  pass 
each  other. 

No  one  doubt 
ed  that  the  cost  of 
construction  must 
be  large,  perhaps 

PYPPpHitlQ"      PHTpflll 
O 

estimates.  Twenty-seven  miles,  or  10,000,000  cubic  yards, 
of  excavation  were  required,  also  21.5  miles  of  basins,  con 
structed  by  means  of  enormous  dams.  A  shoal  fourteen  miles 
long  on  the  east  of  Nicaragua  Lake  would  have  to  be  dredged 
and  kept  clear.  Geologists  said  that  basaltic  lavas  predomi 
nated  underneath  this  as  well  as  under  the  Panama  route. 
Dams  were  required  to  cross  the  San  Juan  and  the  Tola, 
each  nearly  2,000  feet  long  by  70  high,  and  one  3.25  miles 
long  and  60  feet  high  to  cross  the  San  Carlos. 

That,  after  all,  a  canal  upon  this  route  could  be  created 
and  operated  seemed  beyond  question.  That  it  would  be  po 
litically  valuable  and  its  operation  profitable  from  a  business 
point  of  view  also  appeared  quite  clear.  In  an  address  to  the 
public  the  Canal  Company  said  :  "  The  nation  that  controls 
this  canal  under  terms  of  amity  with  Nicaragua  will  here  find 
rest  and  refreshment  for  its  fleets  and  a  point  d'appui  from 
which  either  ocean  may  readily  be  reached  in  case  of  need." 

According  to  the  Statesman's  Year  Book,  the  Panama 
Railroad  had,  in  1885,  ^I7>OOO5OO°  worth  of  traffic.  The 
Canal  Company  estimated  the  cargoes  which,  had  it  been  in 

407 


THE  UNITED  STATES  IN  OUR  OWN  TIME 


Engineer  Camp  of  the  Nicaragua  Railway  on  the  West  Side 


existence,  would  have  sought  their  canal,  at  2,671,886  tons  in 
1879,  at  4>5°7>°44  m  i^y,  an<^  at  7>6 16,904  in  1895.  Re 
viewing  the  above  figures,  Mr.  G.  E.  Church,  who  found  the 
actual  traffic  of  the  Suez  Canal  to  be  but  52  per  cent,  of  the 
possible,  calculated  the  probable,  as  distinguished  from  the  pos 
sible,  number  of  ships  which  would  have  used  the  Nicaragua 
Canal,  and  thought  that  in  1880  it  would  have  borne  1,625,000 
tons  of  freight,  valued  at  ^32,136,000.  Crediting  the  Nicara 
gua  Canal  with  every  vessel  that  might  by  its  means  have  made 
a  saving  of  distance,  2,818  ships  would,  in  1880,  have  passed 
through  it,  carrying  2,938,386  tons  of  cargo.  According  to 
an  article  in  the  Saturday  Review  of  March  16,  1895,  the 
probable  yearly  traffic  had  been  estimated  as  high  as  8,122,093 
tons,  but  the  writer  himself  deemed  3,500,000  tons  a  more 
likely  figure. 

Notwithstanding  its  political  importance  and  its  great 
financial  promise,  the  undertaking  progressed  but  slowly. 
Against  it  was  on  all  occasions  manifested  in  Congress  and  in 
the  press  the  opposition  of  the  transcontinental  railways.  The 
necessity  of  increasing  the  navy  should  the  canal  be  built  and 
placed  under  our  guaranty  of  neutrality  was  also  powerfully 

408 


UNION  OF  THE  AMERICAS 

urged.  Possible,  or,  as  was  alleged,  certain  complications  with 
foreign  powers  formed  a  giant  objection  with  many.  A  few, 
perhaps,  gave  a  pro-British  interpretation  to  the  Clayton- 
Bulwer  Treaty. 

Discussion  upon  the  great  canal  scheme  was  by  no  means 
the  sole  indication  that  our  relations  with  our  southern  neigh 
bors  tended  to  grow  closer.  In  1884  Congress  provided  for, 
and  the  President  appointed,  a  commission  of  three  to  "  ascer 
tain  the  best  modes  of  securing  more  intimate  international 
and  commercial  relations  between  the  United  States  and  the 
several  countries  of  Central  and  South  America."  After 
conferring  with  leading  merchants  and  manufacturers  in  this 
country,  and  making  an  extensive  tour  of  Latin  America, 
the  Commissioners  in  1884-85  recommended  an  international 
American  conference  to  promote  commercial  intercourse  and 
to  prepare  some  plan  of  arbitration  for  controversies  between 
the  states  of  the  American  continents. 

The  idea  of  such  a  congress  was  not  new.  Bolivar  con 
ceived  it  before  1820.  The  threatening  Holy  Alliance,  or 
"  Holy  League,"  as  John  Quincy  Adams  called  it,  caused  the 
young  Spanish-American  republics  in  1826  to  huddle  together 
in  a  congress  at  Panama.  President  John  Quincy  Adams  and 
Clay,  his  Secretary  of  State,  wished  our  Government  to  be  rep 
resented  there ;  but  delays  by  the  slave-power,  morbidly  sen 
sitive  in  dealing  with  countries  which  had  emancipated  their 
slaves  so  early  as  1813,  made  the  Administration's  efforts  abor 
tive.  It  is  worthy  of  notice  that  reciprocity,  as  it  is  now  called, 
was  one  of  the  subjects  which  President  Adams  suggested  for 
discussion  at  this  Panama  convocation.  That  congress  came  to 
nothing.  Vain,  also,  were  Mexico's  sedulous  efforts  in  1831, 
1838,  1839  and  1840  to  create  a  congress  of  Spanish  America. 
When  in  1 847  Mexico's  fears  of  North  American  aggression 
were  realized,  Bolivia,  Chile,  Equador,  New  Granada  and  Peru 
met  in  Lima,  allowing  other  American  republics  to  join  them, 
and  going  so  far  as  to  invite  the  United  States.  In  1856,  again, 

409 


THE  UNITED  STATES  IN  OUR  OWN  TIME 

Walker's  filibustering  frightened  Peru,  Chile  and  Equador  into 
signing  a  treaty  of  confederation  and  endeavoring  to  get  other 
adherents,  while  anxious  conferences  were  held  among  Spanish- 
American  ministers  in  Washington.  In  1862  Costa  Rica, 
communicating  with  Colombia,  doubtless  voiced  the  prevalent 
South  American  impression  "that  the  cessation  of  the  Vandalic 
filibustering  expedition  of  1855  and  of  the  following  ones  till 
1 860  was  due  to  intervention,  although  tardily  carried  into  effect, 
on  the  part  of  Europe."  This  was  a  curious  commentary  on 
the  Monroe  Doctrine.  The  despatch  added:  "  If  our  republics 
could  have  the  guaranty  that  they  have  nothing  to  fear  from 
the  United  States  of  North  America,  it  is  indubitable  that  no 
other  nation  could  be  more  useful  and  favorable  to  us.  Under 
the  shelter  of  her  powerful  eagles,  under  the  influence  of  her 
wise  institutions  and  under  the  spur  of  her  astonishing  prog 
ress  our  newly  born  nationalities  would  receive  the  impulse 
which  they  now  need,  and  would  be  permitted  to  march  with 
firm  step,  without  experiencing  the  troubles  and  difficulties 
with  which  they  have  had  to  struggle.  .  .  A  new  compact 
might  be  draughted  by  which  the  United  States  of  North 
America  should  bind  themselves  solemnly  to  respect  and  cause 
others  to  respect  the  independence,  sovereignty,  and  territorial 
integrity  of  the  sister  republics  of  this  continent ;  not  to  annex 
to  their  territory,  either  by  purchase  or  by  any  other  means, 
any  part  of  the  territory  of  the  said  republics  ;  not  to  allow  fili 
bustering  expeditions  to  be  fitted  up  against  the  said  nations, 
or  to  permit  the  rights  of  the  latter  to  be  in  any  way  abridged 
or  ignored.  Resting  upon  a  treaty  of  this  kind,  our  republics 
would  admit  .  .  the  idea  of  an  intimate  alliance  with  the  North 
American  people." 

In  1864  Peru  bade  the  Spanish  nations  to  another  con 
ference,  the  United  States  not  being  invited  because,  as  Peru 
alleged,  "their  policy  was  adverse  to  all  kinds  of  alliances,  and 
because  the  natural  preponderance  which  a  first-class  power,  as 
they  are,  has  to  exercise  in  the  deliberations  might  embarrass 

410 


A  RAILROAD  TO  CAPE  HORN 


IFC 


the  action  of  the  congress."  In  1880  a  congress  proposed 
for  the  next  year  to  secure  the  adoption  of  arbitration  on  this 
hemisphere,  was  prevented  by  the  breaking  out  of  war  be 
tween  Chile  and  Peru  and  Bolivia,  Mexico,  also,  about  the 
same  time,  having  trouble  with  Guatemala.  A  similar  propo 
sition  on  the  part  of  the  United  States  in  1881,  for  November, 
1882,  came  to  naught,  owing  to  the  continuance  of  the  same 
hostilities.  In  1877  and  in  1888  occurred  congresses  of  Span 
ish-American  jurists  to  amend  the  international  law  of  the 
South  American  Continent. 

In  1880  there  began  in  the  United  States  a  series  of  steps 
which  in  course  of  time  led  to  the  Pan-American  Conference  of 
1889  and  1890.  In  1880  Senator  David  Davis  projected  the 
preliminaries  for  an  immense  international  line  of  railroads  run 
ning  at  the  foot  of  the  great  mountain  chain  through  Mexico, 
Central  America  and  South  America,  with  branches  to  the 
main  Pacific  seaports.  Bills  of  the  same  tenor  were  subse 
quently  introduced  by  Senators  Morgan,  Sherman  and  others. 
There  were  also  propositions  for  special  commissioners  to 
visit  Central  and  South  America.  At  the  first  session  of  the 
Forty-eighth  Congress  a  joint  resolution  was  introduced  re 
questing  the  President  to  invite  the  co-operation  of  American 
governments  in  securing  the  establishment  of  an  American 

customs-union. 

Instead  of  immediate  steps  toward 
an  international  conference  to  promote 
commerce  and  peace,  which  were  con 
templated  by  Congress,  Secretary  Fre- 
linghuysen  recommended  a  commission 
to  visit  Central  and  South  America, 
suggested  a  series  of  reciprocity  treaties 
as  the  natural  mode  of  developing  our 
commerce  with  Latin  America,  and 
intimated  that  "  it  would  be  advantage 
ous  and  probably  practicable  to  agree 


DAVID  DAVIS 


411 


THE  UNITED  STATES  IN  OUR  OWN  TIME 

upon  a  common  silver  coin  equal  in  value,  say,  to  our  gold  dol 
lar,  or  to  some  other  appropriate  standard,  which,  under  proper 
regulations  as  to  coinage,  etc.,  should  be  current  in  all  the 
countries  of  this  continent."  Renewed  efforts  in  these  vari 
ous  directions  resulted  in  adopting  the  recommendation  of  the 
Commission,  and  a  conference  was  invited.  The  act  authoriz 
ing  it  permitted  in  it  the  discussion  of  measures  (i)  for  the 
prosperity  of  the  several  states,  (2)  for  an  American  customs- 
union,  (3)  for  regular  and  frequent  communication,  (4)  for  a 
uniform  system  of  customs  regulations,  (5)  for  a  uniform  sys 
tem  of  weights  and  measures,  patents,  copyrights,  trade-marks 
and  extradition,  (6)  for  the  adoption  of  a  common  silver  coin, 
and  (7)  for  arbitration.  The  programme  also  allowed  some 
canvass  of  miscellaneous  subjects. 

Before  the  organization  of  the  Conference,  the  delegates, 
starting  on  October  3,  1889,  were  carried  by  rail  on  a  trip 
nearly  6,000  miles  long,  visiting  forty-one  cities,  from  Boston 
to  St.  Louis  and  back,  and  inspecting  the  principal  iron  and 
steel  manufactories  of  Pennsylvania.  Elaborate  receptions 
were  accorded  them  everywhere.  In  two  great  factory  towns 
they  were  greeted  by  brass  bands  made  up  from  among  the 
operatives.  At  one  place  a  natural-gas  well  was  fired  for 
their  edification,  and  its  hues  made  to  change  by  the  ingenious 
injection  of  chemicals.  This  well-meant  entertainment,  besides 
being — such  the  Spanish-American  temperament — a  hardship 
to  the  delegates,  seemed  to  some  of  them  a  piece  of  ostenta 
tious  braggadocio,  precisely  the  assumption  of  superiority  by 
the  United  States  which  they  had  come  prepared  to  find. 
Early  in  the  progress,  Senor  Quintana,  of  the  Argentine  dele 
gation,  disengaged  himself  from  the  other  gentlemen  and 
returned  to  Washington. 

A  variety  of  circumstancs  helped  ruffle  the  serenity  of 
the  proceedings.  The  difference  between  our  Spanish-Ameri 
can  guests  and  ourselves,  in  language,  in  blood,  and  in  ideas 
of  etiquette,  caused  misunderstandings.  An  interpreter  was 

412 


MISUNDERSTANDINGS  IN  THE  CONFERENCE 


The  House  in  Washington  -where  the  Pan-American  Conference  Held  its  Meetings 

required,  as  only  one  of  the  United  States  delegates,  Mr. 
Flint,  spoke  Spanish,  and  only  one  other,  Mr.  Trescot,  read 
it,  while  several  Latin-American  members  did  not  know  Eng 
lish.  The  contrast  between  the  Anglo-Saxon  and  the  Spanish 
procedure  usual  in  such  assemblages  was  vast,  occasioning 
unpleasant  feelings  which  could  be  reconciled  only  by  yielding 
to  the  South  American  preference.  Reciprocity  was  among 
the  aims  of  the  Congress.  Argentina  suggested  reciprocity 
in  1875  and  again  at  this  Conference.  But  a  United  States 
reciprocity  treaty  with  Mexico  had  fallen  through  in  1883, 
which  led  delegates  to  doubt  whether  the  United  States  ear 
nestly  desired  reciprocity.  This  distrust  was  unfortunately  in 
creased  by  the  McKinley  Tariff  Bill,  then  in  its  earlier  stages, 
before  its  excellent  reciprocity  provisions  had  been  attached. 

Lack  of  harmony  was  not  wholly  due  to  jealousy  or  fear  of 
the  United  States.  Chile  wished  the  Conference  confined  to  com 
mercial  and  economic  instead  of  political  questions.  Because 
of  an  unratified  reciprocity  treaty  with  her,  San  Domingo  de 
clined  to  send  delegates.  Hawaii,  invited  late,  could  not  accept 


415 


THE  UNITED  STATES  IN  OUR  OWN  TIME 

in  time  to  take  part  in  the  deliberations.  Among  the  states  rep 
resented  the  smaller  were,  as  a  rule,  more  effusive  than  the 
larger  in  responding  to  the  invitation.  The  guest-states,  too, 
had  their  mutual  jealousies.  Guatemala  was  distrustful  of 
Mexico.  Bolivia  and  Peru  tended  to  favor  Argentina,  as  against 
victorious  Chile.  The  five  Central  American  States  were  at 
odds  over  the  terms  of  a  suggested  alliance  among  themselves, 
while  Nicaragua  and  Costa  Rica  had  the  proposed  canal  for 
an  additional  bone  of  contention. 

Though  not  a  delegate,  Secretary  Elaine  was  elected  presi 
dent  of  the  Conference.  He  had  desired  the  earlier  conference, 
proposed  for  1882,  to  confine  its  attention  to  the  subject  of 
arbitration,  and  he  was  particularly  emphatic  now  in  urging 
the  same.  Chile  did  not  favor  the  idea  ;  Mexico  and  Argen 
tina  only  in  a  restricted  sphere.  A  formal  treaty  was  signed 
by  most  of  the  delegates,  but  it  came  to  nothing.  The  most 
permanent  concrete  result  of  the  Conference  was  the  Bureau  of 
American  Republics,  maintained  at  Washington,  to  dissemi 
nate  information  regarding  the  Latin-race  countries  on  this  side 
of  the  Atlantic. 


416 


CHAPTER   XV 
-FARTHEST    NORTH" 

THE   JEANNETTE    EXPEDITION. — ITS    OFFICERS. ITS    PLAN. THE 

START. SUSPENSE  AND  SEARCH. RUMORS. TIDINGS  AT  LAST. — 

COURSE  AND  FATE  OF  THE  EXPEDITION. MELVILLE  FINDS  NINDE- 

MAN    AND    NOROS. DELONG'S    END. HIS    JOURNAL. NEW  POLAR 

RESEARCH. THE   GREELY    EXPEDITION. THE   PROTEUS'S  PASSAGE 

OUT. — THE    NEPTUNE'S    EFFORT     AT    RELIEF. — THE    GARLINGTON 

CRUISE  IN  1883. WRECK  OF  THE  PROTEUS. GREELY  MEANTIME. 

EXPEDITION   OF   1884. SCHLEY's   ENTERPRISE. "NEWS   FROM 

GREELY.'1 HIS  DISCOVERIES. "  FARTHEST  NORTH." EXPERI 
ENCES  OF  HIS  BAND  IN  THE  ARCTIC  REGIONS. THEIR  COURSE  SOUTH 
WARD. COULD  ANY  OF  THEM  BE  ALIVE? THE  THETIS  TO  THE 

RESCUE. SEVEN     STARVING     SURVIVORS. LIFE     AT    STARVATION 

CAMP. EFFORTS   FOR   THE    ENGLISH   MEAT. RICE'S    DEATH   AND 

FREDERICK'S  HEROISM. — THE  DEATH  ROLL. — RESCUE  OF  THE  SEVEN. 
THEIR  CONDITION. HOMEWARD  BOUND. ARRIVAL. NO  OFFI 
CIAL  PRAISE. THE  SURVIVORS  SUBSEQUENTLY. PEARY  ON  GREEN 
LAND'S  ICY  MOUNTAINS. HE  CROSSES  GREENLAND  IN  1892. GEO 
GRAPHICAL  DISCOVERIES. — PEARY'S  1894-5  TOUR. — VALUE  OF 

THESE  EXPLORATIONS. 

Do  the  classic  virtues  grace  an  age  of  commonplace  ? 

The  cynics  of  our  time  ivill  tell  you  No. 
To  the  ancients  they  ivill  turn  heroic  deeds  to  learn, 

But,  take  a  soldier"1  s  ivord,  it  is  not  so. 

THAT  the  cynics  are  wrong  was  impressively  shown  by 
Stanley's  deed  in  darkest  Africa,  touched  in  the  last 
Chapter  of  this  History.  Two  other  exploits  more  thrilling 
still  illustrated  President  Arthur's  years  in  office.  The  first 
was  the  Jeannette  expedition  to  the  North,  equipped  by  James 
Gordon  Bennett,  Stanley's  patron,  but  sailing  under  orders 
from  the  Navy  Department.  This  expedition  went  forth  in 
the  summer  of  1879,  but  its  glory  and  its  fate  were  not  known 
till  more  than  two  years  later.  The  vessel,  of  some  four  hun 
dred  tons  burden,  was  strongly  re-enforced  to  prevent  her 

417 


THE  UNITED  STATES  IN  OUR  OWN  TIME 

being  crushed  in  the  ice.  The  crew  as  ultimately  constituted 
comprised  thirty-three  men,  including  two  Chinamen  and  two 
Indians.  The  officers  were  Captain  George  W.  DeLong,  U.  S. 
N.,  commanding ;  Lieutenant  Charles  W.  Chipp,  U.  S.  N., 
Second  Officer  ;  Master  John  W.  Danenhower,  U.  S.  N.,  Exe 
cutive  Officer  ;  Passed  Assistant  Engineer  George  W.  Melville, 
U.  S.  N.,  an  officer  reluctantly  spared  by  the  department,  and 
Passed  Assistant  Surgeon  James  M.  Ambler,  U.  S.  N.  Wil 
liam  Dunbar,  an  experienced  Yankee  whaler,  was  ice  pilot, 
Jerome  J.  Collins  meteorologist  and  Herald  correspondent, 
and  Raymond  L.  Newcomb  naturalist.  The  last  three,  as 
a  matter  of  form,  enlisted  as  seamen. 

It  was  DeLong's  design  to  follow  the  warm  ocean  current 
through  Behring  Strait,  possibly  to  the  Pole,  at  least  to  Wrangel 
Land,  which  was  set  down  on  the  maps  as  an  enormous  conti 
nent  reaching  to  the  Pole  and  possibly  connecting  with  Green 
land.  The  thought  was  that  the  expedition  could  crawl  along 
this  coast  far  to  the  north,  and,  when  finally  stopped  by  sea, 
could  with  sledges  make  a  triumphant  dash  for  the  Pole. 

Watched  and  cheered  by  crowds  on  shore  and  attended 
by  a  squadron  of  pleasure  craft,  the  Jeannette^on  July  8,  1879, 
slowly  and  proudly  steamed  toward  the  Golden  Gate  of  Cali 
fornia,  beyond  which  the  sparkling  waves  of  the  Pacific  seemed 
to  be  beckoning.  "  Every  ship  we  passed,"  wrote  DeLong, 
<£  dipped  her  colors  to  us,  while  shouts,  steam-whistles,  and 
yachts'  cannon-shots  kept  the  air  filled  with  noise.  Upon 
passing  Fort  Point  a  salute  of  twenty-one  guns  was  fired  in 
our  honor,  while  the  garrison  of  the  fort  cheered  us  enthusi 
astically."  No  wonder  that  officers  and  men  were  in  jubilant 
spirits. 

At  Ounalaska  on  August  2d  a  quantity  of  furs  was  taken 
aboard.  At  Lutke  Harbor,  on  August  2yth,  last  messages  were 
sent  home  as  the  Jeannette  parted  from  the  Fannie  A.  Hyde^ 
her  convoy  and  coal-tender.  On  September  jd  an  adventurous 
whaler  saw  her  afar,  nosing  her  way  toward  Herald  Island. 

416 


RUMORS  ABOUT  THE  JE ANNETTE 


Next  year  the  revenue  cutter  Corwin,  Captain  Hooper  com 
manding,  approached  Herald  Island  and  Wrangel  Land,  but 
saw  no  traces  of  the  explorers.  In  1881  anxiety  grew  keener. 
Lieutenant  Berry,  of  the  Rogers,  following  the  Jeannette  s 
route,  scrutinized  the  coast  of  Wrangel  Land.  Captain 
Hooper  also  made  a  landing  there.  Neither  obtained  tidings 
of  the  lost  ship.  The  Alliance^  from  Norfolk,  sailing  by  the 
Spitzenbergen  route,  was  not  more  successful.  Two  new  polar 
expeditions,  one  of  which,  that  under  Lieutenant  A.  W.  Greely, 
will  presently  be  described,  were,  incidentally  to  their  main 
purpose,  cautioned  to  look  out  for  the  missing  men.  Foreign 
exploring  ships  assumed  a  like  charge.  Although  the  marble 
ocean  kept  her  secret  well,  rumors  were  at  everybody's  service. 
A  steamer's  smoke,  forsooth,  had  been  seen  off  the  Lena 
Delta  ;  white  shipwrecked  sailors  were  struggling  up  the 
Mackenzie  River  in  North  America  ;  European  corpses  had 
been  found  at  the  mouth  of  the  Yenisei.  It  was  conjectured 
that  DeLong  had  indeed  reached  the  Pole.  The  canard  was 
also  started  that  Siberians  had  boarded  the  Jeannette  and  found 
everybody  well,  very  much  surprised  at  being  the  objects  of 
such  solicitude. 

Amid  these  wild  pitches  of  fancy,  the  truth,  more  start 
ling  than  any  of  them,  was  con 
veyed  to  the  world  on  December 
20,  1  88  1,  by  the  following  tele 
gram  from  the  American  Charge 
d  Affaires  at  St.  Petersburg  to  the 
American  Secretary  of  State  : 

"  The  Jeannette  was  crushed 
in  the  ice  June  nth,  latitude  77 
degrees,  longitude  157  degrees. 
Crew  embarked  in  three  boats  and 
were  separated  by  the  wind  and 
fog.  Number  three,  with  eleven 
men,  Engineer  Melville 


com- 


ESKIMO    EOT 


419 


THE  UNITED  STATES  IN  OUR  OWN  TIME 


manding,  reached 
the  mouth  of  the 
Lena     September 
19.    Subsequently 
Number  one,  with 
Captain  DeLong, 
Dr.   Ambler    and 
twelve  men,  reached 
the   Lena  in  a  pitia 
ble      condition      and 
prompt  assistance  was 
sent.       Number  two 
has     not      been      heard 
from." 

"  Number  two  has 
not  been  heard  from " 
to  this  day.  The  master 
ful  seamanship  which 
saved  even  a  part  of  the 
crew  from  death  elicited 
admiration  the  world  over. 
The  London  Standard  said  : 
"  Though  the  Jeannette  has 
suffered  destruction,  the  Am 
ericans  have  added  glory  to 
that  they  have  already  won  in 
the  frozen  regions."  Captain 
DeLohg's  first  alternative,  of 
following  the  Japan  current  possibly  to  the  Pole,  was  balked 
by  the  ice-pack  which  he  entered  shortly  after  he  was  last 
sighted,  and  on  September  6th,  the  next  day,  he  found  him 
self  glued  in.  The  second  alternative,  of  drifting  to  Wrangel 
Land  and  following  that  continent  to  the  Pole,  was  seen  to 
be  impossible  when,  to  the  men's  dismay  as  they  drew  near, 
it  shrivelled  to  an  insignificant  island.  From  the  time  she 


AN  ESKIMO  HUNTER   WITH  HARPOON 

(Mek-to-Sha:    Great  Bear  Hunter) 


42O 


THE  JEANNETTE'S  MEN  SCATTERED 

entered  the  pack  the  Jeannette  was  unfettered  for  only  a  few 
hours.  Nearly  two  years  later,  June  n,  1881,  she  had  to  be 
abandoned,  and  she  sank  early  on  the  morning  of  the  I2th. 
With  a  heavy  sick  list  and  otherwise  encumbered,  the  com 
pany  in  three  squads  toiled  over  the  ice,  struggling  to  get 
southward. 

At  the  end  of  a  fortnight  they  found  themselves  farther 
north  than  when  they  started,  indeed,  farther  north  than 
living  man  had  ever  before  gone  in  that  sea.  The  position 
was  77°  36'  N.,  155°  E.  To  the  weary  mariners  either  land 
or  sea  was  more  welcome  than  the  ice,  and  about  the  middle 
of  July  land  loomed  into  view.  It  was  an  island.  Two  days 
later  they  took  possession  of  it  for  the  United  States  and 
christened  it  Bennett  Island.  Here  it  was  possible  for  them, 
on  August  6th,  to  take  to  the  three  boats,  the  first  cutter  with 
Captain  DeLong  and  his  little  crew  of  men,  the  second  cut 
ter  with  Lieutenant  Chipp  and  his  men,  and  the  whaleboat 
with  Engineer  Melville  and  his  men.  On  August  I9th  the 
three  wretched  companies,  over  ice  and  water,  barefooted 
and  barelegged,  reached  the  New  Siberian  Islands,  to  which 
they  clung  till  September  loth,  when  they  were  within  ninety 
miles  of  Cape  Barkin,  and  happy  in  the  thought.  About 
seven  o'clock  that  night  there  was  an  arctic  gale,  and  the  boats 
were  blown  apart  like  tufts  of  thistledown.  As  the  whale- 
boat,  the  fastest  of  the  three,  went  racing  down  the  wind, 
members  of  her  crew,  looking  back,  dimly  saw  the  second  cut 
ter  rise  to  the  crest  of  a  billow,  sink,  rise  again,  then,  envel 
oped  in  an  immense  sea,  sink  to  be  seen  no  more.  DeLong's 
crew  at  the  same  time  lost  sight  of  the  whaleboat,  and  thought 
that  she  shared  the  same  fate.  Melville,  in  like  manner,  when 
he  himself  landed  at  one  of  the  eastern  mouths  of  the  Lena 
Delta,  could  hardly  hope  that  any  of  the  DeLong  party  had 
escaped  the  sea.  A  few  days  later  his  own  squad  reached 
a  Russian  settlement.  On  receiving  news  that  there  were 
DeLong  survivors,  Melville  hastened  to  Belun,  where  he 

421 


THE  UNITED  STATES  IN  OUR  OWN  TIME 

found  two  seamen  of  the  DeLong  crew,  Nindeman  and  Noros, 
on  the  verge  of  starvation.  They  had  been  sent  ahead  for 
relief,  and,  as  it  chanced,  were  the  only  ones  of  the  party  who 
survived.  "  Hallo,  Noros  !  "  was  Melville's  cheery  greeting, 
as  he  pushed  his  way  into  their  sorry  hovel,  "  how  do  you 
do  ?  "  "  My  God  !  Mr.  Melville,"  exclaimed  Noros,  "  are 
you  alive  ? "  Rising  from  a  rude  couch,  Nindeman  said : 
"  We  thought  you  were  all  dead,  and  that  we  were  the  only 
two  left  alive  ;  we  were  sure  the  whaleboat's  men  were  dead, 
and  the  second  cutter's,  too." 

Pressing  northward,  with  only  native  guides,  in  spite  of 
badly  frozen  feet  and  legs,  and  in  imminent  risk  of  starvation 
on  the  way,  the  intrepid  Melville  sought  the  trail  of  DeLong's 
unfortunate  party,  but  it  was  not  till  the  next  March  that 
he  was  able  to  get  traces  of  them.  All  hope  of  rinding  them 
alive  had  then  vanished.  On  the  2jd  of  March,  amply  pro 
vided  with  the  means  for  his  search,  the  Chief  Engineer  finally 
discovered  the  bodies  of  Captain  DeLong  and  his  gallant 
comrades-in-death.  They  were  lying  on  an  island  in  the 
Lena  Delta,  which  had  cruelly  enmeshed  them  the  autumn 
before.  Perhaps  the  saddest  feature  of  their  tragedy  was  the 
fact  that  they  perished  within  ten  miles  of  succor.  It  was 
decided  not  to  move  the  remains  to  America,  but  to  bury 
them  at  the  Delta  on  a  high  promontory  out  of  reach  of  the 
floods.  "  There,"  said  Melville,  "  in  sight  of  the  spot  where 
they  fell,  the  scene  of  their  suffering  and  heroic  endeavor, 
where  the  everlasting  snows  would  be  their  winding-sheet  and 
the  fierce  polar  blasts  which  pierced  their  poor  unclad  bodies 
in  life  would  wail  their  wild  dirge  through  all  time— there 

we  buried  them,  and  surely  heroes  never  found  fitter  resting- 

i        » 
place. 

The  journal  kept  by  DeLong,  known  as  the  "  Ice  Jour 
nal,"  was  happily  recovered  by  Melville.  The  Captain  had 
maintained  it  to  the  very  day  of  his  death.  Nothing  can  ex 
ceed  the  heart-breaking  pathos  of  his  last  entries,  which  merely 

422 


CAPTAIN  DELONG'S  END 

chronicle  the  succumbing  of  his  comrades  and  the  number 
of  the  day — one  more  since  the  wreck,  one  less  before  his 
end.  His  last  conscious  act,  apparently,  had  been  to  throw 
the  book  behind  him  as  of  no  more  use.  Even  as  he  turned 
back  for  this  the  rigor  of  death  and  of  freezing  invaded  his 
body,  which  was  found  lying  upon  the  side,  the  arm  uplifted 
above  the  snow  and  the  elbow  bent. 

The  issue  of  DeLong's  disastrous  enterprise  was  not 
known  in  time  to  quench  the  ardor  with  which  new  polar  in 
vestigations  were  carried  on  in  1881.  Lieutenant  Weyprecht^ 
of  Austria-Hungary,  had,  in  1875,  proposed  a  series  of  co 
operating  stations  for  magnetic  and  meteorological  observa 
tions  near  the  North  Pole.  Lieutenant  Howgate,  of  our  Signal 


Map  of  the  Arctic  Regions,  showing  Location  of  Circumpolar  Stations,  1881—1883 
423 


THE  UNITED  STATES  IN  OUR  OWN  TIME 

Service,  had  long  advocated  polar  colonization  in  the  interest 
of  geographical  science.  Several  nations,  the  United  States 
among  them,  were  moved  to  attempt  polar  discovery. 

In  1 88 1  we  established  two  stations,  one  of  them  on 
Lady  Franklin  Bay,  to  be  manned  by  Lieutenant  A.  W. 
Greely,  Fifth  United  States  Cavalry,  with  a  party  of  twenty- 
two  officers  and  soldiers,  and  two  Eskimos.  The  Proteus  bore 
Greely  and  his  men  from  St.  John's,  Newfoundland,  the  early 
part  of  July,  1881.  Beyond  the  northernmost  Greenland  set 
tlement,  through  the  treacherous  archipelago,  between  the 
"  land  ice  "  and  the  "  middle  pack  "  of  Melville  Bay,  amid 

the  iceberg  squadrons  of  Smith  Sound 
and  Kane  Sea,  the  stanch  little  sealer 
kept  her  course.  Eight  miles  from 
her  destination  she  was  for  the  first 
time  blocked.  A  solid  semicircle  of 
ice  confronted  her,  reaching  clear  across 
from  Greenland  to  Grinnell  Land. 
Large  floes  broke  off  and  passed  her, 
only  to  re-form  and  cut  off  her  retreat, 
while  the  northern  pack,  advancing, 
threatened  to  crush  her.  Upon  new 
caprice,  however,  the  upper  ice  retired 
toward  the  polar  ocean,  and  on  the 
nth  the  little  army  disembarked,  one 
thousand  miles  north  of  the  Arctic  Circle.  A  fortnight  later 
the  Proteus  whistled  farewell  and  began  her  return  trip,  which, 
like  the  out-passage,  was  "  without  parallel  or  precedent "  for 
freedom  from  the  difficulties  and  dangers  unanimously  re 
ported  as  existing  in  that  region. 

It  was  proposed  in  1882  to  visit  the  Greely  colony  with 
supplies  and  reinforcements,  and  in  1883  to  effect  its  return. 
Setting  out  a  year  and  a  day  after  the  Proteus,  the  Neptune 
achieved  a  hard  but  steady  advance  to  Kane  Sea,  but  this  she 
found  choked  with  ice.  For  forty  days  she  vainly  assaulted 


LIEUTENANT  A.  U'.  CREEL? 
From  a  photograph  by  Rice 


424 


THE  PROTEUS  AND  THE  YANTIC   TO  THE  RESCUE 

her  godfather's  polar  phalanx.  When,  with  the  close  of 
August,  whitening  cliffs  and  withering  vegetation  portended 
winter,  Beebe,  the  commander,  hastening  to  place  a  small  cache 
on  either  side  of  Smith  Sound,  returned,  as  ordered,  with  all  the 
rest  of  his  abounding  supplies,  which  were  stored  in  Newfound 
land,  to  be  taken  north  again  by  the  Proteus  in  1883. 

The  1883  undertaking  was  doubly  momentous  from  the 
past  year's  failure.  The  Proteus,  Lieutenant  Ernest  A.  Gar- 
lington  commanding,  was  attended  by  the  Tantic,  under  Com 
mander  Frank  Wildes,  United  States  Navy.  This  enterprise 
was  begun  in  mismanagement  and  misunderstanding  and  ended 
in  misfortune.  Lethargy  of  delay  was  followed  by  fever  of  pre 
cipitation.  Orders  were  irregularly  issued  and  countermanded  ; 
supplies  went  aboard  in  an  unclassified  mass  ;  the  foreign  crew 
were  inefficient  and  careless,  the  "  co-operation  "  of  army  and 
navy  divided  responsibility  and  hampered  both  arms.  The 
Proteus  Court  of  Inquiry  severely  censured  General  Hazen, 
chief  signal  officer  of  the  army,  for  remissness  in  these  weighty 
particulars. 

The  arctic  armada  was  again  encountered  where  Beebe 
found  it.  Garlington,  too  completely  engrossed  with  the 
injunction  to  reach  Lady  Franklin  Bay  at  all  hazards,  though 
stopping  at  Cape  Sabine  a  few  hours,  hurried  north  without 
replacing  the  damaged  supplies  there  or  leaving  any  of  his 
own.  Twice  in  her  struggle  the  Proteus  was  within  four  hundred 
yards  of  open  water ;  twice  she  failed  to  reach  it.  The  second 
time  the  inexorable  jaws  of  the  ice-pack  crushed  in  her  sides, 
giving  only  time  to  tumble  a  part  of  the  cargo  overboard.  The 
crew  lent  no  aid,  but,  after  securing  their  own  luggage,  began 
looting  the  property  of  the  expedition.  As  they  retreated  in 
boats,  a  few  hundred  rations  were  left  for  Greely  near  Cape 
Sabine,  at  a  place  known  as  "  Wreck  Camp  Cache."  The 
Court  of  Inquiry  thought  that  Garlington  "  after  the  sinking 
of  the  Proteus  erred  in  not  waiting  longer  at  Pandora  Harbor, 
with  the  object  of  obtaining  from  the  Yantic  supplies"  for  a 

425 


THE  UNITED  STATES  IN  OUR  OWN  TIME 

depot  at  Lifeboat  Cove,  whither  Greely  had  been  ordered  ta 
retreat.  The  Court,  however,  deemed  this  but  an  error  of 
judgment,  "committed  in  the  exercise  of  a  difficult  and  unusual 
discretion,"  for  which  "  he  should  not  be  held  to  further 
accountability."  After  unwittingly  passing  the  Tantic  twice, 
and  journeying  in  open  boats  for  eight  hundred  miles  in  a 
sea  stormy  and  full  of  bergs,  the  Proteus  men  were  rescued 
by  the  Tantic. 

Incredulity,  dismay,  and  indignation  now  quickly  suc 
ceeded  each  other  in  the  public  mind.  The  first  expedition 
for  the  rescue  of  Greely  had  been  a  failure,  the  second  was  a 
distressing  breach  of  faith.  Fearful,  indeed,  were  its  conse 
quences.  The  devoted  Greely  and  his  band,  in  nowise 
responsible  for  it,  were  at  that  time  painfully  working  south 
ward  from  their  well-stored  outpost,  relying  upon  meeting 
succor  or  finding  a  refuge  prepared  for  them.  The  bleak 
desolation  of  Cape  Sabine,  with  but  forty  days'  rations,  awaited 
them.  Enough  food  to  last  them  over  five  years  had  been 
carried  to,  or  beyond,  Littleton  Island  by  the  relief  parties; 
but  only  one-fiftieth  of  it  had  been  placed  where  Greely  could 
get  it. 

New  efforts  in  1883  were  deemed  too  hazardous  to  be 
undertaken.  The  Secretary  of  War  and  the  Secretary  of  the 
Navy  now  took  up  the  business  of  relieving  the  Lady  Frank 
lin  Bay  Expedition.  A  purely  naval  expedition  was  decided 
upon,  consisting  of  two  Dundee  whalers  and  two  reserve 
ships.  Secretary  Chandler  deserved  great  credit  for  his  tire 
less  energy  and  care  in  making  the  preparations.  Precau 
tions  were  multiplied,  no  delay  and  no  oversight  occurred. 
Congress  made  generous  appropriation,  though  not  without 
ridiculous  debate  and  higgling.  A  $25,000  bounty  was  pro 
claimed  for  rescue  or  tidings  of  the  Greely  party.  Mr. 
Chandler  had  purchased  the  Thetis  and  the  Bear  for  the 
perilous  cruise.  The  British  Government  presented  us  with 
the  capable  arctic  veteran,  the  Alert^  in  addition  to  which  a 

426 


SCHLEY  OFF  FOR  THE  FAR  NORTH 

fourth  vessel,  the  Loch  Garry  ^  was  chartered  as  a  collier.  The 
brave  Engineer  Melville,  undaunted  by  his  dreadful  experi 
ences  with  DeLong,  insisted  upon  going  to  hunt  for  Greely. 
Commander  Winfield  S.  Schley,  heading  the  expedition, 
was  as  efficient  as  his  chief.  Though  most  of  his  subordinates 
were  inexperienced  in  arctic  work,  and  though  he  had  to  fight 
for  every  inch  of  progress,  he  carried  the  stars  and  stripes  to 


Alert 


Thetis  Loch  Garry          Bear 

THE   RELIEF  FLEET  AT  GODHAVN 

After  a  photograph  by  Rice 

Cape  York  ahead  of  several  whalers  who  sought  to  outdo  him. 
Much  game  and  many  walruses  were  seen  on  the  east  side  of 
Smith  Sound,  but  no  signs  of  the  exploring  party.  It  was  in 
ferred  that  they  must  have  remained  at  their  post  in  the  north, 
but  Schley  decided  to  stop  near  Cape  Sabine  and  make  a  cache 
before  pushing  thither. 

Smith  Sound,  about  twenty-three  miles  wide,  was  trav 
ersed  in  a  roaring  tempest.  Parties  were  landed  to  examine 
old  caches,  when  almost  simultaneously  two  of  them  reported 

427 


THE  UNITED  STATES  IN  OUR  OWN  TIME 


FORT  CONGER 
After  a  photograph  by  Ri 


"  news  from  Greely."  Records  and  despatches  from  him 
found  here  revealed  wonderful  achievements.  Apart  from  his 
regular  observations,  the  interior  of  Grinnell  Land  had  been 
explored.  To  their  surprise,  fertile  valleys  were  brought  to 
light  there,  supporting  herds  of  musk  oxen,  in  striking  contrast 
with  the  great  ice  cap  and  the  glacial  lake.  Traces  of  the 
Eskimo  were  found,  where  they  had  wintered  in  their  long 
migration  from  the  Parry  Archipelago  to  the  coast  of  Green 
land.  The  climatic  conditions  of  Grinnell  Land  were  deter 
mined,  and  data  were  secured  from  which  were  ascertained  the 
co-tidal  lines  of  the  polar  ocean,  the  force  of  gravity  and  the 
deviations  of  the  compass  at  Fort  Conger.  Other  most  inter 
esting  and  valuable  information  was  obtained.  The  north 
western  coast  of  Greenland  had  been  plotted,  and  a  point 
reached  farther  north  than  any  ever  before  trodden  by  man. 
For  the  first  time  in  three  hundred  years  England's  "  Farthest" 
had  been  left  behind — the  new  "  Farthest  "  being  83°  24',  viz.,, 

428 


EXPERIENCES  NEAR  THE  POLE 

only  6°  36',  or  about  four  hundred  and  thirty  statute  miles 
from  the  Pole.  The  view  thence,  from  a  height  of  2,600  feet, 
revealed  an  unbroken  stretch  of  ice,  proving  the  polar  ocean 
to  reach  within  three  hundred  and  fifty  miles  of  the  Pole.  To 
the  northeast,  twenty-eight  miles  farther,  they  saw  Cape  Wash 
ington.  Foxes,  lemmings,  ptarmigan  and  plants  were  seen 
even  at  that  high  altitude.  Observations  were  continued 
through  the  long  arctic  night.  Though  usually  not  so  mag 
nificent  as  at  Upernivik,  several  fine  displays  of  the  mysteri 
ous  Northern  Lights  were  beheld.  Greely  remarked  upon 
one  in  particular.  From  the  southwestern  horizon  to  the 
zenith  extended  an  arc  woven  of  spiral  ribbons  of  many-col 
ored  light.  It  seemed  to  rotate  or  to  keep  springing  upward, 
replenished  from  some  unseen  and  exhaustless  fountain  of 
splendors,  while  at  the  summit  little  puffs  of  light  detached 
themselves  to  float  away  and  perish. 

A  journal,  tfhe  Arctic  Moon,  had  been  launched,  sus 
pected  to  be  the  organ  of  some  one  who  stood  for  Congress 
before  the  Grinnell  Land  electorate  on  a  platform  of  unlimited 
emigration.  Litters  of  dogs  had  been  raised  and  musk-calves 
domesticated.  The  little  library  was  well  patronized,  games 
were  invented,  and  much  time  devoted  to  sleep.  Christmas 
had  been  duly  celebrated.  Presents  from  friends,  sacredly 
kept  packed  till  then,  were  opened,  exciting  a  rather  un- 
soldierly  sensation  in  the  throat.  One  obscure  private,  friend 
less  but  for  his  comrades,  inured  to  hardships  and  neglect,  was 
well-nigh  overcome  to  find  himself  remembered  with  a  gift. 
Another  for  a  moment  wore  a  puzzled  look  as  he  opened  a 
flat  package  and  found  it  to  contain  a  fan  ! 

In  August,  1883,  the  party  had  abandoned  their  post 
at  Lady  Franklin  Bay,  in  the  far  North,  retreating  by  boat 
down  the  east  coast  of  Grinnell  Land.  At  one  stage  an 
immense  stranded  floeberg  reared  a  wall  fifty  feet  high  in 
front  of  them.  Steaming  along  its  foot  they  finally  observed 
a  fissure,  or  canon,  not  more  than  a  dozen  feet  wide.  The 

429 


THE  UNITED  STATES  IN  OUR  OWN  TIME 

little  launch,  with  whaleboats  in  tow,  boldly  entered  the 
crevice  and  safely  reached  open  water  more  than  a  hundred 
yards  farther  on.  Later  they  camped  on  a  floe,  but,  tempes 
tuous  weather  setting  in,  were  alarmed  to  see  it  broken  in 
pieces  by  the  adjacent  floes,  which  ground  together  with  inde 
scribable  groanings  and  measureless  force.  On  the  north  a 
fine  floe  of  palaeocrystic  ice  was  pressing  on  their  own,  sepa 
rated,  however,  by  a  buffer  or  cushion  of  rubble  ice  fifty  feet 
wide,  and  for  the  present  made  solid  by  the  pressure.  The 
sledge  and  provisions  were  rushed  across  this  chasm,  articles 
of  least  value  being  left  till  the  last,  and  hardly  had  the  rear 
most  man  passed  over  before  the  floes  parted,  and  their  bridge 
was  swallowed  in  the  sea. 

The  most  recent  despatch  found  by  the  rescuers,  on 
first  perusal,  sent  a  joyful  thrill  through  those  who  read. 

"  My  party  is  now  permanently  encamped  on  the  west 
side  of  a  small  neck  of  land  which  connects  the  Wreck-Cache 
Cove,  or  bay,  and  the  one  to  its  west.  Distant  about  equally 
from  Cape  Sabine  and  Cocked  Hat  Island.  All  well. 

A.  W.  GREELY, 

ist  Lt.  $th  Cav.,  A.  S.  O.  and  Ass't 
Commanding  Expedition." 

Horror  succeeded.  The  date  at  the  bottom  was  October 
21,  1883,  seven  months  before,  and  at  that  date  only  forty 
days'  rations  remained.  Was  it  possible  that  any  were  still 
alive  ? 

The  Thetis  blew  three  long  whistles  for  a  general  "  recall,'' 
preparing  to  steam  on  toward  Greely's  "  permanent  encamp 
ment,"  where,  at  that  very  moment  a  tent,  half  fallen  down, 
sheltered  seven  starving  men,  too  weak  to  raise  it  again. 
These  were  all  who  then  remained  of  Greely's  expedition. 
For  the  last  three  months  they  had  seen  their  companions 
smitten  one  by  one.  The  rule,  almost  to  the  last,  had  been 
cheerfulness  and  hope  ;  to  the  very  last  had  it  been  mutual 
self-sacrifice.  In  spite  of  "the  hoarse  grinding  of  the  ice- 

430 


FIGHT  FOR  LIFE  AT  STARVATION  CAMP 

pack  not  far  off,"  which  one  mentioned  in  his  journal  but  did 
not  speak  of  lest  he  "  discourage  the  others,"  part  of  them 
had  made  a  futile  attempt  to  cross  to  Littleton  Island.  Ob 
servations  had  been  rigorously  maintained,  and  they  were 
determined  to  continue  them  "  till  the  last  man  died."  Greely 
and  others  gave  lectures  on  the  United  States,  on  a  pleas 
ant  winter  in  the  West  Indies,  on  army  experiences.  Dry 
statistics  concerning  food  exports  from  the  United  States 
were  conned  with  strange  persistency.  Yet  each  meal  was 
cheerfully  voted  "  the  best  yet,"  and  Thanksgiving  Day  pleas 
antly  passed  in  telling  what  each  proposed  to  have  for  his 
next  Thanksgiving  dinner. 

When  provisions  ran  low  a  resolute  party  set  out  to 
recover  one  hundred  and  fifty  pounds  of  English  meat  cached 
at  Cape  Isabella,  twenty-five  miles  from  camp,  in  the  direc 
tion  of  Point  Eskimo,  but  beyond.  In  spite  of  protest,  Elison, 
one  of  the  squad,  insisted  on  eating  snow.  Soon  his  hands, 
face,  and  feet  were  fearfully  frozen.  With  great  difficulty  he 
was  brought  back  to  camp,  losing  his  hands,  feet  and  nose 
by  natural  amputation.  He  was  henceforth  allowed  double 
the  portion  of  his  comrades,  a  spoon  being  strapped  to  his 
arm  that  he  might  eat  without  help. 

A  second  effort,  brave  and  sad,  by  Sergeant  Rice  and 
Private  Frederick  alone,  to  recover  the  English  meat,  proved 
equally  vain  and  even  more  disastrous.  Risking  their  lives 
at  almost  every  step  of  the  way  they  at  last  reached  the  place, 
only  to  find,  after  hours  of  searching  among  the  floes,  that 
their  triumph  was  a  barren  one.  The  English  meat  had 
drifted  from  the  shore.  There  was  nothing  to  do  but  to  go 
creeping  back  to  camp,  if  they  could  get  there ;  but  Rice, 
having  wet  and  frozen  his  feet,  was  spent,  and  could  not  walk 
a  step.  He  begged  Frederick  to  go  and  leave  him  to  die, 
but  Frederick  would  not.  Instead,  drawing  the  sledge  close 
under  the  edge  of  a  floe-berg,  he  placed  Rice  upon  it,  wrapped 
his  frozen  feet  with  the  temiak  or  fur-lined  jacket  taken  from 

431 


THE  UNITED  STATES  IN  OUR  OWN  TIME 

his  own  back  for  this  purpose,  and  then  sat  and  held  his 
unfortunate  comrade  till  the  latter's  pain  was  relieved  by 
death.  Frederick  was  minded  to  die  there,  too.  What  use 
in  returning  to  Starvation  Camp  with  his  story  of  disappoint 
ment  !  But  fearing  that  those  in  camp  would  plan  a  rescue 
and  end  their  lives  in  unnecessary  misery,  he  resolved  to  go 
back.  The  dauntless  fellow  got  as  far  as  Point  Eskimo,  God 
only  knows  how.  Here  they  had  left  their  sleeping-bag,  ex 
pecting  to  return  to  it  the  same  day  they  parted  from  it,  as 
they  would  have  done  had  the  meat  been  found  and  had 
Rice  not  failed.  After  refreshing  himself  with  bread  and  tea, 
the  exhausted  Frederick  crawled  into  the  bag  and  slept.  On 
awaking,  much  stronger,  but  now  smitten  with  remorse  that 
he  had  made  no  effort  to  bury  poor  Rice,  the  indomitable 
man  pushed  back  all  that  awful  way  and  gave  the  frozen 
corpse  of  his  loving  comrade  such  burial  as  he  could.  He 
then  made  the  best  of  his  slow  and  painful  journey  to  Greely's 
camp.  Gnawing  hunger  tempted  him  to  eat  Rice's  ration, 
for  which  none  could  or  would  have  blamed  him,  but  he 
refused.  He  would  use  what  was  his  own,  but  would  not 
rob  the  living  or  the  dead.  He  reached  camp  hardly  alive, 
hauling  the  sledge  with  Rice's  dole  of  crumbs  upon  it,  to  tell 
how  costly  and  how  bootless  his  mission  had  been. 

After  the  death,  in  January,  of  Cross,  from  scurvy,  their 
number  was  not  lessened  again  till  April  5th,  when  one  of  the 
Eskimos  succumbed.  Sergeant  Lynn  breathed  his  last  on 
April  6th.  The  very  day,  April  9th,  when  Sergeant  Rice  per 
ished  in  his  heroic  search  for  the  English  meat,  Lieutenant 
Lockwood,  one  of  the  two  Americans  who  reached  farthest 
north,  also  passed  away.  The  last  words  he  wrote  were : 
"Jewell  is  much  weaker  to-day  " — and  Sergeant  Jewell  was  the 
next  to  yield.  April  29th  the  other  Eskimo  was  drowned  in 
a  brave  effort  to  catch  a  seal.  On  Easter  Sunday  a  snowbird 
on  the  roof  chirped  loudly.  "  All  noise  stopped  as  by  magic 
and  no  word  was  said  till  the  little  bird  passed."  The  death 

432 


THE  DEATH  ROLL  LENGTHENS 


LIEUTENANT  LOCKffOOD  AND  HIS  EXPLORING  PARTY 

From  a  photografh  by  Rice 

catalogue  was  lengthened  on  May  i9th,  when  Private  Ellis 
died,  soon  followed  by  three  others,  Sergeant  Ralston,  Private 
Whisler,  and  Sergeant  Israel.  From  June  ist  to  June  i8th 
seven  perished,  but  of  these  only  the  first,  Lieutenant  Kis- 
lingbury,  could  be  interred.  Private  Salor  died  on  June  jd. 
On  June  6th  Private  Henry  was  shot  for  stealing  provisions, 
and  lay  where  he  fell.  Two  more,  Dr.  Pavy  and  Private 
Bender,  died  on  this  day.  The  rest  were  carried  to  the  foot 
of  the  floeberg,  save  Schneider,  who  died  on  June  i8th.  The 
party  had  not  sufficient  strength  to  move  him.  The  loss,  June 
1 2th,  of  Gardiner,  who  passed  away  murmuring  "  Mother- 
Wife,"  deeply  affected  all.  The  death  angel  so  common  a 
visitor,  the  men  grew  jocular  in  his  presence.  When  a  raven 
escaped  them  one  protested  that  he  could  not  "  eat  crow," 
anyway.  To  the  very  day  of  the  rescue  Brainard  persisted  in 
his  habit  of  collecting  specimens. 

433 


THE  UNITED  STATES  IN  OUR  OWN  TIME 


At  midnight  on  June  2jd  the  seven  survivors  heard  a 
whistling  above  the  sound  of  the  gale.  Forty-two  hours  they 
had  been  without  a  morsel,  and  long  weeks  without  anything 
like  proper  rations.  Only  two — Long  and  Brainard — were  able 
to  walk.  These  went  forth  to  ascertain  the  cause  of  the  noise. 
Brainard  reported  nothing  in  sight,  but  Long  lingered  outside. 
The  wretched  men  in  the  tent  discussed  the  strange  shriek  with 
pathetic  garrulity, 
finally  deciding 
that  it  must  have 
been  the  wind 
blowing  across 
the  edge  of  a 
tin  can.  At  this 
juncture  Connell 
showed  the  fa 
miliar  touch  of 
death  in  his  slight 
ly  swollen  ap 
pearance,  cold 
and  paralyzed  ex- 
tremities,and  aim 
less  mumbling. 
"  Death,"  says 
Greely,  "  kindly 
took  away  all 
pain,"  and  Con 
nell,  like  those 
stricken  before 
him,  was  tranquil. 
Greely  crawled  to 
ward  the  light  with  a  Testament,  while  Brainard  pressed  the 
little  remaining  brandy  to  the  dying  man's  lips.  He  only 
murmured,  "  Let  me  die  in  peace." 

On   reaching  her  objective  the   Thetis  despatched   Lieu- 


AN  ESKIMO  BELLE 


434 


LONG  AND  BRAINARD  MEET  THE  RESCUERS 

tenant  Colwell  in  the  cutter  to  find  out  the  worst.  At  Wreck 
Cache  no  life  appeared.  As  they  rounded  the  next  point  the 
silhouette  of  a  human  figure  was  seen  against  the  dull  sky. 
Instantly  the  boat's  flag  was  brandished.  Painfully  the  figure 
stooped,  picked  up  a  flag,  evidently  the  Greely  distress  flag, 
and  waved  an  answer.  Then,  half-walking,  half  falling  down 
the  slope,  Long  approached  his  saviors.  "  He  was  a  ghastly 
sight,"  said  Schley.  "  His  cheeks  were  hollow,  his  eyes  wild, 
his  hair  and  beard  long  and  matted.  His  army  blouse,  cov- 
vering  several  thicknesses  of  shirts  and  jackets,  was  ragged 
and  dirty.  He  wore  a  little  fur  cap,  and  rough  moccasins  of 
untanned  leather  tied  around  the  legs.  His  utterance  was 
thick  and  mumbling,  and  in  his  agitation  his  jaws  worked  in 
convulsive  twitches."  He  was  conveyed  to  the  ward-room  of 
the  Eear^  where  he  described  the  party's  plight,  pausing  and 
often  repeating  himself.  "  We've  had  a  hard  winter — a  hard 
winter — and  the  wonder  is  how  in  God's  name  we  pulled 
through."  The  rest,  he  said,  were  on  shore  in  "  sore  distress 
— sore  distress." 

After  placing  Long  in  the  cutter,  Colwell's  party  had 
hurried  forward.  "  They  saw  spread  out  before  them  a  deso 
late  expanse  of  rocky  ground.  Back  of  the  level  space  was  a 
range  of  hills  rising  up  eight  hundred  feet,  with  a  precipitous 
face,  broken  in  two  by  a  gorge,  through  which  the  wind  was 
blowing  furiously.  On  a  little  elevation  directly  in  front  was 
the  tent.  Lowe  and  Norman  were  ahead,  and  were  greeting 
a  soldierly  man  [Brainard]  who  had  come  out  from  the  tent. 
As  Colwell  approached,  Norman  said  to  the  man  : 

"  There  is  the  lieutenant,"  and  he  added  to  Colwell : 

"  This  is  Sergeant  Brainard." 

Brainard  drew  himself  up  and  was  about  to  salute,  when 
Colwell  took  his  hand.  At  that  moment  a  feeble  voice  within 
the  tent  was  heard : 

«  Who's  there  ?  " 

"  It's  Norman — Norman  who  was  in  the  Proteus" 

435 


THE  UNITED  STATES  IN  OUR  OWN  TIME 

Cries  of  "  Oh,  it's  Norman  !  "  were  followed  by  a  feeble 
cheer. 

Greely  said  of  this  moment :  "  We  had  resigned  our 
selves  to  despair,  when  suddenly  strange  voices  were  heard 
calling  me  ;  and  in  a  frenzy  of  feeling  as  vehement  as  our  en 
feebled  condition  would  permit,  we  realized  that  our  country 
had  not  failed  us,  that  the  long  agony  was  over,  and  the  rem 
nant  of  the  Lady  Franklin  Bay  Expedition  was  saved." 

Colwell  cut  a  slit  in  the  tent  and  looked  in.  He  was 
enjoined  by  an  inmate  to  be  careful  not  to  step  upon  Connell, 
who  lay  under  the  very  hand  of  death,  his  jaw  drooping,  his 
eyes  glazed.  Directly  opposite,  on  hands  and  knees,  was  a 
dark  man  with  a  matted  beard,  in  a  dirty  and  tattered  dress 
ing-gown,  a  little  red  skull-cap  on  his  head,  who,  as  Colwell 
appeared,  looked  up  from  his  Testament  and  vacantly  adjusted 
his  eye-glasses  to  his  brilliant,  staring  eyes.  Twice  Colwell 
asked,  "  Who  are  you  ?  "  but  got  no  answer.  One  of  the 
men  said :  "  That's  the  Major — Major  Greely."  Colwell 
took  him  by  the 'hand,  saying,  "Greely,  is  this  you?" 
"Yes,"  said  Greely.  "  Yes — seven  of  us  left — here  we  are — 
dying — like  men.  Did  what  I  came  to  do — beat  the  best 
record."  Here  he  fell  back  exhausted.  His  indomitable 
spirit  had  thus  far  conquered  despair  for  himself  and  his  com 
panions.  He  had  not  ceased  to  exhort  them  to  "  Die  like 
men,  not  like  dogs,"  ever  telling  them  the  story  of  those  Brit 
ish  soldiers  who  stood  at  parade  on  deck  till  their  ship  went 
under,  while  the  women  and  children  put  off  in  boats.  Forty- 
eight  hours  later  not  a  man  of  the  seven  would  have  been 
alive.  Connell  afterward  said  :  "  Death  had  me  by  the  heels, 
boys,  when  you  pulled  me  back  by  the  neck."  They  were  in 
the  dotage  of  starvation.  Some  refused  to  believe  that  relief 
was  at  hand,  and  had  to  be  humored  in  their  skepticism. 
The  craving  of  hunger,  lately  blunted,  re-awoke,  when  their 
entreaties  for  food  were  the  more  touching  in  that  they  could 
not  be  granted. 

436 


THE   RETURN  WITH   THE    LIVING  AND   THE   DEAD 

Greely  protested  against  moving  the  dead.  He  felt 
about  them  as  Chief  Engineer  Melville  had  felt  about  DeLong 
and  his  comrades,  and  would  have  left  them  where  the  "  polar 
blasts  which  pierced  their  poor  unclad  bodies  in  life  would 
wail  their  wild  dirge  through  all  time."  But  the  feelings  of 
the  dead  men's  friends  must  be  consulted,  and  such  bodies  as 
could  be  recovered  were  brought  to  America.  Elison  died 
on  the  voyage.  As  if  he  had  himself  never  felt  pain,  he  said, 
on  meeting  Engineer  Melville  :  "  So  you  were  with  the  Jean- 
nette^  and  poor  DeLong  is  dead.  Poor  fellows,  how  they  must 
have  suffered  !  " 

At  St.  John's,  Newfoundland,  the  rescuers  and  rescued 
were  besieged,  though  the  latter  were  carefully  sequestered 
from  the  crowds.  The  squadron  was  escorted  out  of  the 
harbor  by  a  fleet  of  crowded  tugs  and  launches,  which  passed 
around  the  ships,  cheering  and  whistling  "  bon  voyage."  At 
that  time  Greely  himself  was  too  weak  to  walk  far,  but  on  the 
ist  of  August,  when  they  sighted  Portsmouth,  he  had  gained 
fifty  pounds. 

That  afternoon,  in  the  glory  of  summer  sunshine,  the 
shores  of  Portsmouth  harbor  were  lined  with  sympathetic 
people,  the  water  covered  with  sails,  flags  and  streamers,  the 
lower  port  occupied  by  the  five  vessels  of  the  North  Atlantic 
Squadron  and  other  ships  of  the  navy.  As  the  Alliance,,  lead 
ing  the  fbetiS)  the  Bear  and  the  Alert^  steamed  up-harbor,  the 
Marine  Band  played  "  Home  Again,"  while  the  crews  from 
the  rigging  shouted  welcome  to  the  survivors  and  their 
saviors. 

Secretary  Chandler's  barge  bore  Mrs.  Greely  to  the 
'Thetis^  which  she  was  the  first  to  board.  Then  the  officers  of 
the  squadron  were  welcomed  on  board  the  flagship,  Tennessee, 
by  the  Secretary  and  Admiral  Luce.  Later  these  officers  with 
General  Hazen  greeted  Greely  on  board  the  Thetis.  For  the 
next  three  days  visitors  swarmed  over  the  ship.  On  the  4th 
a  grand  civic  procession  of  distinguished  men,  bands,  marines 

439 


THE   UNITED  STATES  IN  OUR  OWN  TIME 

and  militia,  passed  in  review  through  the  streets  of  the  hospita 
ble  city. 

Men's  feelings  were  mingled  and  contradictory.  They 
were  proud  of  Schley's  achievement  and  joyful  at  the  return 
of  the  living ;  but  no  less  sincere  and  affecting  was  their  grief 
at  the  thought  of  the  vanished  majority,  whose  remains  sadly 
freighted  the  relief  squadron.  At  Fort  Columbus,  as  the 
vessels  reached  New  York,  twenty-one  guns  saluted  them. 
On  Governor's  Island  troops  were  drawn  up  to  receive  the 
dead.  Among  the  distinguished  officers  present  were  Generals 
Sheridan,  Hancock  and  Hazen,  and  Commodore  Fillebrown. 
As  the  bodies,  save  that  of  Sergeant  Jewell,  which  had  gone 
to  his  New  Hampshire  home,  were  borne  through  the  lane  of 
troops  to  the  chapel  and  there  delivered  to  friends,  arms  were 
presented,  while  minute  guns  were  discharged  to  mark  the 
solemnity  of  the  occasion. 

To  the  Greely  expedition  as  a  whole  no  official  recogni 
tion  was  ever  given,  save  the  oral  thanks  of  President  Arthur 
expressed  to  commanding  officer  Greely  on  his  return  to 
Washington.  A  resolution  tendering  the  thanks  of  Congress 
was  once  introduced  in  Congress,  but  the  member  having  it  in 
charge  died,  and  it  did  not  pass.  Some  of  the  men  going  on 
the  expedition  were  never  reimbursed  for  the  clothing  lost  by 
them. 

Greely's  promotion  to  be  Chief  Signal  Officer  was  not,  as 
was  generally  supposed,  a  reward  for  his  arctic  exploits.  He 
had  served  eighteen  years  as  Chief  Assistant  in  the  Signal 
Office,  was  the  senior  officer  of  the  office,  on  whom  the  duties 
devolved  by  law,  had  been  in  charge  of  them  for  several 
months  before  General  Hazen's  death,  and  continued  there 
until  his  appointment  a  month  later.  Greely  was,  however, 
not  without  recognition  from  other  sources.  His  native  State, 
Massachusetts,  and  Newburyport,  his  native  city,  both  gave 
him  testimonials.  Besides  honorary  membership  in  many  dis 
tinguished  organizations,  he  received  the  Grand  Gold  Medal 


LIEUTENANT  PEARY'S 


of  the  Royal  Geographical  Society  of  London,  and  the  Medal 
of  the  Geographical  Society  of  Paris. 

Of  the  survivors  among  Greely's  men  Sergeant  David  L. 
Brainard  was,  on  account  of  his  arctic  services,  promoted  to 
be  Second  Lieutenant.  In  1895  he  was  First  Lieutenant  in 
the  Second  United  States  Cavalry.  Biederbick  had,  at  the 
time  mentioned,  a  small  pension.  He  was  an  inspector  of 
customs  in  New  York,  where  he  showed  the  same  fidelity 
which  characterized  him  in  the  Far  North.  Long,  Frederick, 
and  Connell  were  employed  by  the  Meteorological  Division 
of  the  Signal  Office,  under  control  of 
the  Agricultural  Department.  Fred 
erick  had  been  refused  a  pension. 
Connell's  pay  had  been  reduced,  but 
he  stood  very  high  in  the  service. 

The  Dark  Continent  of  Greenland 
furnished  an  exhaustless  and  fascinat 
ing  field  for  the  speculative  to  roam 
over  in  fancy  and  the  adventurous  in 
fact.  Lieut.  R.  E.  Peary,  a  civil  engineer 
connected  with  the  Navy,  belonged 
distinctly  to  the  class  given  to  actual 
adventures,  and  his  several  sledge  jour 
neys  across  Greenland's  icy  mountains 
were  among  the  most  brilliant  geo 
graphical  feats  in  all  history.  In  1886 
he  reached  a  point  near  Disco,  about 
fifty  miles  from  the  coast.  In  1892 
he  sallied  northward  again,  this  time 
in  company  with  his  wife.  Suffering 
from  a  broken  leg,  he  was  tenderly  and 
tirelessly  watched  by  her.  On  one 
occasion,  while  he  was  convalescent, 
they  were  together  in  the  stern  of  a 
boat,  and  became  surrounded  by  a  herd 


LIEUTENANT  ROBERT  E. 
PEART  AND  MRS.  PEART 


441 


THE  UNITED  STATES  IN  OUR  OWN  TIME 

of  angry  walruses  trying  to  get  their  tusks  over  the  gunwale 
and  capsize  the  boat.  For  an  hour  the  heroic  woman  coolly 
reloaded  the  firearms  while  the  crew  rapidly  discharged  them, 
thus  successfully  keeping  the  monsters  at  bay. 

Upon  this  trip  Mr.  Peary,  accompanied  by  Dr.  F.  A. 
Cook,  Messrs.  Langdon  Gibson,  Eivind  Astrup,  John  T. 
Verhoeff,  and  Matthew  Henson,  colored,  disembarked  at 
Whale  Sound,  across  from  the  tragic  Cape  Sabine  and  a  trifle 
south  thereof.  It  was  in  some  respects  an  advantage,  that  the 
party  was  small,  the  smallest  that  had  ever  embarked  on  so 
extensive  an  arctic  enterprise.  Despite  his  infirmity  Peary  ex 
plored  Inglefield  Gulf,  crossed  the  icy  rump,  5,000  feet  high, 
divorcing  Whale  Sound  from  Kane  Sea,  went  as  far  north  as 
82°,  thence  viewing  the  ice-free  land  discovered  by  Lockwood, 
supposed  to  be  separate  from  Greenland,  though  adjacent  to  it. 
Blocked  by  the  fiord  to  the  north  the  intrepid  explorer  turned 
eastward.  He  reached  Independence  Bay  on  the  4th  of  July, 
1892.  Returning  he  took  almost  a  bee-line  for  450  miles  to 
his  starting  point,  where  he  arrived  on  August  6,  after  an 
absence  of  ninety-three  days. 

This  expedition  proved  that  the  eastern  and  western 
shores  of  Greenland  rapidly  converge  north  of  parallel  78°. 
Greenland  is  therefore  an  island.  On  this  tour  Peary  marked 
the  northward  extension  of  the  great  Greenland  ice-cap,  thus 
certifying  another  point  in  geography  ;  while  Mrs.  Peary,  in 
observing  the  manners  of  an  absolutely  isolated  Eskimo  tribe 
of  three  hundred  and  fifty  people,  made  a  valuable  contribution 
to  anthropology.  These  important  results  were  not  achieved 
without  cost  in  human  life.  One  of  the  little  party,  VerhoefF, 
being  separated  from  the  others,  lost  his  life  in  the  cracks  of  a 
glacier.  After  a  thorough  search  had  failed,  a  year's  food  was 
cached  for  his  use,  should  he  be  alive,  and  with  heavy  hearts 
the  party  left  the  place. 

Having  raised  funds  in  1893  by  a  lecture  tour,  Mr.  Peary 
found  himself  in  the  spring  of  1894  once  more  scaling  the 

442 


WINTERING  IN  GREENLAND 

Greenland  ice  at  a  distance  from  the  coast,  at  last  attaining 
an  elevation  of  5,500  feet.  For  the  first  thirteen  days  he 
advanced  ten  miles  a  day.  His  dogs  died  off,  his  men 
were  nearly  all  frosted  and  sent  back.  He  cached  his  sur 
plus  stores,  and  with  the  remainder  of  his  party  pressed 
forward  for  the  next  fortnight  six  miles  a  day.  He  finally 
had  to  turn  about  and  hasten  to  Bowdoin  Bay,  accomplish 
ing  little  more  that  season. 

It  was,  nevertheless,  his  ambition  to  map  the  northern 
coast  of  Greenland.  Against  prudent  counsels  he  declined 
to  return  south  on  the  steamer  Falcon,  which  visited  him  in 
August,  1894.  Though  with  insufficient  stores,  he  deter 
mined  to  winter  in  Greenland  with  two  companions,  who 
volunteered  to  stay  with  him.  Preparing  beforehand  a  supply 
station,  he,  in  April,  1895,  ventured  inland  once  more.  His 
Eskimos  left  him,  he  could  not  find  his  supplies,  his  men 
suffered  from  frost-bite,  and  game  failed  ;  yet  with  an  audacity 
splendid  because  it  chanced  not  to  be  fatal,  the  devoted  band 
pushed  forward  to  Independence  Bay.  Happily  obtaining  ten 
musk-oxen,  they  began  the  return  journey,  starvation  marching 
close  behind  them.  Everything  but  food  was  dropped,  and 
on  June  25th,  after  twenty-five  forced  marches,  they  dragged 
themselves  to  Bowdoin  Bay  and  to  succor.  For  two  weeks 
they  had  had  but  one  meal  a  day,  and  they  had  been  food- 
less  for  twenty-four  hours  before  reaching  their  journey's 
end. 

Of  these  explorations  General  Greely  said  :  "  The  two 
crossings  of  Greenland  by  Peary  must  be  classed  among  the 
most  brilliant  geographic  feats  of  late  years,  his  journeys  far 
surpassing  in  extent  that  of  his  ice-cap  predecessor,  Nansen, 
who  crossed  Greenland  more  than  1,000  miles  to  the  south." 
Peary  and  those  who  furthered  his  undertakings  perhaps 
expected  too  much.  He  was  bitterly  disappointed  at  the 
small  results  of  his  last  journey  and  believed  that  arctic 
exploration  was  set  back  many  years  by  his  failure. 

445 


CHAPTER   XVI 
THE  PLUMED  KNIGHT  AND  HIS  JOUST 

THE     NEW    ORLEANS     COTTON    CENTENNIAL. BUILDINGS,    EXHIBITS 

AND    INFLUENCE. POLITICAL    SITUATION    IN     1884. PRESIDENTIAL 

CANDIDATES. RISE      OF      JAMES      G.       ELAINE. CHARGES      AGAINST 

HIM. HIS  PROSPECTS  IN   1876. INVESTIGATION  OF  HIS  RECORD. — 

THE     MULLIGAN     LETTERS. DRAMATIC     SELF-VINDICATION     BEFORE 

THE    HOUSE. ELAINE    AND     KNOTT. ELAINE    IN    GARFIELD's    CABI 
NET. PERU    AND    CHILE. ELAINE    IN    ADVANCE    OF    HIS    PARTY. — 

REPUBLICAN     CONVENTION     OF      1884. LYNCH     MADE    TEMPORARY 

CHAIRMAN. EFFORT    TO    UNITE    UPON    ARTHUR. SCENES    IN    THE 

CONVENTION       UPON       ELAINE' S       NOMINATION. THE       MUGWUMPS 

BOLT. GROVER  CLEVELAND. HIS  YOUTH,  EDUCATION,  AND  EARLY 

OFFICIAL  LIFE. GOVERNOR    OF    NEW    YORK. NOMINATED    BY    THE 

DEMOCRATIC    NATIONAL    CONVENTION. THE    MUGWUMPS    DECLARE 

FOR    CLEVELAND. CHARGES    AGAINST    ELAINE. HOW  FAR  TRUE. — 

"  RUM,    ROMANISM    AND    REBELLION." HENDRICKS    PACIFIES  TAM 
MANY. CLEVELAND    VICTORIOUS. 

THANKS  to  the  "  New  Departure"  of  1871,  the  South 
soon  ceased  to  be  a  political  storm  centre.  Early  in  1 8 8 1 
Rev.  Dr.  Haygood,  president  of  Emory  College,  in  Georgia, 
preached  a  sermon,  published  by  the  unanimous  request  of 
the  congregation,  in  which  he  expressed  rejoicing  at  the  aboli 
tion  of  slavery  as  a  blessing.  In  1881  a  successful  industrial 
exposition  had  been  held  in  Atlanta,  and  in  1883  another  in 
Louisville,  both  revealing  much  progress  in  business  at  the 
South.  Of  wider  interest  than  either  was  the  World's  Indus 
trial  and  Cotton  Centennial  Exposition  of  1884.  This  date 
was  chosen  because  a  bale  of  cotton,  the  first,  so  far  as  known, 
was  shipped  to  England  from  Charleston  in  1784.  Congress 
incorporated  the  exposition  and  authorized  a  loan  to  it  of 
$1,000,000.  Private  parties  subscribed  half  a  million  more. 
New  Orleans,  selected  as  the  most  suitable  location,  gave 
$100,000  to  erect  Horticultural  Hall.  Louisiana  appropri- 

447 


THE  UNITED  STATES  IN  OUR  OWN  TIME 


ated  for  the  enterprise  $  100,000,  and  some  contributions  were 
made  by  other  States. 

Upper  City  Park,  two  hundred  and  forty-five  acres  in 
extent,  on  the  river,  above  the  city,  was  artistically  laid  out 
and  adorned.  The  most  characteristic  feature  connected  with 
the  Exposition  was  to  be  found  in  the  avenues  winding  through 
vistas  of  live  oaks  festooned  with  Spanish  moss,  or  through 
groves  of  banana,  lemon,  orange,  mesquite  and  maguey,  varied 
with  beds  of  brilliant  tropical  flowers  and  with  fountains.  By 
night  electric  lights,  then  a  novelty  to  many  visitors,  added  to 
the  fascination  of  the  place.  The  Exposition  opened  on  De 
cember  1 6th.  The  Governor  of  Louisiana  was  present,  as  were 
also  Postmaster-General  Hatton  and  Secretary  Teller,  repre 
senting  the  Cabinet.  Dignitaries  from  distant  States  in  the 
Union  honored  the  occasion  by  attending.  At  the  same  mo 
ment  a  distinguished  company,  including  a  committee  from 

each  House  of  Con 
gress,  was  assembled  in 
the  East  Room  of  the 


rnnnnnnnnnnnnnn 


PLAN  OF  THE   NEW  ORLEANS  EXPOSITION 
A,  Main   Building;*    B,    United    States    and    State    Exhibits; 
C,  Horticultural   Hall;    D,   Mexican    Building;    E,  art  gal 
lery;    F,  factory  and  mills;    G,  live  stock  stables,-    H,  restau 
rants,-    I,  fountain,  80  feet  high;    J,  live  stack  arena. 

*A  table  showing  the  comparative  sizes  of  great  expo 
sition  buildings  : 


Crystal  Palace,  London  .  .  . 
London  Exposition  
Paris  "  .... 

.      (fSjf)      • 

.    (i8te)    . 
(1855) 

.     .        q8q,884 
.     .     1,400,000 

.    (1867)    .    . 

456,923 

Vienna  "•'  
Philadelphia  "  
Atlanta  "  

•    (r873)     •     • 
.    (r87b)    .     . 
,     Ir88i}     .     . 

,     .        430^500 
,     .        872^20 
107^5^0 

Louisville  " 

.     (188?)     . 

677.^00 

New    Orleans    Exposition    {Mai 
Building  alone,  and  not  includ 
ing  galleries)     

Manufacturers  and  Liberal  Arts 
Building  at  Chicago  World's 
Fair  (including  Galleries')  . 


(1884) 


(1803) 


1,656,030 


Presidential  Mansion  at 
Washington.  The  pre 
liminary  exercises  in  full 
were  telegraphed  to 
President  Arthur,  who 
telegraphed  back  a  fit 
ting  response.  At  the 
pressure  of  a  button  in 
the  White  House  the 
mazes  of  machinery  be 
gan  to  move,  and  the 
Exposition  was  declared 
formally  in  operation. 

The  Main  Building 
was  the  largest  structure 
which  had  then  been 


448 


THE  EXPOSITION  AT  NEW  ORLEANS 


ORLEANS  EXPOSITION—  MEXICAN  PAVILION  AND  MAIN  BUILDING 


erected  for  exhibition  purposes,  having  an  area  of  1,656,030 
square  feet.  The  Government  Building,  containing  the  ex 
hibits  of  the  national  and  State  governments,  was  885  feet 
long  by  565  wide,  while  Horticultural  Hall,  of  iron  and 
glass,  and  designed  to  be  permanent,  was  600  feet  by  100. 
The  Art  Building  was  large  and  admirably  adapted  for  its  pur 
pose,  being  lighted  from  the  roof.  The  Mexican  Govern 
ment,  at  great  expense,  put  up  a  large  building  as  quarters  for 
a  detachment  of  infantry  and  cavalry,  and  for  offices.  There 
was  a  Woman's  Department,  under  the  supervision  of  Mrs. 
Julia  Ward  Howe  ;  also  an  exhibit  of  negroes'  handiwork. 
The  displays  from  tropical  or  semi-tropical  countries  were 
naturally  the  most  profuse.  Mexico  erected  a  tasteful  octag 
onal  edifice  expressly  for  its  wealth  of  minerals.  Its  exhibits 


451 


THE  UNITED  STATES  IN  OUR  OWN  TIME 


together  covered  160,000  square  feet,  surpassing  in  extent  and 
variety  those  from  any  other  foreign  country.  Central  America 
was  represented  more  completely  than  at  any  previous  exposi 
tion,  and  the  products  of  its  curious  civilization  interested  all 
visitors. 

Giving  the  South  a  sense  of  its  importance  and  strength, 
and  making  friendly  a  host  of  guests  from  the  North,  the 
Exposition  had  influence  upon  the  national  election  soon  to 
occur.  Of  this  none  could  forecast  the  issue  with  any  cer 
tainty,  but  the  canvass  was  sure  to  be  interesting.  The  Re 
publicans  were  much  divided.  President  Arthur,  whom  few 
wanted,  announced  himself  a  candidate  for  re-election.  Pre 
ceding  State  elections  ominously  favored  the  Democrats.  In 
1882  both  Pennsylvania  and  Massachusetts  elected  Democratic 
governors.  The  same  year,  owing  to  "  Half-breed  "  defec 
tion  from  Folger,  the  Republican  candidate,  New  York,  which 
in  1880  Garfield  had  carried  against  Hancock  by  a  plurality 
of  over  21,000,  chose  Grover  Cleveland  its  Governor  by  a 
plurality  of  more  than  190,000  and  a  majority  of  150,000. 
This  election  began  Mr.  Cleveland's  fame,  quite  as  much  from 
the  accident  of  the  Republican  feud  referred  to  as  from  aught 
which  he  then  had  done  or  bade  fair  to  do. 

Illinois  put  forward  as  a  presiden 
tial  candidate  General  Logan,  so 
popular  with  the  old*  soldiers.  A 
"compact  body  of  Ohio  Republicans'' 
adhered  to  Senator  Sherman.  Senator 
Edmunds,  thought  of  as  a  champion 
of  Civil  Service  Reform,  was  strong 
in  Massachusetts  and  Vermont.  Gene 
ral  J.  R.  Hawley  had  succeeded  Mar 
shall  Jewell  as  Connecticut's  favorite 
son.  But  the  spontaneous,  wide 
spread,  persistent,  often  delirious  en- 
JOHN  A.  LOGAN  thusiasHi  for  James  G.  Elaine,  of 


452 


THE    EARLY   LIFE  OF  JAMES    G.  ELAINE 


JAMES    G.    ELAINE 

at  the  Age  of  Seventeen 
From  a  daguerreotype,  published  for 
the  first  time  in  this  work,  owned  by 
Miss  Kate  M.  Hopkins,  and  made  in 
1847,  while  Mr.  Elaine  was  attend 
ing  ffaibington  College,  Pa. 


Maine,  made  it  clear  that  unless 
his  opponents  early  united  upon 
some  other  candidate  "  the  Plumed 
Knight "  would  sweep  the  field. 

Mr.  Elaine,  long  and  promi 
nently  in  the  public  eye,  had  been 
born  in  Washington  County,  Pa., 
January  31,  1830,  a  great-grandson 
of  Commissary-General  Elaine,  who 
during  the  terrible  winter  at  Valley 
Forge  made  from  his  private  sub 
stance  advances  to  keep  Washing 
ton's  soldiers  from  starvation.  The 
lad  was  educated  with  great  care  by 
his  father  and  his  maternal  grand 
father,  Neal  Gillespie,  a  Roman  Catholic  gentleman  of 
wealth,  character  and  ability.  In  his  fourteenth  year  young 
Elaine  entered  Washington  College,  Pennsylvania,  where  he 
graduated  with  honors.  After  being  some  time  instructor 
in  the  Western  Military  Institute,  Kentucky,  and  three 
years  in  Philadelphia,  teaching  and  writing  editorials,  he 
in  1854  assumed  the  management  of  the  Kennebec  Journal, 
Augusta,  Me.  He  rapidly  familiarized  himself  with  Maine 
politics  and  became  a  power  in  the  Whig  and  Republican 
councils  of  the  State.  His  skill  as  a  debater  gave  him  fame. 
He  entered  the  national  House  of  Representatives  in  1862, 
with  Garfield,  and  served  until  1876,  being  Speaker  from  1869 
to  1875.  From  1876  to  1881  he  was  United  States  Senator. 
In  Congress  he  distinguished  himself  by  his  familiarity  with 
parliamentary  tactics  and  his  unequalled  readiness  in  debate. 
He  left  the  Senate  to  enter  Garfield's  Cabinet  as  Secretary  of 
State. 

On  February  28,  1876,  Mr.  Elaine  was  informed  of  a 
rumor,  traceable  to  J.  S.  C.  Harrison,  a  director  of  the  Union 
Pacific  Railroad,  to  the  effect  that  said  Harrison,  shortly  after 


453 


THE  UNITED  STATES  IN  OUR  OWN  TIME 

• 

he  became  a  director,  found  seventy-five  worthless  Little 
Rock  &  Fort  Smith  Railroad  bonds  among  the  assets  of  the 
Union  Pacific,  said  by  the  treasurer,  Rollins,  to  have  been 
received  from  James  G.  Elaine  as  security  for  $64,000  loaned 
him  and  never  repaid.  On  April  24th  Mr.  Elaine  read  be 
fore  the  House  a  letter  from  Rollins,  one  from  Morton,  Bliss 
&  Co.,  through  whom  the  draft  for  $64,000  was  said  to  have 
been  cashed,  and  one  from  Thomas  A.  Scott,  who  had  been 
president  of  the  Union  Pacific  at  the  time,  acquitting  him  of 
the  deed  charged,  and  denying  that  he  had  had  any  other 
business  transactions  with  them. 

At  the  same  time  the  ex-Speaker  denied  the  further 
rumor  that  he  was  the  owner  of  Little  Rock  &  Fort  Smith 
Railroad  bonds  received  without  consideration,  explaining  his 
relations  with  that  road,  all  which  he  declared  "  open  as  the 
day  "  and  perfectly  proper.  For  the  time  Mr.  Elaine  stood 
exculpated.  He  desired,  then,  to  avoid  a  congressional  in 
vestigation,  as  it  could  not  possibly  end  by  the  time  of  the 
Republican  convention  (of  1876),  a  body  not  likely  to  nomi 
nate  a  man  "  under  investigation,"  however  innocent.  Never 
theless  an  investigation,  by  the  Judiciary  Committee,  was 
ordered  and  on  May  I5th  begun.  The  statements  and  testi 
mony  already  offered  by  Mr.  Elaine  were  repeated  under 
oath,  Scott  swearing  that  the  bonds  in  question  were  his, 
received  from  Josiah  Caldwell,  and  that  he,  Scott,  had  shifted 
them  upon  the  company. 

A  fortnight  remained  before  the  1876  Convention,  and 
State  delegations  kept  cropping  up  for  Elaine.  A  rumor 
arose  implicating  him  in  corrupt  connection  with  the  North 
ern  Pacific.  Three  witnesses  came  from  Boston :  Elisha 
Atkins,  a  director  of  the  Union  Pacific  ;  Warren  Fisher,  a 
former  business  relative  of  Elaine,  who  had  found  the  rela 
tions  unsatisfactory  and  terminated  them  long  before ;  and 
James  Mulligan,  once  a  clerk  of  Jacob  Stanwood,  Elaine's 
brother-in-law,  and  afterwards  of  Fisher.  Mulligan  testified 

454 


THE  MULLIGAN  LETTERS 

that  he  had  understood  Atkins  to  say  that  seventy-five  bonds 
went  from  Elaine  to  Scott,  who  "  worked  them  off  upon  the 
Union  Pacific."  Atkins  testified  that  he  never  said  it  to 
Mulligan,  but  that  Mulligan  said  it  to  him  ;  also  that  Mulli 
gan  had  an  old  grudge  against  Elaine. 

Upon  their  arrival,  Elaine  sent  to  have  Fisher  and 
Mulligan  come  to  his  house.  Only  Fisher  came,  who  ad 
mitted  letting  Mulligan  have  a  number  of  letters  from  the 
ex-Speaker  to  himself.  Elaine  went  to  Mulligan  and  de 
manded  the  letters.  Mulligan  declared  that  "  he  would  not 
give  them  up  to  God  Almighty  or  his  father."  Elaine,  how 
ever,  managed  to  get  possession  of  them.  Mulligan  stated 
that  he  surrendered  the  letters  under  Elaine's  promise  to 
return  them ;  that  Elaine  entreated  him  not  to  put  them 
in  evidence,  as  it  would  ruin  him  and  his  family,  offering  to 
get  Mulligan  a  consulship  if  he  would  desist  and  threatening 
suicide  if  he  persisted  in  exposure  ;  and  that  Elaine  at  last 
flatly  refused  to  return  the  letters,  calling  upon  Fisher 
and  Atkins  to  witness  his  act.  Next  morning  Mr.  Elaine 
submitted  to  the  investigators  the  written  opinion  of  Hon. 
J.  S.  Black,  a  Democrat,  and  Hon.  Matt.  H.  Carpenter,  a 
Republican,  to  the  effect  that  the  letters  had  "  no  relevancy 
whatever  to  the  matter  under  inquiry,"  and  that  "  it  would  be 
most  unjust  and  tyrannical  as  well  as  illegal  to  demand  their 
production." 

The  Judiciary  Committee  was  now  in  utmost  perplexity. 
The  witnesses  were  discharged  and  the  matter  laid  over. 
Some  proposed  to  bring  it  before  the  House,  but  this  plan 
was  given  up  as  dangerous,  one  member  remarking  that  they 
at  least  knew  what  not  to  do,  and  that  was,  "  not  to  have 
Elaine  cavorting  round  on  the  floor  of  the  House."  If  they 
could  only  have  prevented  this  ! 

The  interim  was  Elaine's  opportunity.  A  foretaste  of 
what  followed  is  given  by  some  doggerel  in  which  a  newspaper 
of  the  time  represented  Confederate  Brigadiers  (a  majority  of 

455 


THE  UNITED  STATES  IN  OUR  OWN  TIME 

the  sub-committee  investigating  Elaine  had  been  in  the  South 
ern  army)  as  reciting  in  Democratic  caucus : 

He  is  always  in  the  way — 

Elaine  of  Maine  j 
And  in  session  every  day 

Raises  Cain  ; 

When  his  prodding  makes  us  roar, 
Then  he  lacerates  the  sore, 
Till  we  holler  more  and  more — 

Elaine  of  Maine. 

How  he  boxes  us  around — 

Elaine  of  Maine  ; 
Now  and  then  we're  on  the  ground, 

Half  insane  ; 

Frequently  to  grass  we  go  ; 
This  is  temporary  though, 
For  we  rally  from  the  blow, 
And  prepare  to  eat  our  crow, 
But  he  stands  us  in  a  row, 
And  he  smites  us  high  and  low, 
Till  we  shiver  in  our  woe, 
And  he  keeps  us  whirling  so, 
That  we  have  the  vertigo  — 

Elaine  of  Maine. 

After  the  morning  hour  on  Monday,  June  5th,  Mr. 
Elaine  rose  to  a  question  of  privilege.  He  began  his  remarks 
by  observing  that  the  investigation,  though  authorized  in  gen 
eral  terms,  was  aimed  solely  and  only  at  himself.  "  The 
famous  witness,  Mulligan,"  he  said,  had  selected  out  of  years 
of  correspondence  letters  which  he  thought  would  be  peculiarly 
damaging  to  him,  Elaine,  but  they  had  nothing  to  do  with  that 
investigation.  He,  Elaine,  obtained  them  under  circumstances 
known  to  everybody,  and  defied  the  House  to  compel  him  to 
produce  them.  Had  Mr.  Elaine  stopped  here  his  enemies 
could  have  made  him  bite  the  dust.  Apparently  he  had  al 
lowed  himself  to  be  driven  into  a  fatal  cul-de-sac.  Not  so. 
Having  vindicated  his  right  to  the  letters,  he  proceeded,  in  his 
most  dramatic  manner :  "  Thank  God  Almighty,  I  am  not 

456 


"CAVORTING  ROUND" 

afraid  to  show  them.  There  they  are  (holding  up  a  package 
of  letters).  There  is  the  very  original  package.  And  with 
some  sense  of  humiliation,  with  a  mortification  that  I  do  not 
pretend  to  conceal,  with  a  sense  of  outrage  which  I  think  any 
man  in  my  position  would  feel,  I  invite  the  confidence  of 
forty-four  millions  of  my  countrymen  while  I  read  those  let 
ters  from  this  desk."  For  the  moment  triumph  turned  to 
dismay,  dismay  to  triumph.  The  audience  was  electrified. 
The  letters  seemed  to  show  Mr.  Elaine,  in  one  case,  at  least, 
high-minded  and  generous  in  assuming  the  losses  of  "  inno 
cent  persons  who  invested  on  his  request." 

After  summing  up,  Mr.  Blaine  continued  : 

"  Now,  gentlemen,  those  letters  I  have  read  were  picked 
out  of  correspondence  extending  over  fifteen  years.  The  man 
did  his  worst,  the  very  worst  he  could,  out  of  the  most  intimate 
business  correspondence  of  my  life.  I  ask,  gentlemen,  if  any 
of  you — and  I  ask  it  with  some  feeling — can  stand  a  severer 
scrutiny  of  or  more  rigid  investigation  into  your  private  corre 
spondence  ?  That  was  the  worst  he  could  do."  A  pause 
ensued.  Then,  resuming,  he  said :  "  There  is  one  piece  of 
testimony  wanting.  There  is  but  one  thing  to  close  the  com 
plete  circle  of  evidence.  There  is  but  one  witness  whom  I 
could  not  have,  to  whom  the  judiciary  Committee,  taking  into 
account  the  great  and  intimate  connection  he  had  with  the 
transaction,  was  asked  to  send  a  cable  despatch — and  I  ask 
the  gentleman  from  Kentucky  if  that  despatch  was  sent  to 
him?" 

"Who?"   asked  Mr.  Frye,  in  an  undertone. 

"  Josiah  Caldwell." 

Mr.  Knott  responded,  "  I  will  reply  to  the  gentleman 
that  Judge  Hunton  and  myself  have  both  endeavored  to  get 
Mr.  Caldwell's  address  and  have  not  yet  got  it.  " 

"  Has  the  gentleman  from  Kentucky  received  a  despatch 
from  Mr.  Caldwell?  " 

"  I  will  explain  that  directly,"  replied  Mr.  Knott. 

459 


THE  UNITED  STATES  IN  OUR  OWN  TIME 

"  I  want  a  categorical  answer." 
"  I  have  received  a  despatch  purport 
ing  to  be  from  Mr.  Caldwell." 
"  You  did  !  " 

"  How  did  you  know  I  got  it  ? " 
"  When  did  you  get  it?     I  want  the 
gentleman    from     Kentucky    to    answer 
when  he  got  it." 

"  Answer  my  question  first." 

"  I  never  heard  of  it  until  yesterday." 

J.   PROCTOR   KNOTT  .  ' 

u  How  did  you  hear  it  ? 

Ignoring  the  question,  Mr.  Blaine  strode  down  the  aisle 
holding  up  a  despatch,  and  turning  to  Mr.  Knott  said,  with 
stinging  deliberation  : 

"  You  got  a  despatch  last  Thursday  morning  at  eight 
o'clock  from  Josiah  Caldwell  completely  and  absolutely  exoner 
ating  me  from  this  charge — and  you  have  suppressed  it  !  " 

The  sensation  up  to  that  moment  had  been  great,  but  to 
what  now  occurred  it  was  as  the  fuse  to  the  explosion.  Gen 
eral  Garfield  "  never  saw  such  a  scene  in  the  House."  Mr. 
Blaine  had  run  the  blockade,  and  for  the  moment  the  block- 
aders  seemed  likely  to  be  "  swamped  in  the  wash "  as  he 
passed. 

Mr.  Blaine  failed,  after  all,  to  be  nominated  in  1876, 
but  as  Garfield's  Secretary  of  State,  for  a  brief  period,  he  led  a 
lively  career.  In  1881,  after  a  bitter  war  between  the  two 
countries,  Peru  lay  at  the  mercy  of  Chile,  who  inexorably  de 
manded,  among  the  conditions  of  peace,  the  cession  of  a 
territory  rich  in  deposits  of  guano.  This  was  deprecated,  both 
as  forcibly  disrupting  an  American  state  and  as  an  example 
upon  this  continent  of  war  for  the  sake  of  conquest.  Mr. 
Hurlbut,  our  minister  to  Peru,  took  sides  with  that  country. 
Too  hastily  recognizing  as  the  proper  Peruvian  Government 
one  of  the  two  factions  claiming  this  status,  he  proceeded  to 
lay  down  the  terms  on  which  it  might  conclude  peace  with  the 

460 


ELAINE  AND  BELMONT 

conqueror.  Provision  must  be  made  for  the  adjudication  of 
American  claims  to  the  guano  fields,  especially  the  Landreau 
claim,  and  also  the  Cochet  claim,  to  which  a  certain  "  Pe 
ruvian  Company"  had  fallen  heir.  "  Hurlbut's  Peru"  gladly 
entertained  these  claims,  going  so  far  as  to  negotiate  with  him 
for  the  cession  of  a  naval  station  to  be  held  by  the  United 
States  till  the  litigation  was  settled.  Naught  could  exceed 
Chile's  indignation  at  this  procedure.  She  at  once  arrested 
Hurlbut's  Peruvian  Government  and  carried  it  to  Santiago. 
Mr.  Elaine  reproved  Hurlbut's  immoderation  and  sent  a  spe 
cial  envoy  to  adjust  matters,  but  he  preserved  toward  Chile  a 
threatening  attitude  until  relieved  by  Mr.  Frelinghuysen.  The 
new  Secretary  practically  abandoned  all  intervention. 

Adventurers  who  had  been  at  work  for  the  Peruvian 
Company  made  broadcast  allegations  of  corruption  and  im 
proper  influences  resorted  to  by  them  in  pushing  their  scheme. 
The  House  of  Representatives  ordered  an  investigation,  and 
in  due  time  Mr.  Elaine  came  before  its  committee.  He  com 
plained  that  at  an  earlier  session  of  the  committee  Mr.  Bel- 
mont,  a  member,  had  garbled  and  misconstrued  language  which 
he  had  used  in  a  despatch.  Mr.  Belmont  persisted  in  de 
claring  his  interpretation  correct.  "  I  am  not  in  a  police  court 
to  be  badgered,"  said  the  ex-Secretary.  The  verbal  duel  be 
came  a  running  fire  of  retorts,  culminating  when  Mr.  Elaine 
repeated  the  accusation  of  misconstruing  his  despatches  and 
characterized  Mr.  Belmont's  words  as  untruthful.  Growing 
livid,  Belmont  retorted  :  "  I  believe  you  are  a  bully  and  a 
coward."  The  committee  adjourned  in  consternation,  and  for 
a  week  the  country  rang  with  the  echoes  of  the  combat. 

Elaine  consistently  held  to  the  principle,  placing  him  at 
variance  with  most  of  his  official  friends,  that  the  Southrons 
themselves  must  remedy  the  evils  of  their  elections.  Later 
than  the  events  with  which  this  Chapter  deals,  he  opposed  the 
principle  of  an  ultra-protective  tariff  as  wrought  into  the  Mc- 
Kinley  bill.  The  immediate  credit  of  the  reciprocity  feature 

461 


THE  UNITED  STATES  IN  OUR  OWN  TIME 


in  that  law  belonged  to  him.  His  foreign  policy  looked  to  a 
federation  of  the  Western  Hemisphere.  He  elaborated  the 
Bureau  of  American  Republics.  His  letter  of  invitation  to 
the  American  Peace  Congress,  issued  November  29,  1881, 
was  revoked  by  his  successor ;  but  efforts  to  this  end,  renewed 
under  Harrison,  resulted  in  a  Pan-American  Conference,  pre 
sided  over  by  Elaine  himself,  from  which  Chile  alone  went 
away  disaffected.  Mr.  Elaine's  life  and  travels  from  1881  to 
1884  cannot  be  remarked  upon  here.  Though  the  year  1884 
found  him  in  private  station,  he  was  not  forgotten. 

The  Convention  of  1884  met  in  Chicago  on  June  jd. 
The  delegates  committed  to  Elaine  were  nearly  all  present  by 
the  2d  and  in  jubilant  mood.  The  despatches  of  that  day 

strongly  indicated  that  Elaine  would 
win  ;  but  the  New  York  Times,  Elaine's 
doughtiest  foe  among  the  Republican 
papers,  would  not  admit  this.  It  urged 
Edmunds  for  nomination,  or,  in  case 
he  proved  unavailable,  Robert  T. 
Lincoln,  a  man  owing  no  political 
debts.  The  Times  pointed  out  that 
men  born  after  Gettysburg  and  Vicks- 
burg  could  vote  this  year,  and  that, 
therefore,  even  a  sound  candidate,  to 
win,  needed  something  besides  fame 
won  in  debating  war  issues. 
It  was  eleven  o'clock  on  the  jd  before  any  number  of 
delegates  entered  the  vast  hall.  Crowds — smaller,  indeed, 
than  in  1880 — filled  the  galleries.  The  New  York  delega 
tion  formed  at  the  Grand  Pacific  Hotel,  and  marched  two  by 
two  to  the  wigwam.  The  gazing  populace  fell  back  to  let 
them  pass,  while  cheering  lustily  for  the  Empire  State.  First 
came  George  William  Curtis,  chairman,  arm  in  arm  with 
Titus  Sheard ;  next  Theodore  Roosevelt  paired  with  Presi 
dent  Andrew  D.  White,  of  Cornell.  Beneath  the  blue  ensign, 

462 


GEORGE  F.  EDMUNDS 


EARLY  PROCEEDINGS  OF  CHICAGO  CONVENTION 


bearing  in  great  gold  letters  the  legend  "  New  York/'  Curtis 
took  his  seat.  On  the  same  row,  but  as  far  from  Curtis  as  he 
could  get,  sat  ex-Senator  Platt,  "  devoting  his  time  chiefly 
to  the  stroking  of  his  short,  silky  beard."  The  band  played 
"  Prithee,  pretty  maiden,  will  you  marry  me,"  as  General 
Mahone,  at  the  head  of  his  Virginia  delegation,  came  in,  wear 
ing  his  broad-brimmed  white  hat  and  his  curiously  fashioned 
trousers  and  coat,  an  immense  yellow  rose  adorning  the  lapel 
of  the  last-named  garment.  Order  was  called  at  a  quarter 
past  twelve. 

Most  of  the  Arthur  delegates,  before  the  proceedings 
began,  considered  their  candidate  beaten  ;  yet  the  Conven 
tion's  first  act  heartened  them  a  little.  Stephen  B.  Elkins, 
managing  for  Elaine,  had  worked  up 
a  Blaine-Logan  combination,  influ 
enced  by  which  the  National  Com 
mittee  was  induced  to  recommend  to 
the  Convention  Elaine's  friend,  Powell 
Clayton,  of  Arkansas,  for  temporary 
chairman.  This  Henry  Cabot  Lodge 
opposed  by  nominating  the  Honor 
able  J.  R.  Lynch,  a  colored  Senator 
from  Mississippi,  George  William 
Curtis  and  Theodore  Roosevelt  sec 
onding  the  nomination  in  telling 
speeches.  On  roll-call,  Lynch  was 
found  to  have  defeated  Clayton  by  a  number  of  votes.  The 
Blaineites  received  another  slight  snub.  A  resolution  like  that 
which  Conkling  invented  in  1880  was  introduced  at  their  in 
stance,  that  every  delegate  taking  part  in  the  convention  was 
"  bound  in  honor  to  support  the  nominee."  Against  this 
George  William  Curtis  protested,  saying,  "  A  Republican  and 
a  free  man  I  came  to  this  convention,  and  by  the  grace  of 
God  a  Republican  and  a  free  man  will  I  go."  The  resolu 
tion  was  withdrawn. 


STEPHEN  B.  ELKINS 


463 


THE  UNITED  STATES  IN  OUR  OWN  TIME 

Notwithstanding  all  this,  Elaine's  star  was  clearly  in  the 
ascendant.  To  defeat  his  nomination  all  his  opponents 
needed  to  unite  upon  Arthur.  Arthur  had  considerable 
strength  owing  to  his  patronage  as  President,  but  it  proved 
a  broken  reed.  The  Arthur  men  pleaded  with  Curtis',  Cabot 
Lodge  and  Roosevelt,  who  did  their  best  against  Elaine,  to 
turn  from  Edmunds  to  Arthur.  "  Clinging  to  Edmunds  you 
will  surely  nominate  Elaine,"  they  said.  But  between  Elaine 
and  Arthur  the  Edmunds  men  saw  little  to  choose,  believing, 
wisely,  so  it  now  seems,  that  if  nominated  Arthur  would  be 
defeated.  They  tried  to  bring  out  Robert  T.  Lincoln,  a  dark 
horse  groomed  by  the  New  York  'Times.  All  in  vain.  At 
each  ballot  Elaine  gained  while  Arthur  lost.  Edmunds, 
Logan  and  John  Sherman  also  lost.  Hawley  gained  two 
votes  on  the  fourth  ballot.  Lincoln  jumped  from  four  to 
eight  on  the  third,  but  sank  to  two  on  the  fourth.  There 
was  "  noted  a  curious  tendency  in  the  knees  of  some  of 
the  Edmunds  men,  particularly  those  from  Massachusetts,  to 
knock  together  audibly  whenever  the  name  of  Elaine  was 
mentioned  in  their  hearing,"  and  they,  little  by  little,  deserted 
their  favorite.  Under  the  management  of  Powell  Clayton, 
Arkansas  started  a  bolt  of  Southern  delegates  away  from 
Arthur.  Assured  that  himself  could  not  win,  Logan  turned 
over  to  Elaine  his  Illinois  delegation.  Upon  the  fourth  bal 
lot  "  the  Plumed  Knight "  was  nominated.  The  name  of 
John  A.  Logan,  "  the  Black  Eagle,"  occupied  the  second  place 
upon  the  ticket. 

The  announcement  of  Elaine's  nomination  unleashed  the 
latent  insanity  of  ten  thousand  people  within  the  hall.  Hats 
were  thrown  high  in  air,  umbrellas  whirled  around,  the  State 
shields  torn  down  and  borne  proudly  upon  filial  breasts.  The 
crowd  outside  caught  the  contagion,  and  soon  a  shrill  chorus 
of  tug  whistles  could  be  heard  from  the  Chicago  River.  The 
climax  was  reached  when  some  one  brought  and  laid  upon  the 
chairman's  desk  a  floral  helmet,  with  snowy  plume  of  finest 

464 


THEY  BOLT  THE  TICKET. 


imported  horsehair.  The  noise  redoubled,  men  took  of? 
their  coats  and  waved  them,  women  laughed,  or  cried,  or 
fainted,  impartially.  Thus  was  sounded  the  key-note  of  the 
Republican  campaign.  A  spectator  might  have  noticed  one 
or  two  silent  patches  in  the  great  hall  in  the  midst  of  the  over 
whelming  enthusiasm.  These  patches,  flouted  at  the  time, 
grew  more  significant  when  immediately  after  the  convention 
many  conspicuous  party  men,  especially  in  the  East,  and  sev 
eral  considerable  party  organs,  led  by  the  New  York  Times, 
declared  that  they  would  not  support  the  ticket. 

Spite  of  all  that  could  be  said  in  his  favor,  Elaine's  nomi 
nation  evoked  the  bitterest  rancor.  The  Stalwarts  had  never 
forgiven  him  their  discomfiture  at  his  hands  in  1880,  but  they 
were  not  now  his  most  serious  opponents.  Those  whom  he 
had  deepest  reason  to  fear  had  been  disaffected  by  his  jingo 
foreign  policy,  or  because  they  believed  him  corrupt,  or  partly 
for  one  of  these  reasons  and  partly  for  the  other.  "I  was  at 
the  birth  of  the  Republican  party,"  remarked  Curtis,  "  and  I 
fear  I  am  to  witness  its  death."  On  June  5th  the  Times  said 

editorially,  "The  thoughtful  op 
ponents  of  Elaine  have  seen  with 
alarm  that  he  is  supported  by  all 
the  political  adventurers,  star- 
route  sympathizers,  and  admirers 
of  loose  methods  in  govern 
ment."  On  June  yth,  the  morn 
ing  after  the  nomination, it  added: 
"The  Times  will  not  support 
Mr.  Elaine  for  the  presidency. 
It  will  advise  no  man  to  vote  for 
him."  After  boldly  predicting 
his  defeat,  it  further  declared : 
"  That  defeat  will  be  the  salva 
tion  of  the  Republican  Party.  It 
will  arouse  its  torpid  conscience. 


GEORGE    WILLIAM   CURTIS 


465 


THE  UNITED  STATES  IN  OUR  OWN  TIME 

it  will  stir  it  to  self-purification,  it  will  depose  the  false  leaders 
who  have  fastened  themselves  upon  it,  it  will  send  the  rogues 
to  the  background,  and  will  make  the  party  once  more  worthy 
of  honor  and  of  power  in  the  republic  it  has  so  nobly  served." 
The  New  York  Evening  Post,  the  Boston  Advertiser,  the 
Boston  Herald,  and  the  Springfield  Republican  also  joined  the 
bolt. 

"  Mr.  Blaine  was  the  incarnation  of  all  the  good  and 
all  the  evil  of  the  Republican  organization.  He,  as  much 
as  any  surviving  statesman  of  the  period  immediately  succeed 
ing  the  War  of  Secession,  aided  in  framing  the  legislation 
which  resulted  in  the  perpetual  extinguishment  of  slavery, 
and  made  its  return  in  the  crude  form  of  human  bondage 
thenceforth  impossible.  On  the  other  hand,  those  organi 
zations  which  were  developed  outside  of  governmental  in 
stitutions,  but  which  possessed  vast  influence  and  strength, 
such  as  the  railway  corporations  and  the  large  landed  prop 
erty  organizations,  the  telegraph  and  other  instrumentalities 
of  commerce,  more  or  less  dependent  upon  congressional 
favor  or  congressional  non-action  for  their  financial  success, 
had  in  him  a  steadfast  ally.  His  administration  of  the  office 
of  Secretary  of  State  under  President  Garfield  was  also  of 
a  character  to  give  conservative  men  considerable  apprehen 
sion.  During  the  period  from  18^5  to  1884  the  greatest 
extravagance  with  reference  to  gifts  of  land  and  concessions 
to  corporate  greed  prevailed  and  was  indulged  in  by  the 
national  legislature.  It  is  true  that  in  that  period  no  well- 
formed  public  opinion  antagonized  this  abuse  of  power,  inas 
much  as  the  danger  resulting  from  these  aggregations  of 
capital  and  quasi  public  trusts  in  the  hands  of  persons  not 
responsible  to  the  people  was  not  at  that  time  felt,  or  had,  at 
all  events,  not  so  clearly  manifested  itself  as  during  a  later 
period.  Mr.  Blaine  was,  during  the  whole  of  this  period,  an 
active  legislator  and  political  leader,  and  was,  therefore, 
most  vulnerable  to  criticism  by  a  better-informed  public 

466 


THE  MUGWUMP  RESOLUTIONS 

opinion  in  consequence  of  his  participation  in  this  mischievous 
drift  of  public  legislation."* 

As  early  as  December,  1883,  certain  Republicans  of  Bos 
ton  had  started  a  movement  "  in  behalf  of  the  adoption  of 
measures  and  the  nomination  of  men  fitted  to  command  the 
hearty  approval  and  support  of  the  independent,  thoughtful, 
and  discriminating  voters  of  the  United  States."  As  a  result 
a  conference  of  Independent  Republicans  was  called  in  New 
York  on  February  23 d,  which  "Resolved,  That  it  is  indispen 
sable  to  the  success  of  the  Republican  Party  that  the  character, 
record  and  associations  of  its  candidates  for  President  and 
Vice-President  of  the  United  States  should  be  such  as  to  war 
rant  entire  confidence  in  their  readiness  to  defend  the  advance 
already  made  toward  divorcing  the  public  service  from  party 
politics,  and  to  continue  these  advances  until  the  separation  has 
been  made  final  and  complete." 

General  Francis  C.  Barlow,  of  New  York,  was  made  chair 
man  of  a  committee  "  to  provide  for  the  interchange  and  prac 
tical  expression  of  opinion  in  harmony  with  the  foregoing 
resolution,  and  to  continue  such  action  in  relation  thereto  as 
they  may  deem  expedient."  On  May  I2th  the  committee 
sent  a  circular  to  the  Republican  National  Convention.  Being 
ignored  in  the  Convention,  a  conference  of  Independent  Re 
publicans,  held  in  New  York  on  June  1 6th,  and  presided  over 
by  George  William  Curtis,  adopted  the  following  resolutions  : 

"  Whereas^  We  are  met  in  conference  as  Republicans  and 
Independents  to  take  action  in  opposition  to  the  nominations 
of  James  G.  Blaine  for  President,  and  John  A.  Logan  for  Vice- 
President  of  the  United  States  ;  and 

"  Whereas^  These  candidates  were  named  in  absolute  dis 
regard  of  the  reform  sentiment  of  the  nation,  and  representing 
political  methods  and  principles  to  which  we  are  unalterably 
opposed  : 

"Resolved,,  That  it  is  our  conviction  that  the  country  will  be 

*Simon  Sterne. 
467 


THE  UNITED  STATES  IN  OUR  OWN  TIME 


JAMES   G.  ELAINE 


better  served  by  opposing 
these  nominations  than 
by  supporting  them." 

"  Resolved,  That  we 
look  with  solicitude  to  the 
coming  nominations  by 
the  Democratic  Party  ; 
they  have  the  proper  men; 
we  hope  they  will  put 
them  before  the  people  for 
election." 

This  overture  had  a 
profound  effect  upon  the 
Democratic  managers.  By 
pitting  against  Elaine  a 
man  hostile  to  machine 
politics  and  committed  to 

administrative  reform,  they  had  a  clear  chance  to  win.  Such 
a  man  was  Grover  Cleveland.  He  had  been  born  in  Caldwell, 
N.  J.,  March  18,  1837,  his  father  a  Presbyterian  clergyman. 
When  the  future  President  was  four  years  old  his  father 
removed  to  Fayetteville,  N.  Y.  Here  the  lad  found  em 
ployment  in  the  "  general  store  "  at  $50  a  year,  sweeping 
and  cleaning  out,  opening  and  closing  the  store,  and  waiting 
on  customers. 

A  former  boy  companion  of  Cleveland's,  an  old  farmer, 
told  of  having  once  soundly  thrashed  the  future  Presi 
dent.  He  said  "  it  was  one  of  those  old-fashioned  rough- 
and-tumble  fights,  in  which  each  fellow  pulls  hair,  scratches, 
kicks  and  cuffs  to  his  heart's  content.  I  was  a  much  more 
powerful  lad  than  Grover.  Soon  I  had  him  down.  I  kept 
yelling  out  to  him,  '  You  will  stick  pins  in  my  seat,  will  you  ! 
You  will,  will  you  !  '  And,  each  time,  I  hit  him  another  bat 
in  the  eye  or  neck.  Well,  Shell  Pratt  and  Jewett  Dunbar 
finally  pulled  me  off,  made  us  shake  hands,  and  declared  the 

468 


GROVER  CLEVELAND'S  EARLY  CAREER 

fight  over  with  victory  for  me."  The  vanquished  remembered 
this  history  and  long  subsequently  invited  the  victor  to  take 
dinner  with  him  at  the  chief  mansion  in  the  United  States. 

One  who  was  Cleveland's  boy  room-mate  at  Fayetteville 
said  :  "  We  lay  upon  a  tick  stuffed  with  straw,  which  had  the 
uncomfortable  peculiarity  of  accumulating  in  knobs  here  and 
there.  I  recall  how,  often,  in  the  night,  Grover  would  stir  un 
easily  in  his  hard  bed,  maybe  even  getting  up  and  with  his 
hand  reaching  down  in  the  tick  to  remove  the  troublesome 
lump  on  which  he  had  been  resting.  In  that  room,  without 
carpet,  without  wall-paper,  without  pictures,  drear  and  deso 
late,  we  two  lived  together  one  whole  year.  In  the  winter  we 
sometimes  fairly  froze.  There  was  no  stove  in  the  room,  heat 
coming  up  from  a  pipe  leading  from  the  store  below.  Rats 
ran  in  the  walls  and  often  peered  at  us  from  out  holes  in  the 
plaster." 

Young  Cleveland's  education,  so  far  as  it  went,  was  com 
pleted  at  Clinton,  N.  Y.  In  his  seventeenth  year  he  became 
a  clerk  and  an  assistant  teacher  in  the  New  York  Institution 
for  the  Blind.  In  1855  he  started  west  to  secure  more  lucra 
tive  employment,  but  was  induced  to  stop  at  Buffalo.  He  was 
soon  at  work  in  a  law  office  there,  as  clerk  and  copyist,  at  $4 
per  week.  Two  years  later  he  was  admitted  to  the  bar,  retain 
ing  for  some  time  his  clerkship,  first  at  $600  a  year,  then  at 
1 1, ooo.  In  1863  he  was  chosen  Assistant  District  Attorney 
of  Erie  County,  in  1870  Sheriff  of  the  county.  In  1881,  by 
a  union  of  Republicans,  Democrats,  Independents  and  "  Re 
formers,"  he  was  elected  Mayor  of  Buffalo.  His  conviction, 
to  which  he  in  good  degree  adhered,  was  that  a  city's  affairs 
should  be  administered  with  the  least  practicable  regard  for 
mere  politics,  "  as  a  good  business  man  manages  his  private 
concerns."  Pursuing  this  policy  he  soon  became  known  as  the 
"  Veto  Mayor,"  saving  the  city  much  money  by  his  fearless 
use  of  the  negative.  In  1882,  as  we  have  seen,  by  the  sup 
port  of  the  same  elements  which  elected  him  Mayor  and  by 

469 


THE  UNITED  STATES  IN  OUR  OWN  TIME 

the  chance  of  a  bitter  Republican  quarrel  in  his  State,  Mr. 
Cleveland  was  triumphant  in  his  canvass  for  the  governorship. 
As  Governor  he  practiced  a  strict  Jeffersonian  simplicity,  keep 
ing  no  carriage  and  living  within  his  official  salary.  To  each 
public  question  on  which  he  had  to  act  he  gave  personal  atten 
tion  and  study,  thus  performing  an  amount  of  work  which 
would  have  killed  a  weaker  man. 

Unlike  his  rival  for  the  Presidency,  Mr.  Cleveland  had 
held  no  office  requiring  him  to  take  ground  upon  any  momen 
tous  public  question  or  concern  before  the  people.  As  Gov 
ernor  of  New  York  he  had  proved  an  excellent  official,  and 
except  his  inexperience  in  federal  affairs  nothing  could  be  said 
of  him  to  indicate  that  he  would  not  do  well  as  Chief  Magis 
trate  of  the  United  States.  Mr.  Cleveland  represented  more 
thoroughly  than  did  his  adversary  the  growing  feeling  in  favor 
of  retiring  the  questions  which  arose  from  the  war,  and  of  so 
dealing  with  political  matters  as  to  conserve  the  interests  of 
the  whole  community  instead  of  the  interests  of  mere  classes. 

The  Democratic  Convention  met  in  Chicago  on  July  8th. 
The  call  had  "  cordially  invited  "  "  all  Democratic  Conserva 
tive  citizens  of  the  United  States,  irrespective  of  past  associa 
tions  and  differences,"  who  could  unite  "  in  the  effort  for  pure, 
economical  and  constitutional  government,"  to  join  in  send 
ing  delegates.  Democratic  public  opinion  had  fixed  upon 
Cleveland  as  the  party's  standard-bearer,  and  its  mandate  to 
nominate  him  was  strengthened  by  the  Republican  revolt 
against  Elaine.  Tammany  vehemently  opposed  Cleveland, 
Thomas  F.  Grady  making  before  the  Convention  a  long  tirade 
against  him,  which,  however,  quickened  the  cause  it  was  meant 
to  kill.  General  Bragg,  of  Wisconsin,  speaking  for  the  young 
men  of  his  State,  said :  "  They  love  Cleveland  and  respect 
him  not  only  for  himself,  for  his  character,  for  his  integrity 
and  judgment  and  iron  will,  but  they  love  him  most  for  the 
enemies  he  has  made."  Though  requiring  a  two-thirds  vote, 
Cleveland's  nomination  necessitated  but  a  second  ballot,  this 

470 


ATTITUDE  OF  THE  OLD  DEMOCRACY 


GROWER   CLEVELAND 
Copyight  by  C.  M.  Bell 


giving  him  683  votes  in  a 
total  of  820.  His  closest 
competitor,  Thomas  A. 
Hendricks,  received  the 
nomination  for  Vice-Pres- 
ident. 

The  old,  staid  Dem 
ocracy  did  not  hail  Cleve 
land's  nomination  with 
enthusiasm.  There  was 
a  feeling  among  them 
that  he  was  more  a  Mug 
wump  than  a  Democrat, 
and  that  his  nomination 
had  been  secured  by  ef 
forts  of  Democrats  little 
in  touch  with  the  masses. 
Hendricks  was  named  not 

because  he  was  the  choice  of  the  men  who  manipulated  the 
Convention,  but  for  the  reason  that,  having  put  in  the  first 
place  the  man  they  wanted,  they  wished  the  aid  of  Hendricks 
and  such  as  he  in  carrying  the  election.  Four  years  later  Allen 
G.  Thurman  was  nominated  for  the  same  reason. 

On  July  22d,  the  Independents,  or  "  Mugwumps,"  as 
they  -  now  began  to  be  called,  issued  an  address  recom 
mending  Republican  and  Independent  voters  to  support 
Cleveland.  The  response  was  wide  and  enthusiastic.  The 
Independents  took  an  active  part  in  the  canvass,  distributing 
innumerable  documents  and  furnishing  many  of  the  best  speak 
ers.  In  this  service  Carl  Schurz  was  foremost.  George  Wil 
liam  Curtis,  too,  who  had  not  followed  Greeley  in  1872,  threw 
the  weight  of  his  influence  for  the  Democratic  nominee.  It 
is  to  be  noted,  however,  that  by  no  means  all  Republicans  of 
independent  tendencies  took  this  course.  A  great  number,  men 
of  eminence  and  spotless  integrity,  deemed  Elaine  the  object 

471 


THE  UNITED  STATES  IN  OUR  OWN  TIME 

of  unjust  attacks,  and  warmly  espoused  his  cause.  Such  were 
Senator  Hoar,  William  Walter  Phelps  and  the  poet  Whit- 
tier.*  Many  other  Reform  Republicans  regarded  the  De 
mocracy  with  such  distrust  that  they  supported  Elaine  when 
nominated,  though  opposing  his  nomination.  Theodore 
Roosevelt  and  Henry  Cabot  Lodge  represented  this  class. 
Senator  Edmunds,  while  doing  naught  to  hinder  Elaine's  elec 
tion,  could  not  be  led  to  speak  or  write  a  word  in  his  behalf. 
Even  the  anti-Elaine  Republicans  took  pains  to  advertise  that 
they  supported  Cleveland  not  as  a  Democrat,  but  as  "  a  plat 
form  in  himself"  and  "  better  than  his  party."  They  wished 
not  so  much  to  put  the  Democratic  party  in  power  as  to  put 
Cleveland  personally  in  power.  They  supported  Cleveland 
not  because  he  was  a  Democrat,  but  because  he  was  Cleveland, 
rejecting  Elaine  not  as  a  Republican,  but  simply  as  Elaine. 

Mr.  Elaine's  nomination  made  the  campaign  personal. 
To  balance  the  hard  things  said  of  him,  the  early  pages  of 
Cleveland's  life  were  searched  for  blots.  A  few  were  perhaps 
found,  yet  the  general  fruitlessness  of  the  quest  was  impres 
sively  in  the  candidate's  favor.  With  aught  of  corruption  in 
public  life  no  one  thought  of  charging  him,  his  record  in  this 
particular  being  absolutely  stainless.  Elaine  was  less  happy 
here.  If  he  was  far  from  being  the  unprincipled  trickster  so 
often  pictured,  he  had  been  less  scrupulous  in  office  than  his 
best  admirers  could  have  wished. 

Mr.  Elaine  took  an  intensely  practical  view  of  politics. 
With  the  "  sublimated  theories  of  so-called  reformers  "  he 
never  sympathized.  Of  these  "unco  guid,"  as  he  called  them, 
he  wrote  Garfield,  in  1880:  "They  are  to  be  treated  with 
respect,  but  they  are  the  worst  possible  political  advisers — up 
starts,  conceited,  foolish,  vain,  without  knowledge  of  measures, 
ignorant  of  men,  shouting  a  shibboleth  which  represents 

*On  November  28,  1884,  Whittier  wrote:  "I  am  awfully  vexed  by  the  result  of  the 
election.  Our  candidate  made  such  a  splendid  canvass  and  would  have  been  triumphantly  chosen 
over  Democrats  and  Independents,  but  for  the  miserable  John-Johns. " 

472 


ELAINE'S  MAGNETISM 

nothing  of  practical  reform  that  you  are  not  a  thousand  times 
pledged  to  !  They  are  noisy,  but  not  numerous  ;  pharisaical, 
but  not  practical  ;  ambitious,  but  not  wise  ;  pretentious,  but 
not  powerful !  "  Over  Elaine  men  went  insane  in  pairs,  for 
his  "  magnetism  "  either  strongly  attracted  or  strongly  repelled 
whatever  came  within  his  field.  Hatred  of  him  was  rancor 
ous,  and  it  usually  told,  since  his  long  public  career,  like  an 
extended  sea-coast,  was  at  a  disadvantage  on  the  defensive. 
Love  for  the  man  was  equally  uncompromising,  most  so  at 
the  West,  while  the  defection  from  him  was  most  pronounced 
in  the  East.  People  not  the  reverse  of  sensible  likened  him 
to  Clay,  some  of  them  to  Washington.  In  West  Virginia  a 
man  risked  his  life  by  holding  to  the  rear  platform  of  Elaine's 
private  car  as  it  left  the  station,  begging  for  some  memento  of 
the  hero  to  hang  in  his  house  and  show  his  children.  Mr. 
Elaine  himself  thus  described  another  illustrative  incident : 

"  I  had  the  felicity  of  N 's  company,  who  dwelt  at  length 

on  the  greatness  and  grandeur  of  my  character.  He  intimated 
that  compared  with  me  Abraham,  Isaac  and  Jacob  were  c  small 
potatoes  ' — all  of  which  in  a  car  and  in  a  loud  voice,  with  many 
people  listening,  may  be  called  pleasant  entertainment." 

Well  had  it  been  for  James  G.  Elaine  had  he  always 
remembered  the  sage  words  of  Salmon  P.  Chase,  uttered 
when  he  was  Secretary  of  the  Treasury,  as  a  reason  for  refus 
ing  to  accept  $4,200,  which  represented  an  increase  in  value 
on  stocks  that  he  had  ordered  but  not  paid  for  :  "  To  be 
able  to  render  the  most  efficient  service  to  our  country  it  is 
essential  for  me  to  be  right  as  well  as  to  seem  right,  and  to 
seem  right  as  well  as  to  be  right."  It  was  recited  that  in  1869, 
when  a  bill  to  renew  a  land  grant  for  the  Little  Rock  & 
Fort  Smith  Railroad  was  to  be  saddled  with  a  fatal  amend 
ment,  Speaker  Elaine,  at  the  request  of  Arkansas  members, 
had  Logan  make,  while  he  sustained,  a  point  of  order  remov 
ing  the  incubus  ;  that  he  subsequently  called  the  promoters' 
attention  to  his  agency  in-  the  matter,  endeavoring  to  be  let 

473 


THE  UNITED  STATES  IN  OUR  OWN  TIME 

into  the  enterprise  "  on  the  ground  floor,"  in  which  he  failed, 
though  appointed  selling  agent  of  the  bonds  with  a  large 
commission.  Elaine's  friends  replied  that  the  ruling  was 
proper,  being  made  to  frustrate  a  vicious  lobby  job  and  save 
a  desirable  piece  of  legislation  which  had  passed  the  Senate 
unanimously.  Judge  Black,  a  Democrat,  deemed  the  refuta 
tion  of  the  charge  wholly  satisfactory.  Unfortunately,  Mr. 
Elaine's  assertion  that  the  Little  Rock  road  derived  all  its 
benefits  from  Arkansas  and  not  from  Congress  was  inaccurate, 
since  the  bill  so  narrowly  saved  was  one  renewing  the  land 
grant  to  the  State  for  the  railroad.  Elaine's  assailants  consid 
ered  this  statement  clearly  a  falsehood.  Hard  to  justify  was 
Mr.  Elaine's  denial  of  "  any  transaction  of  any  kind  with 
Thomas  A.  Scott"  concerning  Little  Rock  bonds  or  railway 
business.  That,  through  Scott  and  Caldwell,  he  did  put  off 
upon  the  Union  Pacific  some  Little  Rock  bonds  at  a  high 
price  seems  certain  from  a  letter  which  he  received  from 
Fisher,  with  his  reply. 

Elaine  unquestionably  offered  to  get  Caldwell  an  allot 
ment  in  a  new  distribution  of  national  bank  circulation,  writ 
ing  :  "  It  will  be  to  some  extent  a  matter  of  favoritism  who 
gets  the  banks  in  the  several  localities,  and  it  will  be  in  my 
power  to  cast c  an  anchor  to  the  windward  '  in  your  behalf  if  you 
desire  it."  Indelicate,  if  you  please,  one  does  not  see  how 
this  offer  necessarily  involved  corruption.  It  would  seem 
that  Elaine  permitted  himself  to  be  paid  twice  over  for  a  loan 
of  $25,000,  once  by  sale  of  the  collateral,  realizing  $30,000, 
and  once,  by  judgment  of  the  court,  from  the  reorganized 
Little  Rock  Company.  The  utmost  was  made  of  a  letter  and 
a  telegram  from  Elaine  to  Fisher,  both  dated  April  16,  1876, 
coaching  Fisher  as  to  the  form  of  vindication  for  himself.  "  I 
want  you  to  send  me  such  a  letter  as  the  enclosed  draft,"  he 
wrote,  and,  at  the  bottom,  "  Burn  this  letter."  At  the  time 
of  the  famous  Caldwell  cablegram,  too,  it  was  discovered 
that  an  anonymous  despatch  had  been  sent  Caldwell  similar 

474 


"RUM,  ROMANISM  AND  REBELLION" 

in  tenor  to  the  one  returned.  Suspicion  was  thus  aroused 
that  all  vindicatory  statements  used  on  behalf  of  Elaine  had 
been  prepared  by  him. 

A  Tammany  orator  said  that  no  Irishman  or  Catho 
lic  would  vote  for  Cleveland.  Mr.  Elaine  was  hostile  to  the 
political  solidarity  of  any  race  or  religion,  and  in  this  respect 
his  influence — attracting  Romanists  to  his  party  and  repelling 
anti-Catholic  zealots — was  wholly  good.  His  religion,  he 
said,  was  Christianity  tinctured  with  the  Presbyterianism  of 
the  Blaines  and  the  Catholicism  of  the  Gillespies.  "  I  would 
not  for  a  thousand  presidencies,"  he  declared,  "  speak  a  disre 
spectful  word  of  my  mother's  religion."  Had  he  lived  and 
continued  dominant  in  Republican  councils  neither  "  A.  P. 
A.-ism"  nor  any  Romish  counterpart  thereof  could  have  arisen. 

Whether  or  not  any  influence  for  Elaine  emanated  from 
the  Catholic  clergy,  many  Irishmen  and  Catholics  sedulously 
wrought  to  elect  him.  This  drove  some  Protestant  voters  to 
Cleveland.  Nevertheless  the  vast  majority  of  the  Protestant 
clergy  throughout  the  North  strongly  favored  Elaine.  As 
the  campaign  drew  to  its  close  a  goodly  party  of  them  waited 
on  their  candidate  at  the  Fifth  Avenue  Hotel  to  assure  him  of 
their  unwavering  devotion.  One  Dr.  Burchard  made  the 
address-in-chief.  Apparently  holding  the  Democracy  respon 
sible  for  all  the  evils  of  intemperance,  religious  bigotry  and 
the  war,  he  ascribed  to  it  the  three  damning  "  R's,"  <c  Rum, 
Romanism  and  Rebellion."  A  story  not  wholly  dissimilar 
was  told  of  Elaine's  father,  to  the  effect  that  when  running  for 
protonotary  he  seemed  likely  to  suffer  from  a  charge  that  he 
was  a  Catholic  because  his  wife  was.  Mr.  Elaine  went  to  the 
family  priest  for  a  certificate  of  non-membership,  which  was 
duly  furnished,  as  follows  :  "  This  is  to  certify  that  Ephraim 
L.  Elaine  is  not  now  and  never  was  a  member  of  the  Catholic 
Church.  Furthermore,  in  my  opinion,  he  is  not  fit  to  be  a 
member  of  any  church."  The  certificate  was  effectual,  and 
Mr.  Elaine  triumphantly  elected.  Not  so  happy  the  denouement 

477 


THOMAS  A.  HENDRICKS 


THE  UNITED  STATES  IN  OUR  OWN  TIME 

in  our  Elaine's  case.  Burchard's  ridic 
ulous  alliteration  "  stuck "  in  an  ugly 
way  in  people's  minds,  and,  much  as 
was  done  to  show  its  insignificance,  no 
doubt  lost  Elaine  many  votes.  Some 
thought  these  enough,  if  saved,  to  have 
made  him  President. 

The  Tammany  men,  after  all,  mostly 
voted  for  Cleveland.  Many  Demo 
crats  foresaw  that  without  Tammany's 
support  New  York  would  be  lost,  and 
thereby  the  election.  Governor  Hendricks,  candidate  for  the 
Vice-Presidency,  strongly  felt  this,  and  though  a  thousand 
miles  away,  decided  to  visit  the  Empire  State  as  a  peace 
maker.  He  sought  John  Kelly,  then  the  absolute  chief  of 
Tammany  Hall,  rinding  him  greatly  alienated  from  the  party. 
Kelly  insisted  that  Grover  Cleveland  was  not  a  Democrat, 
that  he  had  no  claim  upon  true  Democrats  for  their  sup 
port,  and  that  if  he  should  be  elected  he  would  betray  his 
party.  Their  conference  lasted  far  into  the  night.  Mr. 
Hendricks  employed  all  his  eloquence  and  art  to  persuade 
Mr.  Kelly  to  favor  the  ticket.  Finally  the  chief  said: 
"  Governor  Hendricks,  for  your  sake  we  will  do  it.  You 
may  go  home  with  my  assurance  that  Tammany  Hall  will 
do  its  duty." 

The  early  returns  gave  Cleveland  the  solid  South,  besides 
Connecticut,  New  Jersey  and  Indiana.  The  rest  of  the 
North  was  Republican,  save  New  York,  which  was  in  pain 
ful  doubt  and  remained  so  for  days.  The  Empire  State 
was  the  umpire  State.  The  excitement  pending  conclusive 
returns  exceeded  even  that  of  1876.  Good-humored  bluff* 
and  chaffing  gave  way  to  dangerous  irritation  as  the  sus 
pense  dragged  on.  Thursday,  November  6th,  saw  an  out 
break  in  Indianapolis,  when  the  loyal  hosts  of  Democracy 
sought  to  carry  their  banner  into  the  post-office.  This 

478 


EXCITEMENT  OVER  THE  RETURNS 

premature  effort  to  capture  that  citadel  failed,  and  the  ban 
ner  was  torn  to  bits,  which  Republican  defenders  wore  as 
badges.  In  Kansas,  St.  John,  the  Prohibitionist  candidate 
for  President,  was  burned  in  effigy.  The  "  Rebel  Brigadiers  " 
were  the  most  hilarious,  making  the  Southern  sky  lurid  with 
fireworks,  and  the  air  vocal  with  salutes,  none  under  a  hun 
dred  guns.  Montgomery  on  November  6th  doubled  the 
number  of  guns  in  each  salute,  and  on  the  yth  four  hundred 
were  required  to  voice  her  joy.  In  Boston  the  streets  near 
newspaper  offices  were  packed  solid.  Every  new  bulletin 
evoked  cheers  and  hoots.  A  picture,  now  of  Blaine,  now  of 
Cleveland,  would  be  raised  in  air  only  to  be  at  once  seized 
and  shredded.  A  crowd  threw  stones  and  rotten  eggs  at  the 
Journal  Building,  breaking  a  large  plate-glass  window.  In 
New  York  conflicting  statements  given  out  by  the  great  dai 
lies  inflamed  the  populace.  The  'Tribune  and  the  Mail  and 
Express  early  ceased  to  issue  bulletins,  but  the  Herald  and 
the  World  kept  on,  showing  majorities  for  Cleveland.  The 
Sun  office,  where  Associated  Press  despatches  favorable  to 
Blaine  alternated  with  the  Sun  s  own  despatches  giving  the 
State  to  Cleveland,  drew  the  vastest  throngs.  Six  hundred  men 
marched  down  Broadway  shouting  "  No,  no,  Blaine  won't 
go  !  "  It  being  suspected  that  Jay  Gould  and  the  Associated 
Press  were  withholding  or  perverting  returns,  a  crowd  demon 
strated  in  front  of  the  Western  Union  Building  with  the  yell, 
"  Hang  Jay  Gould  !  "  but  policemen  soon  dispersed  them. 
Some  two  hundred  men  before  the  Tribune  office  burned  copies 
of  that  paper.  So  threatening  did  the  excitement  become  in 
Chicago  that  on  November  yth  Mayor  Harrison  requested  the 
papers  to  cease  issuing  bulletins.  In  Boston  bulletins  were 
discontinued.  In  Philadelphia  political  clubs  were  directed 
not  to  parade,  persons  blowing  horns  or  masquerading  on  the 
streets  being  liable  to  arrest. 

The  Democratic   managers   professed   apprehension   lest 
the  "  fraud  of  '76  "  should  be  repeated  in  a  new   guise,  and 

479 


THE  UNITED  STATES  IN  OUR  OWN  TIME 

were  determined  to  prevent  this.  The  Electoral  Commission, 
however,  now  proved  to  be,  to  the  Democracy,  a  blessing  in 
disguise.  Its  rule,  "  not  to  go  behind  the  returns,"  had  been 
made  the  New  York  law  for  procedure  like  that  in  hand,  and 
as,  upon  a  count  under  the  most  rigid  scrutiny,  the  New  York 
returns  footed  up  a  Cleveland  plurality  of  a  trifle  over  a  thou 
sand  votes,  post-election  manipulation  was  impossible.  In 
cluding  those  of  New  York,  Cleveland  received  219  electoral 
votes  to  Elaine's  182.  The  popular  vote  reached  beyond 
10,000,000,  of  which  4,911,000  were  for  Cleveland,  giving 
him  a  plurality  over  Elaine  of  62,000. 


48o 


CHAPTER    XVII 
A    DEMOCRAT    AT    THE    HELM 

FOREBODINGS     AFTER     CLEVELAND'S     ELECTION. THE     DEMOCRACY 

JUBILANT. GENERAL    EXCELLENCE    OF    THE    ADMINISTRATION. — 

THE  PRESIDENT'S  MANNERS. — HIS  MARRIAGE. — A  WHITE  HOUSE 
WEDDING. — GOOD  LAWS  PASSED  BY  THE  FORTY-NINTH  CONGRESS. — 

THE  INTER-STATE  COMMERCE  ACT. PROVISIONS  AND  DEFECTS. — 

THE  NEW  NAVY. A  NAVAL  ADVISORY  BOARD. ITS  RECOMMENDA 
TIONS. NAVAL  PROGRESS  UNDER  CLEVELAND. THE  ATLANTA  COM 
PARED  WITH  THE  CONSTITUTION. FRIGATES  AND  BATTLE-SHIPS. — 

OUR  WAR  VESSELS  AT  THE  KIEL  FETE. UTTERANCES  OF  LA  PATRIE. 

— THE    COLUMBIA'S    SWIFT    RACE    HOME. — HER   WELCOME. — THE 

CHARLESTON  EARTHQUAKE. HELLGATE  REEFS  BLOWN  UP. JACOB 

SHARP'S  OPERATIONS  IN  NEW  YORK  CITY. — THE  DUSKIN  SUSPENSION 

CASE. REPEAL  OF  THE  TENURE  OF  OFFICE  ACT. CLEVELAND  AND 

THE  CIVIL  SERVICE. SUCCESS  AND  FAILURE  AS  A  REFORMER. UN 
POPULARITY. THE  PAN-ELECTRIC  SCANDAL. PENSION  VETOES. — 

BAD  PENSION  LEGISLATION. VETO  OF  THE  DEPENDENT  PENSION  BILL. 

THE  REBEL  FLAG  ORDER. ATTITUDE  OF  THE  GRAND  ARMY  OF  THE 

REPUBLIC. HOW  THE  REPUBLICANS  BECAME  A  HIGH-TARIFF  PARTY. 

THE  TARIFF  QUESTION  IN  1884. BROUGHT  UP  BY  THE  PLE 
THORIC  STATE  OF  THE  TREASURY. MESSAGE  OF  DECEMBER,  1885. — 

OF   1887. "A  CONDITION,    NOT   A   THEORY." THE   MILLS   BILL 

PASSES  THE  HOUSE  BUT  DIES    IN    THE   SENATE. THE    FISHERIES 

DISPUTE. OF     LONG     STANDING. STRAINED     RELATIONS    WITH 

CANADA  IN    1886. RETALIATION    PROPOSED. JOINT   COMMISSION 

OF   1887. FAILURE  OF  PROPOSED   TREATY. MODUS  VIVENDI. — 

SUBSIDENCE   OF   THE    TROUBLE. THE    NORTHWESTERN   FISHERIES 

IMBROGLIO. TREATY  OF    1892.  —  ARBITRATION. POINTS  DET'ER- 

MINED. — PROVISION  FOR  A  JOINT  POLICE  OF  BEHRING  SEA. 

THE  election  of  Grover  Cleveland,  the  first  Democrat 
to  press  the  presidential  chair  after  Buchanan  left  it 
in  1 86 1,  brought  grief  to  millions  of  honest  hearts.  On 
assurance  that  Cleveland  had  really  won,  an  old  lady  ex 
claimed  :  "  Well,  the  poor  won't  have  any  work  this  winter, 
that's  certain  !  "  A  college  president  discoursed  lugubriously 
to  his  students  upon  the  Democratic  victory,  as  portending 
he  knew  not  what  of  ill.  Many  good  souls  thought  the 

481 


THE  UNITED  STATES  IN  OUR  OWN  TIME 

Government  in  effect  at  an  end.  Those  of  less  pessimistic 
temper  prophesied  simply  a  financial  panic.  "  The  South  is 
again  in  the  saddle,"  still  others  said;  "  slavery  will  be  restored." 
Most  Republicans  supposed  that  the  new  President  would,  at 
the  very  least,  fill  every  office  with  a  Democrat.  The  De 
mocracy,  with  exceptions,  was  correspondingly  jubilant.  Over 
a  hundred  thousand  people  visited  the  capital  to  view  the 
Inauguration  Day  ceremonies,  and  a  quarter  as  many  actually 
marched  in  the  procession.  Of  this  both  colored  troops  and 
ex-Confederates  formed  part.  The  inaugural  address  was 
received  with  great  enthusiasm,  even  Republican  Senators  and 
Representatives  publicly  expressing  approval  of  its  tone. 
The  Cabinet  was  on  every  hand  pronounced  an  able  one,  and 
nearly  all  the  great  diplomatic  offices  abroad  were  filled  with 
first-rate  men. 

Those  who  predicted  that  the  President  would  be  ineffi 
cient  proved  false  prophets.  The  Treasury  he  administered 
with  economy.  The  development  of  our  Navy  was  con 
tinued,  systematized  and  accelerated.  No  clean  sweep  of 
office-holders  occurred,  and  where  a  colored  man  was  dis 
placed  a  colored  man  succeeded  him,  provided  a  good  one 
could  be  found.  Extensive  land  grants,  shown  to  be  fraudu 
lent,  were  declared  forfeited.  Cattle  kings  were  forced  to 
remove  their  herds  from  Indian  reservations.  Federal  troops 
kept  "  boomers  "  from  public  lands.  A  conspiracy  by  mem 
bers  of  the  railway  postal  service  to  strike  was  nipped  in  the 
bud  and  the  conspirators  discharged.  When,  on  March  31, 
1885,  the  Prestan  rebels  in  Panama  seized  an  American  ship, 
marines  were  promptly  landed  on  both  sides  of  the  isthmus 
to  maintain  the  rights  and  dignity  of  this  Republic.  Such 
vigor  in  administration  soon  convinced  all  that  the  ship  of 
state  was  safe  with  a  Democrat  at  the  helm.  In  the  self-com 
mand,  independence  and  executive  ability  which  he  displayed, 
the  President  exceeded  the  expectations  of  his  friends,  and 
disappointed  his  enemies.  He  performed  his  exacting  duties 

482 


THE  INAUGURATION  OF  PRESIDENT  CLEVELAND 

The  President  delivering  his  Inaugural  Address  from  the  grand  central  portico  of  the  Capitol,  March  4,  1885 
Painted  by  Childe  Hassam  from  photographs 


A  WEDDING  IN  THE  WHITE  HOUSE 

with  dignity  and  intelligence,  was  straightforward  in  his  ac 
tions,  and  did  not  seek  popularity  by  drifting  with  the  current. 
Whatever  else  might  be  said  against  him,  none  could  call 
him  a  demagogue.  If  in  the  exercise  of  his  appointing  and 
removing  power  he  made  some  mistakes,  the  wonder  was,  all 
things  considered,  that  he  made  so  few.  Thcmgh  a  Democrat, 
he  was  yet  President  of  all  the  people.  In  manners  he  con 
tinued  at  Washington  to  be  what  he  had  been  at  Buffalo  and 
at  Albany — simple  without  any  affectation  of  simplicity.  Like 
Elaine,  he  wrote  with  his  own  hand  his  official  papers.  Even 
his  wedding  invitations  were  autographs. 

A  few  weeks  after  his  inauguration  as  President,  was 
announced  Mr.  Cleveland's  engagement  to  Miss  Frances  Fol- 
som,  the  daughter  of  his  friend  and  partner,  Oscar  Folsom, 
who  had  died  in  1875.  They  were  married  on  June  2,  1886, 
at  the  Executive  Mansion.  The  old  edifice  had  already  been 
the  scene  of  eight  nuptial  ceremonies,  but  all  these  had  been 
very  private.  Now,  however,  the  occasion  could  not  but  have 
public  significance,  since  for  the  first  time  the  President  of  the 
United  States  was  a  principal  party.  Ferns,  azaleas  and  hy 
drangeas  in  the  windows,  choice  cut  flowers  banked  on  the 
four  mantels,  smilax  pendent  from  the  chandeliers,  foliage 
plants  in  the  fireplace  and  a  cluster  of  tall  palms  near  the  east 
wall  decorated  the  East  Room,  whose  four  garlanded  columns 
bore  each  a  floral  shield  in  the  national  colors.  The  Blue 
Room,  where  the  marriage  ceremony  took  place,  was  trans 
figured  to  a  bower :  on  the  south  side  a  tropical  grove,  groups 
of  flowering  plants  at  the  main  entrance  and  near  the  centre, 
and  the  fireplace  glowing  with  a  floral  counterfeit  of  flames. 
Upon  the  east  mantel  the  happy  day  was  calendared  in  pansies. 
The  opposite  mantel  bore  a  rose  bank,  shading  off  from  light  at 
the  edges  to  a  dark  centre,  in  which  was  imbedded  the  mono 
gram  "  C.  F."  in  moss  and  white  roses.  A  little  before  seven 
a  small  company  were  received  in  this  apartment  by  the  Presi 
dents  sisters,  Mrs.  Hoyt  and  Miss  Cleveland.  The  Cabinet, 

485 


THE  UNITED  STATES  IN  OUR  OWN  TIME 

save  Attorney-General  Garland,  were  of  the  number,  the  rest, 
aside  from  the  officiating  clergyman  and  his  wife,  being  inti 
mate  friends  either  of  the  bride  or  of  the  bridegroom.  Miss 
Folsom  entered  the  room  on  the  President's  arm,  the  company 
falling  back  in  a  semicircle,  while  the  Marine  Band,  in  re 
splendent  uniforms,  rendered  Mendelssohn's  Wedding  March. 
The  music  was  followed  by  a  sovereign  salute  of  twenty-one 
guns  and  the  ringing  of  church  bells  in  the  city.  Meanwhile 
the  marriage  ceremony  was  concluded,  and  Mr.  and  Mrs. 
Cleveland  left  Washington  for  the  summer  cottage  they  had 
taken. 

Antagonistic  as  Cleveland  and  the  Republicans  were,  some 
good  laws  passed  the  Forty-ninth  Congress,  among  them  the 
Inter-State  Commerce  Act,  placing  the  great  railroads  of  the 
country  under  the  general  government's  supervision.  This 
was  meant  to  remedy  the  unfair  discrimination  in  railway  facil 
ities  and  charges  theretofore  prevalent  between  different  per 
sons  and  different  places.  The  "  dead-head "  system  had 
grown  alarmingly.  Favored  shippers  obtained  rates  enabling 
them  to  crush  their  rivals  by  this  advantage  alone  ;  and  long- 
haul  tariffs  were  far  too  low  in  comparison  with  those  for  short 
hauls.  Shippers  of  freight  from  Rochester  to  San  Francisco 
had  found  it  profitable  to  pay  transportation  charges  first  to 
New, York  City,  their  goods  then  going  straight  back  through 
Rochester  again.  The  act  of  February  4,  1887,  forbade  spe 
cial  rates  to  special  shippers.  It  provided  that  all  charges  for 
the  transportation  of  passengers  or  property  from  State  to  State 
or  from  this  to  a  foreign  country  should  be  "  reasonable  and 
just/'  Special  rates,  rebates,  drawbacks  and  unjust  discrimina 
tions,  also  all  undue  and  unreasonable  preferences,  were  pro 
hibited.  Freight  tariffs  were  ordered  to  be  conspicuously  and 
carefully  published,  and  could  not  be  advanced  without  ten 
days'  public  notice.  The  act  raised  an  able  Commission  of 
five  members  to  administer  and  enforce  its  provisions.  Any 
person  or  corporation  could  complain  to  this  Commission 

486 


INTER-STATE  RAILWAY  LAW 

against  any  inter-State  railway,  whereupon  the  Commission 
must  investigate  the  charges.  The  Commission  was  given 
large  power  over  the  railways  by  direct  prescription,  command, 
or  decree;  and  besides, in  case  a  railway  disobeyed  it,  had  a  right 
to  proceed  against  such  railway  by  injunction  or  attachment  in 
a  United  States  Court.  It  required  of  the  railways  annual  re 
ports,  uniform  in  book-keeping,  each  setting  forth  in  detail  the 
financial  condition  of  the  company.  The  act  inhibited  charg 
ing  or  receiving  for  the  carriage  of  passengers  or  a  given  class 
of  freight — conditions  being  the  same — any  greater  compensa 
tion  for  a  shorter  than  for  a  longer  haul  over  the  same  line  in 
the  same  direction.  The  Commission  might,  however,  in  its 
discretion,  suspend  the  operation  of  the  short-haul  clause  in 
any  case  where  its  enforcement  bade  fair  to  work  hardship,  as 
by  favoring  Canadian  against  United  States  railways,  or  by 
throwing  the  entire  traffic  into  the  hands  of  carriers  by  water, 
thus  forcing  the  railway  deprived  of  long-haul  profits  into 
insolvency.  The  immense  expense  per  mile  attending  local 
railway  traffic  on  the  transcontinental  lines  could  not  be 
matched  in  long-haul  charges  without  depriving  them  entirely 
of  their  through  freight  business.  Most  of  the  provisions 
named  worked  well.  Questionable,  perhaps,  was  the  interdic 
tion  of  "  pooling,"  which  was  almost  universally  evaded. 

Another  point  of  public  policy  about  which  the  President 
and  Congress  substantially  agreed  was  the  building  up  of  the 
navy.  In  1881  the  grand  old  frigate  Constitution^her  ensign 
at  last  hauled  down,  was  put  out  of  commission,  dismantled, 
and  placed  beside  the  ficondeKOga^  slowly  to  tall  in  pieces. 
This  step  had  been  contemplated  a  generation  before,  but  the 
poet  Holmes  then  procured  for  the  venerable  warrior  a  stay 
of  execution  by  the  plea  beginning,  "  Aye,  tear  her  tattered 
ensign  down  !  "  These  rotting  hulks  typified  our  neglected 
and  degenerate  navy,  with  its  thirty-seven  cruisers,  all  but  four 
of  wood,  its  fourteen  single-turreted  monitors,  built  during  the 
war,  its  guns  all  or  nearly  all  muzzle-loading,  and  many  of 

487 


WILLIAM  E.  CHANDLER 


THE  UNITED  STATES  IN  OUR  OWN  TIME 

them  smooth-bores.  Hon.  William  E. 
Chandler,  Secretary  of  the  Navy  under 
President  Arthur,  deserves  the  honor  of 
being  the  first  pungently  to  urge  the 
building  of  a  new  navy  worthy  the  Amer 
ican  nation.  Mr.  Arthur  cordially  en 
dorsed  the  recommendation.  Among 
the  most  meritorious  deeds  of  Garfield's 
Administration  was  an  order  signed  by 
Secretary  Hunt,  in  1881,  appointing  a 
Naval  Advisory  Board  of  able  and  ex 
perienced  officers.  In  its  later  report  it  recommended  a  pro 
gramme  for  the  next  eight  years,  which,  while  involving  the 
vast  outlay  of  $30,000,000,  would  place  in  commission  the 
twenty-one  iron-clads  "  absolutely  needed,"  seventy  unarmored 
cruisers,  five  rams,  five  torpedo  gun-boats  and  twenty  torpedo- 
boats.  To  make  a  beginning  Congress  authorized  the  con 
struction  of  three  unarmored  cruisers,  the  Atlanta,  the  Boston 
and  the  Chicago,  and  of  the  despatch-boat  Dolphin. 

The  policy  thus  entered  upon  was  to  be  permanent.  The 
Cleveland  years  marked  important  forward  steps  in  it,  and 
thereafter  progress  was  continuous,  rapid  and  splendid.  To 
December  4,  1894,  forty-seven  vessels  were  either  in  com 
mission  or  building,  their  cost  varying  from  $3, 000,000  each 
for  the  battle-ships  Oregon,  Massachusetts,  Indiana  and  Iowa, 
to  $25,000  for  the  smallest  torpedo-boat.  The  sea-going  and 
fighting  qualities  of  the  new  ships,  and  the  comforts  and  even 
luxuries  which  they  provided  for  their  officers  and  crews,  evoked 
admiration  both  at  home  and  abroad.  Their  plate  was  an  alloy 
of  nickel  and  steel,  superior  to  any  yet  produced  in  Europe. 
The  old  Constitution  could,  with  her  best  guns,  at  1,000  yards, 
pierce  twenty-two  inches  of  oak,  about  the  thickness  of  her 
own  hull  at  water-line.  The  ^-inch  steel  covering  at  the 
Atlanta  s  water-line  had  nearly  the  same  resisting  power  as  the 
Constitution  s  twenty-two  inches  of  oak.  The  Atlanta  s  6-inch 

488 


SHIPS  OF  THE  NEW  NAVY 

guns  would,  at  1,000  yards,  bore  through  a  surface  having 
twenty  times  the  resisting  power  of  her  own  or  the  Constitution  s 
hull  at  water-line.  At  the  same  range  her  8-inch  guns  could 
pierce  fourteen  inches  of  iron.  Both  were,  technically,  "  frig 
ates,"  a  sort  of  naval  cavalry,  to  accompany  and  assist  battle 
ships  as  scouts,  or  to  convoy  friendly  commerce  and  destroy 
that  of  the  enemy.  This  predatory  role  was  indeed  a  cowardly 
one,  like  privateering,  or  like  land  warfare  upon  civilians  and 
their  property  ;  but  so  long  as  naval  tactics  admitted  such  bar 
barism  ships  able  to  perpetrate  it  could  not  but  be  prized. 
The  Atlanta  could  riddle  her  like  when  hull  down  on  the  hor 
izon,  while  battle-ships,  like  the  immense  Iowa,  which  dis 
placed  11,300  tons,  to  make  any  serious  impression  on  one 
another  must  approach  to  within  at  least  4,000  yards. 

At  the  international  naval  fete  in  1895,  when  the  Kiel 
Canal  was  opened,  our  New  York  and  Columbia  were  objects 
of  utmost  curiosity.  The  Columbia  was  a  protected  cruiser 
412  feet  long  at  the  load  water-line,  22  feet  6  inches  in  mean 
draft,  58  feet  2  inches  in  breadth,  with  7,375  tons  displace 
ment.  Her  armament  consisted  of  one  8-inch  breech-loading 
rifle,  two  6-inch  and  eight  4-inch  rapid-fire  guns,  twelve 
6-pounder  and  four  i -pounder  rapid-fire  guns,  and  four  Gat- 
lings.  Built  for  a  commerce  destroyer,  though  closely  resem- 


The  United  States  Steamship  Columbia  on  her  Government  Speed  Trial 
From  a  photograph  b\  Ran 

489 


THE  UNITED  STATES  IN  OUR  OWN  TIME 

bling  a  merchantman,  she  could,  like  a  wolf  in  sheep's  clothing, 
draw  fatally  near  her  victim  without  exposing  her  true  charac 
ter.  After  the  naval  fete  referred  to,  La  Patrie^  of  Paris, 
said  :  "  What  has  struck  France  and  all  Europe  with  surprise 
mixed  with  fright,  is  the  speed  of  one  of  the  vessels  of  the 
American  fleet.  The  Columbia  will  be  able  to  accept  or  refuse 
combat  according  to  her  wishes.  She  will  thunder  forth  shot 
and  shell  or  run  away  at  will.  She  can  with  impunity  cover 
the  surface  of  the  ocean  with  ruins  and  wrecks,  or  laugh  at 
the  avengers  sent  to  pursue  her.  The  European  nation  which 
should  have  the  foresight  to  create  a  large  number  of  these 
terrible  cruisers  would  be  unassailable,  invulnerable  and  in 
vincible."  Of  her  powers  to  overhaul  most  merchantmen  or 
to  run  away  from  battle-ships,  the  Columbia  soon  gave  signal 
proof,  making  the  trip  home  from  Southampton  under  natural 
draught  and  in  spite  of  some  heavy  weather — though,  it  is 
said,  using  extra  coal  and  exhausting  her  men — in  6  days,  23 
hours  and  49  minutes,  an  average  speed  of  18.53  knots  an 
hour,  the  best  long-distance  run  ever  made  by  a  war-ship. 
For  a  shorter  time  she  was  good  for  over  22  knots.  The 
St.  Louis,  an  ocean  greyhound  then  newly  built,  and  the  swift 
Augusta  Victoria^  both  starting  just  behind  the  Columbia^  failed 
to  catch  her.  Great  was  the  jubilation  when,  on  August  2, 
1895,  her  snowy  hull,  stained  with  spots  of  rust,  and  her  four 
buff  smoke-stacks  crystalled  over  with  salt  from  the  waves,  ap 
proached  her  anchorage  on  this  side.  All  the  standing-room 
on  the  Battery  and  the  North  River  front  was  full  of  people, 
whose  cheers  joined  the  diversified  applause.  "  Such  a  chorus 
of  screeches,  grunts,  toots  and  shrieks  is  seldom  heard  in  New 
York  waters." 

Notwithstanding  this  pleasant  harmony  of  parties  upon  a 
few  weighty  matters,  the  opposition  to  Cleveland  was  resolute 
and  bitter.  Each  doubtful  act  of  his  was  exhibited  in  the 
worst  possible  light,  and  innumerable  falsehoods  forged  to 
aggravate  his  discredit.  If  there  appeared  a  direful  portent 

490 


THE  CHARLESTON  EARTHQUAKE 

in  the  sky  or  a  deadly  fever  or  tornado  on  the  earth,  there 
were  not  wanting  persons  ready  to  arraign  the  Administration 
therefor. 

The  first  week  of  September,  1886,  a  destructive  earth 
quake  shook  important  portions  of  the  United  States.  In 
lower  New  York  City  chandeliers  were  swayed  and  clocks 
stopped  by  the  motion.  Vibrations  were  felt  from  Cape  Cod 
as  far  west  as  Chicago  and  Milwaukee  and  south  to  Jackson 
ville,  Fla.  The  earth-dance  was  slight  in  Baltimore,  alarming 
in  Washington.  The  worst  that  occurred  at  other  points  was 
but  a  hint  of  the  fearful  fate  which  overtook  Charleston,  S.  C. 
The  horror  broke  upon  the  inhabitants  in  the  dead  of  night, 
and  so  awful  was  the  rocking  and  rumbling  of  the  ground 
that  women  and  children  went  insane.  Droves  of  blacks 
rushed,  frantic  and  half-clad,  to  the  field  and  parks.  A  pious 
old  negro  in  the  midst  of  one  dense  throng,  engaged  in  prayer. 
"  Good  Lawd,"  his  petition  ran,  "  Come  and  help  us  !  Oh,  come 
now  !  An'  come  yo'self,  Lawd ;  'taint  no  time  for  boys !  " 
The  first  shock  occurred  Tuesday  night.  On  Friday  night, 
when  all,  worn  out,  had  sought  slumber  under  such  shelter  as 
remained,  suddenly  came  a  new  convulsion  advertised  by  a 
deafening  alarum  like  thunder.  Once  more  the  shrieking 
multitudes  rushed  to  the  open  amid  showers  of  bricks  and 
plaster,  negroes  making  the  night  doubly  hideous  with  their 
weird  lamentations.  Almost  precisely  twenty-four  hours  later 
came  a  third  shock,  milder,  but  sufficient  to  evict  the  people 
still  again.  The  indication  that  the  terrestrial  ague  was  peri 
odic  put  men  awatch  for  another  disturbance  on  Sunday  night, 
and  they  were  not  disappointed.  At  the  same  hour  as  before, 
the  demon  came  amid  appalling  throes.  Fortunately,  this 
fourth  quaking  was  his  adieu.  When  the  telegraph  lines  were 
again  in  order,  permitting  the  world  to  learn  what  had  taken 
place,  it  was  found  that  seven-eighths  of  Charleston's  houses 
had  been  rendered  unfit  for  habitation,  scores  of  persons 
killed  and  $8,000,000  worth  of  property  destroyed.  The 

491 


THE  UNITED  STATES  IN  OUR  OWN  TIME 


CHARLESTON 
AFTER   THE   EARTHQUAKE 

handsomest  streets  suf 
fered  most,  desolation  as 
from  innumerable  dyna 
mite  explosions  being 
visible  far  up  and  down 
many  of  them.  Rail 
road  tracks  were  torn 
awry,  rifts  and  gullies 
gaping  in  all  directions.  For  days  all  highways  to  the  city 
were  impassable,  cutting  off  relief. 

Many   conjectures  were  uttered  regarding   the   cause   of 

492 


Camp  of  the  Homeless  on  Colonial  Lake 


HALLET'S  POINT  REEF  BLOWN  UP 

the  earthquake,  none  very  satisfactory.  Fancy,  however, 
could  hardly  avoid  connecting  it  somehow  with  the  artificial 
earthquake  of  the  preceding  October,  when,  through  a  brilliant 
piece  of  engineering  executed  by  General  John  Newton,  the 
channel  from  East  River  to  Long  Island  Sound  was  rid  of 
the  last  Hellgate  ledge  which  dangerously  choked  it.  Since 
1884  this  bit  of  coast  had  been  the  subject  of  many  futile 
experiments.  Strong  tides  sweeping  back  and  forth  over 
the  reefs  had  strewn  the  spot  with  wrecks  ;  yet  the  neces 
sities  of  commerce,  especially  of  the  coastwise  trade,  kept  it  a 
thoroughfare.  Up  to  1876  the  expenditure  of  not  much  less 
than  $2,000,000  had  resulted  in  the  demolition  of  only  a  few 
outworks.  The  Scylla  and  Charybdis,  Hallet's  Point  Reef 
and  Flood  Rock,  remained.  The  reef  was  made  ready  for 
annihilation  by  the  novel  method  of  tunnelling.  The  tunnels, 
corresponding  to  its  semicircular  form,  radiated  somewhat  like 
the  ribs  of  a  fan,  being  connected  with  each  other  by  concen 
tric  passages,  the  whole  covering  nearly  three  acres.  Thus 
honeycombed,  the  rock  was  impregnated  with  above  thir 
teen  thousand  cartridges,  containing  something  like  twenty- 
five  tons  of  powder,  and  all  were  connected  with  electric 
batteries. 

The  experiment  was  so  unprecedented  and  devised  on  so 
large  a  scale,  that  in  anticipation  many  people  living  near  suf 
fered  terrors  as  if  a  disastrous  convulsion  of  nature  were  at 
hand.  That  the  mine  should  be  set  off  on  Sunday,  as  had 
been  arranged,  was  also  a  source  of  distress.  General  Newton, 
however,  was  unwilling  to  imperil  life  by  delay.  At  high-tide, 
therefore,  on  Sunday,  September  24,  1876,  his  baby  daughter 
was  allowed  to  touch  the  electric  key,  and  instantly  the  thir 
teen  thousand  potent  germs  were  hatched.  For  three  seconds 
the  water  foamed  and  tumbled  at  a  height  of  forty  or  fifty  feet, 
cowled  in  thick  black  smoke,  and  ejecting  fragments  of  rock 
and  mud.  A  shock  was  felt  in  New  York  City,  attended  by 
a  low  booming  sound.  The  tremor  extended  as  far  to  the 

493 


THE  UNITED  STATES  IN  OUR  OWN  TIME 


northeast  as  Springfield,  Mass. 
No  damage  whatever  was  suf 
fered  by  neigboring  property. 

Flood  Rock  was  next  as 
sailed.  It  was  three  times  the 
size  of  Hallett's  Point  Reef,  but 


PLAN  OF  THE   OPERATIONS  AT 

FLOOD  ROCK 
By  permission  of  The  Scientific  American 

the   construction   of  the   grid 
iron    system    of    tunnels    was 

now  watched  without  alarm,  the  earlier  achievement  having  set 
all  qualms  at  rest.  Dynamite  was  the  explosive  used.  When 
all  was  ready,  General  Newton's  daughter  May,  now  eleven 
years  of  age,  once  more  pressed  the  button,  this  time  blowing 
about  300,000  cubic  yards  of  reef  into  fragments — partly, 
indeed,  into  powder.  "  A  tremendous  volume  of  water  rose 
to  a  height  of  one  hundred  and  fifty  or  two  hundred  feet, 
masses  of  white  foam  shining  in  the  sunlight,  resembling  the 
appearance  of  a  fantastic  iceberg  lifted  bodily  upon  a  solid 
basis  of  dark  frozen  water.  For  five  or  six  seconds  it  tumbled 
aloft,  and  then  sank  back  into  the  river,  where  a  yellow, 
sulphurous  glow  prevailed  for  a  minute,  after  which  the  river 
resumed  its  wonted  course." 

We  have  seen  that,  spite  of  its  little  love  toward  him, 
Tammany  almost  unanimously  voted  for  Cleveland.  This 
had  the  unpleasant  effect  of  leading  such  as  inclined  to  be 
severe  on  him  to  lay  all  Tammany's  sins  at  Cleveland's  door. 

494 


JACOB  SHARP  IN  THE  ROLE  OF  TWEED 

And  Tammany  had  not  changed.  The  "  boodle  aldermen  " 
scandal  of  1886  emphasized  the  fact  that  the  spirit  of  Tweed 
still  haunted  Manhattan  Island.  Jacob  Sharp  all  but  challenged 
admiration  for  the  persistency  of  his  assault  upon  the  virtue  of 
the  New  York  City  government.  He  secured  from  the  alder 
men  his  first  franchise  more  than  thirty  years  before  (1851),  in 
that  case,  too,  over  the  Mayor's  veto  and  in  face  of  an  injunc 
tion  ;  with  the  result,  however,  of  sending  one  alderman  to  jail 
in  addition  to  the  fine  which  he  paid  in  common  with  his  fel 
lows.  From  that  time  Sharp  had  toiled  unremittingly  to 
secure  at  Albany  such  legislation  as  would  enable  him  once 
more  to  begin  hopeful  conflict  in  New  York  City.  Success 
waited  upon  him  in  1884,  after  he  had  already  become  an  old 
man,  bringing  him  privileges  for  which  a  million  dollars  had 
been  more  than  once  offered.  Charges  were  preferred  against 
members  of  the  Board  of  Aldermen  for  1884,  accusing  them 
of  having  granted  a  charter  to  the  Broadway  Surface  Railroad 
Company  in  consideration  of  $300,000  divided  equally  among 
them.  It  appeared  that  thirteen  members  had  combined  for 
the  purpose  of  selling  their  votes  on  important  enterprises. 
Of  these  four  were  tried,  convicted  and  sentenced  to  years  of 
imprisonment  with  heavy  fines.  The  charter  of  the  road  was 
annulled  by  the  legislature,  and  Sharp  prosecuted  and  tried 
for  bribery.  He  was  convicted  but  granted  a  new  trial,  be 
fore  the  conclusion  of  which,  in  the 
spring  of  1888,  his  health  broke  down 
completely,  and  he  died. 

The  President  and  the  Senate  first 
came  to  blows  early  in  1886  over  the 
President's  act  in  suspending  from  office, 
the  preceding  July,  G.  M.  Duskin,  Dis 
trict  Attorney  for  the  Southern  District 
of  Alabama.  When  Congress  reassem 
bled,  the  Senate,  proceeding  upon  the 
theory  that  the  power  of  removal  as  GENERAL  JOHN  NEWTON 

495 


THE  UNITED  STATES  IN  OUR  OWN  TIME 

well  as  that  of  appointment  was  committed  to  it  jointly  with 
the  President,  called  on  him  to  furnish  the  reasons  for  his 
action  and  the  papers  relating  to  the  case.  This  demand  Mr. 
Cleveland  refused.  In  a  vigorous  message  he  held  that  tor 
his  acts  of  removal  and  suspension  he  was  responsible  to  the 
people  alone,  and  that  the  papers  asked  for  touching  Duskin 
were  of  a  private  nature.  Reluctantly  the  Senate  acquiesced 
in  this  position.  On  March  3,  1887,  a  bill  passed  Congress 
repealing  the  old  Tenure  of  Office  Act,  enacted  in  1867,  dur 
ing  the  bitter  feud  between  Congress  and  President  Johnson, 
for  the  purpose  of  rendering  Johnson  unable  to  remove  ex 
ecutive  officers  when  they  had  been  confirmed  by  the  Senate. 
This  repeal  rendered  explicit  and  unqualified  the  President's 
independent  power  to  remove  from  office,  making  him  as 
free  in  this  as  if  the  Tenure  of  Office  Act  had  never  been 
passed. 

It  seemed  to  be  the  Senate  Republicans'  purpose  in  this 
encounter  to  discredit  Mr.  Cleveland  by  showing  him  insin 
cere  in  his  avowals  of  sympathy  with  reform.  His  election 
was  largely  due  to  the  stand  he  had  taken  in  regard  to  the 
evil  of  Congressional  patronage.  He  had  given  his  word  to 
abate  this  so  far  as  lay  in  his  power,  and  the  conditions  at  his 
accession  to  office  favored  the  accomplishment  of  that  pur 
pose.  No  strictly  party  vote  had  elevated  him  to  the  Presi 
dency.  Moreover,  there  were  15,000  offices,  in  which  the 
Pendleton  Act  required  vacancies  to  be  filled  by  non-partisan 
tests,  and  that  law  authorized  the  President  to  extend  this  mode 
of  appointment  if  he  wished.  The  fact  was  that  Mr.  Cleveland 
had  assumed  a  task  greater  than  he  anticipated.  Democrats 
incessantly  vociferated  against  continuing  Republican  monop 
oly  of  the  offices,  urging  him,  as  a  Democrat,  to  relinquish  a 
policy  which  must  disintegrate  the  party  and  lose  him  all  its 
support.  Not  one  recognized  Democratic  leader  stood  up  for 
the  policy.  Congress  betrayed  no  cordial  sympathy  with  it. 
In  June,  1886,  an  attempt  was  made  practically  to  annul  the 

496 


CLEVELAND  DISAPPOINTS  CIVIL  SERVICE  REFORMERS 

Civil  Service  Law  by  refusing  to  make  an  appropriation  for 
the  Commissioners.  Disappointing  and  disgusting  a  host  of 
his  friends,  Mr.  Cleveland  gradually  yielded.  By  June,  1887, 
nearly  all  the  2,359  Presidential  postmasters  had  been  re 
placed,  as  had  32  of  the  33  foreign  ministers,  16  of  the  21 
secretaries  of  legation,  138  of  the  219  consuls,  84  of  the  85 
collectors  of  internal  revenue,  8  of  the  1 1  inspectors  of  steam 
vessels,  65  of  the  70  district  attorneys,  64  of  the  70  marshals, 
22  of  the  30  territorial  judges,  16  of  the  18  pension  agents 
and  some  40,000  of  the  52,609  fourth-class  postmasters. 
Within  three  years  from  his  inauguration  the  President  had 
replaced  not  less  than  75,000,  perhaps  100,000,  Republican 
office-holders  by  Democrats,  considerably  impairing  the  ser 
vice.  But,  though  roundly  denounced  as  a  hypocrite,  he  never 
recanted  his  profession  of  devotion  to  reform,  and  he  faith7 
fully  executed  the  mandatory  provisions  of  the  law. 

What  hurt  the  President  most  with  reformers  was  his  aid 
to  Senator  Gorman,  of  Maryland,  in  1887,  seeming  to  be  an 
effort  to  acquit  himself  of  the  charge,  often  preferred,  that 
"  he  was  no  Democrat."  A  Democratic  authority  stated  that 
in  Baltimore  election  after  election  had  been  carried  by  bare 
faced  fraud ;  that  to  stop  a  ballot  in  an  important  ward 
murder  was  recognized  as  a  political  service ;  that  ballot- 
boxes  were  continually  looted,  and  that  in  one  ward  nineteen 
men  of  criminal  record  drew  pay  from  the  city  for  their  evil 
activities.  Yet  Mr.  Cleveland's  aid  and  comfort  to  repre 
sentative  Democratic  leaders  came  too  slowly  and  grudgingly 
to  win  their  support  in  return.  They  thought  him  meanly 
obsequious  toward  Independents,  and  declared  that  he  was 
betraying  his  party. 

Western  Democrats  in  particular  were  never  enthusi 
astic  for  Mr.  Cleveland,  owing  partly  to  his  views  upon  the 
civil  service  and  partly  to  his  hailing  from  New  York.  With 
them  "  Thomas  A.  Hendricks,  of  Indiana,"  had  been  the 
magic  and  drawing  part  of  the  ticket.  What  occurred  on 

497 


THE  UNITED  STATES  IN  OUR  OWN  TIME 

Inauguration  Day  indicated  this.  As  the  procession  moved 
along  Pennsylvania  Avenue  toward  the  Capitol  cheers  for  the 
President-elect  were  at  points  rather  faint,  but  the  appearance 
of  Mr.  Hendricks's  carriage  was  the  signal  for  a  prolonged 
roar  that  testified  to  the  love  and  confidence  the  people  felt 
for  him.  Many  thought  that  this  obvious  contrast  piqued 
the  President  and  ascribed  to  it  a  certain  lack  of  cordiality  on 
his  part  toward  the  Vice-President,  kept  up  till  the  latter's 
death.  A  month  after  the  inauguration  Mr.  Hendricks  had 
an  interview  with  the  President.  On  returning  to  his  room 
at  Willard's  Hotel  he  seemed  disappointed  and  said :  "  I 
hoped  that  Mr.  Cleveland  would  put  the  Democratic  party  in 
power  in  fact  as  well  as  in  name,  but  he  does  not  intend  to  do 
it."  A  Southern  Congressman  told  his  Democratic  friends  : 
"  Gentlemen,  we've  got  a  big  elephant  on  our  hands.  I  fear 
there  will  be  some  disappointment  about  the  offices."  Too 
few  Republicans  were  turned  out  to  suit  Democratic  workers, 
yet  enough  continually  to  keep  up  office-seekers'  hopes.  Those 
disappointed  after  long  suspense  were  doubly  unforgiving. 
The  President  would  have  done  well  to  remember  Machia- 
velli's  precept :  "  Matters  of  severity  should  be  finished  at 
one  blow,  that  so  they  may  give  the  less  distaste  and  be  the 
sooner  forgotten." 

Republican  papers  made  all  possible  political  capital  out 
of  the  pan-electric  "  scandal,"  affecting  Attorney-General  Gar 
land.  One  Rogers  had  received  a  patent  on  a  telephone 
which  he  hoped  would  rival  Bell's.  He  assigned  his  rights  to 
Democratic  members  of  Congress,  who  transferred  them  to  a 
certain  "Pan-Electric  Company,"  receiving  stock  in  return. 
When  the  Democratic  party  came  into  power  the  Pan-Elec 
tric  managers  moved  the  Government  to  institute  suit  inquir 
ing  into  the  validity  of  the  Bell  patent.  Though  owning 
Pan-Electric  stock  which  would  rise  in  value  a  round  million 
if  the  Bell  patent  were  annulled,  the  Attorney-General  did  not 
forbid  Solicitor-General  Goode  to  attack  that  patent.  This 

498 


PENSION  ABUSES 

Goode  did,  though  the  Interior  Department  soon  took  the 
case  off  his  hands.  It  was  argued  that  Garland  should  not 
have  allowed  his  subordinate  to  act  in  the  matter,  or,  at  any 
rate,  should  have  divested  himself  of  all  interest  in  it  by  dis 
posing  of  his  stock.  That  he  could  at  worst  only  argue  the 
case  and  could  not  decide  it,  and  that  the  court  would  specially 
scrutinize  his  plea  as  that  of  an  interested  party,  was  by  most 
people  forgotten  or  ignored.  A  congressional  committee 
exonerated  Garland,  Goode  and  Mr.  Lamar,  Secretary  of  the 
Interior,  from  all  censurable  action  in  the  premises. 

When  Mr.  Cleveland  took  office  the  pensioning  of 
Union  soldiers  was  too  indiscriminate,  neither  party  venturing 
to  advocate  an  economy  of  expenditure  or  a  scrutiny  of  claims 
by  which  veterans  might  suffer.  The  Treasury  surplus  pre 
sented  an  irresistible  temptation  to  foolish  and  pauperizing 
liberality.  Greedy  pension  attorneys  loved  the  <c  swag  "  which 
the  system  offered.  Ultra  protectionists  also  connived  at  it  out 
of  a  wish  to  keep  the  high  tariff  intact.  At  that  time  pension 
attorneys  were  given  access  to  soldiers'  records  in  the  War 
Department.  Knowing  that  the  record  in  any  case  would  be 
appealed  to  in  verifying  the  claim,  they  would  obtain  an  old 
soldier's  leave  and  set  up  on  his  behalf  a  claim  for  every 
trouble  shown  in  his  record.  One  attorney  issued  a  circular 
announcing  "  Desertion  marks  quietly  removed,"  the  adverb 
being  cancelled  in  ink.  Innumerable  fraudulent  claims  came 
to  the  bureau,  too  many  of  them  successful.  A  New  England 
merchant  worth  $50,000,  who  never  smelled  powder  or  even 
served  so  much  as  three  months,  tried  for  a  pension  on  the 
ground  that  his  bad  health  was  due  to  catarrh  contracted  in 
the  army.  An  application  was  actually  received  at  the  bureau 
for  injury  by  the  chin  of  a  comrade  "  while  drilling  on  skates 
near  Brattleboro,  Vt."  A  wagoner  who  had  lost  his  leg 
tumbling  off  a  wagon  when  drunk  obtained  a  pension.  In 
several  cases  men  who  escaped  service  by  shooting  away  their 
fingers  got  pensions  for  this  disability. 


501 


THE  UNITED  STATES  IN  OUR  OWN  TIME 

To  relieve  those  whom  for  any  reason  the  bureau  had 
denied,  thousands  of  private  bills  were  passed.  The  House 
of  Representatives  usually  devoted  one  meeting  each  week  to 
the  passage  of  these  personal  bills,  only  a  handful,  far  less  than 
a  quorum,  being  present.  Bill  after  bill  became  law  merely 
upon  the  recommendation  of  the  Committee,  without  record 
ing  a  vote  and  without  discussion.  The  Senate  was  also 
slack.  One  day  in  April,  1886,  it  passed  500  pension  bills 
in  two  hours.  Instead  of  doubling  watchfulness  upon  special 
legislation,  our  bicameral  system  seemed  to  halve  it ;  each 
House  shifting  upon  the  other  the  onus  of  rejecting  un 
worthy  but  influential  claims ;  both,  as  a  result,  leaving 
that  useful  but  thankless  task  to  the  Executive.  Little 
wonder  that  many  unworthy  claimants  sought  presidential 
endorsement. 

But  they  did  not  any  longer  receive  this.  While  favor 
ing,  for  the  truly  worthy,  pensions  even  more  bountiful  than 
were  then  allowed  by  law,  the  President  insisted,  both  as  a  mat 
ter  of  due  economy  and  in  justice  to  loyal  and  true  pensioners, 
on  careful  discrimination  in  making  up  the  pension  list.  Till 
Cleveland's  time  but  one  pension  bill  had  been  rejected  by  the 
Executive,  but  in  1886  he  vetoed  101  out  of  the  747  which 
passed  Congress.  The  veto-messages  were  bold  and  often 
caustic,  giving  the  vetoed  bills  undue  prominence  in  compari 
son  with  those  which  were  approved.  It  was  thus  easy  to 
represent  the  vetoes  as  betraying  hostility  to  old  wearers  of 
the  blue,  and  Republican  organs  and  orators  were  not  slow  to 
arraign  the  President  thus.  But  although  many  attempts 
were  made  to  pass  pension  bills  over  the  veto,  only  one  was 
successful.  Hostility  toward  the  President  was  immenselv 
intensified  when  he  negatived  the  Dependent  Pension  Bill, 
passed  in  1887,  which  pensioned  all  dependent  veterans  who 
had  served  three  months  in  the  Union  army,  and  also  all  de 
pendent  parents  of  such.  The  veto  was,  however,  agreeable 
to  not  a  few  even  among  the  Republicans,  who  had  begun  to 


502 


THE  REBEL  FLAG  ORDER 

look  with  dread  upon  the  rising  tide  of  paternalism  in  our 
Goverment,  a  tendency  which  found  expression  in  the  Blair 
Educational  Bill,  meant  to  give  governmental  support  to  cer 
tain  State  schools  all  over  the  South,  and  in  the  Texas  Seed 
Bill,  to  aid  needy  farmers,  passed  by  the  House  and  Senate, 
but  vetoed  by  the  President. 

More  scathing  yet  was  the  condemnation  visited  upon 
Mr.  Cleveland  in  consequence  of  his  unfortunate  "  Rebel 
Flag "  order.  Hastily  and  without  authority,  he  had  given 
permission  that  the  various  Confederate  flags  in  possession  of 
the  Government  might  be  returned  to  the  Southern  States  from 
which  they  were  borne  forth.  The  permission  did  not  take 
effect,  as  these  flags  were  public  property  and  could  be  restored 
only  by  act  of  Congress,  but  the  mischief  was  done.  The 
rank  and  file  of  the  Grand  Army  of  the  Republic  felt  out 
raged,  and  post  after  post  passed  resolutions  fiercely  denounc 
ing  the  order,  some  of  them  hinting  at  lack  of  patriotism  in 
its  author.  General  Sherman  wrote  :  "  Of  course  I  know 
Drum,  the  Adjutant-General.  He  has  no  sympathy  with  the 
army  which  fought.  He  was  a  non-combatant.  He  never 
captured  a  flag  and  values  it  only  at  its  commercial  value. 
He  did  not  think  of  the  blood  and  torture  of  battle  ;  nor  can 
Endicott,  the  Secretary  of  War,  or  Mr.  Cleveland."  General 
Butler  styled  the  order,  "An  attempt  to  mutilate  the  archives." 

Just  previous  to  the  National  Encampment  at  St.  Louis,  in 
1 8  87,  a  number  of  posts  in  western  Pennsylvania,  West  Virginia 
and  Ohio  held  a  camp-fire  at  Wheeling.  A  banner  had  been 
suspended  across  the  street  on  the  line  of  their  march,  bearing 
the  President's  portrait  with  the  inscription,  "  God  Bless  our 
President,  Commander-in-Chief  of  Our  Army  and  Navy." 
Most  of  the  posts  refused  to  pass  under,  marching  through 
the  gutters  instead,  with  colors  folded  and  reversed.  The 
President  had  accepted  an  invitation  to  the  St.  Louis  encamp 
ment,  but  owing  to  this  extreme  rancor  toward  him,  felt  con 
strained  to  decline  attendance.  "  I  should,"  he  said,  "  bear 

503 


THE  UNITED  STATES  IN  OUR  OWN  TIME 

with  me  there  the  people's  highest  office,  the  dignity  of  which 
I  must  protect,  and  I  believe  that  neither  the  Grand  Army 
of  the  Republic  as  an  organization,  nor  anything  like  a  ma 
jority  of  its  members,  would  ever  encourage  any  scandalous 
attack  upon  it.  If,  however,  among  the  membership  of  this 
body  there  are  some,  as  certainly  seems  to  be  the  case,  deter 
mined  to  denounce  me  and  my  official  acts  at  the  National 
Encampment,  I  believe  that  they  should  be  permitted  to  do 
so  unrestrained  by  my  presence  as  a  guest  of  their  organiza 
tion,  or  as  a  guest  of  the  hospitable  city  in  which  their  meet 
ing  is  held." 

Wonder  was  often  expressed  at  the  ease  with  which  the 
Republican  Party,  at  first  containing  hosts  of  free-traders 
and  not  committed  to  any  doctrine  regarding  the  tariff,  became 
transformed  into  a  pronounced  and  devoted  high-tariff  party, 
defending  with  all  zeal,  in  time  of  profound  peace,  rates  of 
protection  imposed  during  the  stress  of  war  and  meant  by  all 
to  give  way  so  soon  as  that  temporary  necessity  should  end. 
But  the  cause  of  this  interesting  metamorphosis  was  not  far  to 
seek.  The  growing  demand  for  extreme  protection  was  no 
mere  United  States  affair.  All  the  nations  of  the  earth  shared 
it.  Even  New  South  Wales,  ever  the  free-trader's  pride  and 
shining  example,  in  1891  succumbed  to  this  drift.  The 
strengthening  sentiment  for  protection  marked  the  precise 
period,  after  1873,  during  which  general  prices  were  falling. 
Owing  to  the  decadence  of  prices,  production  grew  extra 
hazardous  and  needed  shelter.  Less  and  less  could  be  ob 
tained  for  products,  while  all  fixed  charges,  like  taxes  and 
mortgage-interest,  remained  the  same.  As  the  evil  affected 
the  entire  consuming  class,  sales  were  fewer,  even  at  the  less 
ened  rates.  Whenever,  therefore,  prices  in  any  line  of  manu 
facture  threatened  or  began  to  fall,  when  stock  depreciated 
upon  manufacturers'  hands,  they  inevitably  struggled  to  avert 
these  results  and  welcomed  any  resource  which  could  aid.  A 
number  of  gigantic  industries  met  this  crisis  by  forming  them- 

504 


RISE  OF  HIGH  PROTECTIONISM 

selves  into  "  Trusts,"  but  the  majority  could  not  at  once  do 
this.  Unable  to  obtain  relief  in  any  other  way,  they  every 
where  agitated  for  high  tariffs,  and  in  nearly  every  country 
with  success.  Had  prices  after  the  war  been  stationary  or 
only  slowly  advancing,  the  rise  in  United  States  tariff  rates, 
culminating  in  the  McKinley  law,  would  in  all  probability 
never  have  been  so  much  as  thought  of. 

By  no  means  all  those  crying  for  highest  protection, 
whether  here  or  in  Europe,  were  addicted  to  protection  as  a 
general  policy.  Many  such  were,  in  theory,  free-traders. 
Had  general  prices  been  stable  or  rising,  they  would  decidedly 
have  preferred  low  tariffs  or  free  trade.  Willingness  to  sub 
ject  your  country's  industries  to  normal  foreign  competition 
was  one  thing ;  quite  another  was  it  to  do  so  when  your  com 
petitors  were  helped  to  beat  you  by  a  home  bonus  on  exporta 
tion,  such  as  favored  all  exporters  from  silver  and  paper  lands 
during  the  years  under  review.  In  France  these  "  oppor 
tunist  "  protectionists  were  a  powerful  and  growing  party. 
Their  logic  was  not  at  once  understood  in  this  country ;  but 
men  mastered  it  more  and  more,  and  it  carried  over  to  the 
protectionist  ranks  armies  of  recruits  in  every  Congressional 
and  Presidential  election. 

The  tariff  problem  was  little  discussed  in  the  campaign 
•of  1884.  The  platform  on  which  Cleveland  was  elected  did 
not  speak  strongly  regarding  it,  and  the  Republicans  had  then 
by  no  means  agreed  upon  the  extreme  form  of  protection  em 
bodied  in  the  McKinley  Act  of  1890.  When  elected,  Cleve 
land  had  no  definite  purpose  concerning  this  subject,  but  the 
condition  of  the  Treasury,  present  and  prospective,  soon  drew 
his  thoughts  thereto.  This  History  has  already  remarked 
that  the  Government's  inability  to  pay  its  four-and-a-half  per 
cent,  bonds  before  1891,  or  its  fours  before  1907,  was  unfor 
tunate,  and  that  the  threes  of  1882  were  happily  made  payable 
at  the  Government's  option.  A  call  for  the  last  of  these  was 
issued  on  May  20,  1887,  interest  to  cease  on  tne  next  July  Ist- 


505 


THE  UNITED  STATES  IN  OUR  OWN  TIME 

After  this  time  no  bonds  were  subject  to  par  payment  at  the 
Government's  discretion,  and  surplus  piled  up  ominously. 
December  i,  1887,  after  every  possible  Government  obliga 
tion  had  been  provided  for,  about  $50,000,000  remained — a 
sum  increased  by  the  end  of  that  fiscal  year,  June  30,  1888, 
notwithstanding  considerable  purchases  of  long-term  bonds  at 
high  rates,  to  $  103 ,000,000.  There  was  no  method  at  once 
legal  and  economical  for  paying  this  out.  The  Secretary 
could  of  course  buy  long  bonds  in  the  open  market,  and  in 
1888  he  to  some  extent  did  so;  but,  obviously,  if  entered 
upon  in  a  large  way,  this  course  must  carry  up  the  price  of 
those  bonds  considerably.  The  President  could  not  but  fore 
see  that  the  question,  how  to  keep  the  money  of  the  country 
from  becoming  locked  up  in  the  Treasury  and  Sub-Treasuries 
of  the  United  States,  was  destined  to  be  grave. 

In  his  message  to  Congress  in  December,  1885,  he  said: 
"  The  fact  that  our  revenues  are  in  excess  of  the  actual  needs 
of  an  economical  administration  of  the  Government,  justifies  a 
reduction  in  the  amount  exacted  from  the  people  for  its  sup 
port.  .  .  The  proposition  with  which  we  have  to  deal  is  the 
reduction  of  the  revenue  by  the  Government,  and  indirectly 
paid  by  the  people,  for  customs  duties.  The  question  of  free 
trade  is  not  involved.  .  .  Justice  and  fairness  dictate  that  in 
any  modification  of  our  present  laws  relating  to  revenue,  the 
industries  and  interests  which  have  been  encouraged  by  such 
laws,  and  in  which  our  citizens  have  large  investments,  should 
not  be  ruthlessly  injured  or  destroyed.  We  should  also  deal 
with  the  subject  in  such  a  manner  as  to  protect  the  interests 
of  American  labor.  .  .  Within  these  limitations  a  certain  re 
duction  should  be  made  in  our  customs  revenue.  .  .  I  think 
the  reduction  should  be  made  in  the  revenue  derived  from  a 
tax  upon  the  imported  necessaries  of  life." 

The  Forty-ninth  Congress  did  nothing  to  carry  out  these 
suggestions,  but  the  Morrison  and  the  Randall  bill,  reported 
and  discussed  in  the  House,  revealed  among  the  Democrats  a 

506 


PLEA  FOR  LOWER  DUTIES 


rapidly  strengthening  current  of  sentiment  for  lower  duties. 
The  President's  convictions  meantime  became  more  pro 
nounced.  In  his  bold  and  candid  message  of  1887,  he  said, 
referring  to  the  Treasury  situation  :  "It  is  a  condition  which 
confronts  us  —  not  a  theory.  .  .  The  question  of  free  trade  is 
absolutely  irrelevant,  and  the  persistent  claim  made,  in  some 
quarters  that  all  efforts  to  relieve  the  people  from  unjust  and 
unnecessary  taxation  are  schemes  of  so-called  free-traders,  is 
mischievous  and  far  removed  from  any  consideration  of  the 
public  good.  The  simple  and  plain  duty  which  we  owe  to 
the  people  is  to  reduce  taxation  to  the  necessary  expenses  of 
an  economical  operation  of  the  Government,  and  restore  to 
the  business  of  the  country  the  money  which  we  hold  in  the 
Treasury  through  the  perversion  of  governmental  powers." 

This  message  recommended  the  taxing  of  luxuries,  the 
free-listing  of  raw  wool,  the  radical  reduction  of  duties  on  all 
raw  materials,  and  the  lowering  or  total  abrogation  of  the  tariff 
on  necessaries.  On  the  convening  of  the  Fiftieth  Congress, 
surplus  revenue  being  more  and  more  a  menace,  the  House 
felt  forced  to  attempt  a  reduction  of  the  Government's 
income.  The  Mills  Bill  resulted,  hotly  denounced  and  vio 
lently  opposed  by  the  Republicans  as  a  free-trade  measure. 
It  was  far  from  being  this,  though 
many  of  the  arguments  adduced  in 
support  of  it  would  have  been  equally 
valid  against  all  protection.  The  bill 
passed  the  House.  In  the  Senate  a 
Republican  substitute  was  reported 
but  never  pushed. 

The  Senate  sought  to  use  the 
country's  relations  with  China  as  a 
means  of  advantage  over  Mr.  Cleve 
land.  Both  parties  had  expressed 
themselves  as  opposed  to  Chinese 
labor.  A  treaty  with  China  had  been 


ROGER 


507 


THE  UNITED  STATES  IN  OUR  OWN  TIME 


'•'•THE   FORTUNE  EAT  AFFAIR" 
Drawn    by    M.    J.    Burns  from    photographs 


signed  on  March  12,  1888,  but  subsequently  amended  by 
the  Senate  so  as  to  exclude  those  Chinese  laborers  who  had 
formerly  been  in  the  country  and  had  been  given  certificates 
of  identification  by  the  Government.  It  seemed  probable  that 
China  would  not  accept  this  treaty.  On  September  yth  the 
Senate  took  up  and  immediately  passed  an  act  which  came 
from  the  House,  excluding  from  the  United  States  all  Chi 
nese  laborers  without  distinction.  The  President  was  thus  in 
a  dilemma.  If  he  vetoed  the  measure  he  would  encounter 
popular  displeasure,  if  he  signed  it  he  would  be  placed  in 
hostile  relations  toward  a  friendly  power.  In  the  House  the 
Committee  on  Foreign  Affairs  delayed  sending  the  bill  to  the 
/\  President  until  it  was  definitely  known  that  China  had  refused  to 
ratify  the  treaty,  and  the  Exclusion  Bill  was  signed  October  ist. 
While  many  happy  events  were  cementing  the  old  good 
will  between  us  and  the  French  Republic  our  relations  with 
England  were  in  danger  of  being  strained  over  the  inveterate 
Fisheries  dispute,  which  had  come  down  from  the  very  birth 
day  of  the  nation.  Many  remembered  how,  on  Sunday, 

508 


FISHERIES    DISPUTES 


THE  SECOND   SEIZURE   OF  THE   SCHOONER    DAVID   J.  ADAMS 
Drawn  by  M.  J.  Burns  from  photographs  by  Parker  and  description 

January  6,  1878,  a  number  of  American  sailors  engaged  in 
taking  herring  in  Long  Harbor,  Fortune  Bay,  Newfoundland, 
were  attacked  by  the  Newfoundlanders,  who  destroyed  one  of 
their  seines  and  forced  them  to  stop  fishing.  This  incident 
was  for  years  one  of  the  international  questions  in  dispute 
between  England  and  America. 

On  July  i,  1885,  the  fishery  clauses  of  the  Treaty  of 
Washington  ceased  to  be  operative.  Canadian  salt  fish  was 
now  taxed  by  us,  who,  on  the  other  hand,  found,  to  our  sor 
row,  the  cruel  provisions  of  the  1 8 1 8  Treaty  again  legally 
binding  and  the  Canadian  authorities  bent  on  their  strict  con 
struction  and  enforcement.  Our  citizens  could  not  now  fish 
"within  three  marine  miles  of  any  of  the  coasts,  bays  and 
harbors  of  her  Britannic  Majesty's  dominion  in  North  Am- 
In  determining  this  limit  England  "measured  from 


erica. 


the  headlands  or  extreme  points  of  land  at  the  entrance  of 
bays  or  indents  of  the  coast,"  forbidding  Americans  to  fish  in 
such  bays  even  if  more  than  three  miles  from  shore.  American 
vessels  could  not  enter  Canadian  ports  for  bait.  During  the 
season  of  1886  numbers  of  our  vessels  were  detained  at  Can- 


509 


THE  UNITED  STATES  IN  OUR  OWN  TIME 


Loading  the  Fish 

adian  ports,  some  of 
them  under  most 
aggravating  circum 
stances,  though  but 
two  were  condemn 
ed.  Crews  were  re 
fused  water  on  the 
ground  that  they 
had  not  conformed 
to  certain  port  or 
customs  regulations. 
The  American 
schooner  David  J . 
^4  dams  ^  calling  at  the 

port  of  Digby,  Nova  Scotia,  May  5,  1886,  to  procure  bait, 
was  seized  by  Captain  Scott  of  the  steamer  Landsdowne. 
The  captain  of  the  Adams  declared  he  had  called  to  see  friends 
and  was  released,  but  ran  aground  going  out  of  the  harbor. 
Since  the  truth  had  meanwhile  been  learned,  the  schooner 
was  re-seized,  everything  movable  being  sold  at  auction  to 
cover  expenses.  The  matter  was  long  in  dispute  between  Eng 
land  and  the  United  States. 

For    weeks    the    dispute    greatly    excited    our    country. 
Threats  of  war  with  Canada  were  uttered  and  careful  estimates 


SCENES  IN  QU1DI  V1DI,  A  TYPICAL    NEW 
FOUNDLAND  FISHING  TOWN 


510 


DANGER  OF  WAR  WITH  CANADA 

made  of  the  force  we  could  throw  across  our  northern  border 
in  case  of  need.  In  May  Congress  placed  in  the  President's 
hands  power  to  suspend  commercial  intercourse  between  our 
selves  and  Canada.  Later  a  bill  was  introduced  in  the  House 
cutting  off  all  commercial  relations  with  Canada  by  land  or 
water.  The  Senate  advanced  a  more  moderate  proposition- 
to  limit  the  proposed  arrest  of  traffic  to  water  commerce  and 
to  Canadian  vessels,  also  to  leave  its  enforcement  optional 
with  the  President.  This  became  law  on  March  3,  1887. 
Under  this  legislation  the  President,  on  being  assured  that 
our  fishing-masters  or  crews  were  used  in  Canadian  ports  any 
less  favorably  than  masters  or  crews  of  trading  vessels  from 
the  most  favored  nations,  could,  "  in  his  discretion,  by  proc 
lamation  to  that  effect,  deny  vessels,  their  masters  and  crews, 
of  the  British  dominions  of  North  America  any  entrance  into 
the  waters,  ports  or  places  of  or  within  the  United  States/' 

The  President  did  not  think  best  at  once  to  use  this  fear 
ful  power,  likely  enough  to  lead  to  war.  He  preferred  to 
make  another  attempt  at  a  peaceful  settlement  through  a  new 
treaty.  This  had  constantly  been  the  wish  of  the  British  Gov 
ernment.  Accordingly,  late  in  1887,  a  joint  commission,  con 
sisting  of  Secretary  Bayard,  President  Angell,  of  Michigan 
University,  and  Hon.  William  L.  Putnam,  of  Maine,  on  the 
part  of  the  United  States,  and  of  Rt.  Hon.  Joseph  Chamber 
lain,  Sir  Charles  Tupper,  of  Canada,  and  Sir  Lionel  West,  the 
British  Minister,  on  the  part  of  Great  Britain,  met  at  Wash 
ington.  The  Commission  toiled  nearly  all  winter,  and  passed 
to  the  President  the  result  of  its  deliberations  on  February  16, 
1888.  The  treaty  which  it  drafted  was  necessarily  a  compro 
mise.  Canada  thought  the  British  Commissioners  had  yielded 
too  much  ;  many  in  the  United  States  believed  our  Commis 
sioners  to  have  done  the  same.  The  document,  approved  by 
the  President,  went  to  the  Senate,  where,  after  long  debate,  it 
was  refused  ratification,  August  2ist. 

The   Commission  had  agreed    upon   a  modus  vivendi,  to 

513 


THE  UNITED  STATES  IN  OUR  OWN  TIME 


*h 


M'/ 
"VS. 


\ 


The  Newfoundland  Fisheries.— Fish-Sheds  at  Quidi  Vidi 

hold  good,  unless  revoked  by  the  Governor-General  and 
Council  of  Canada,  till  February,  1890,  under  which  our  fish 
ermen  might  obtain  in  Canadian  ports,  on  payment  of  a 
license,  the  privileges  of  merchantmen.  Many  such  licenses 
were  taken  out  during  the  season  of  1888.  Most  of  the  fish 
ing-masters,  however,  did  not  seek  licenses,  and  were  averse  to 
the  new  treaty,  preferring  the  terms  of  1818  to  granting  their 
rivals  any  further  rights  in  our  markets.  Fresh  fish,  includ 
ing  frozen  and  slack-salted,  was  already  free  in  our  ports,  com 
peting  sharply  with  our  own  catch.  No  one  longer  cared  to 
fish  inside,  or,  except  in  emergencies,  to  provision  at  Canadian 
towns. 

Convenient  as  would  be  the  power  to  obtain  bait  near 
the  fishing-grounds  and  to  transship  fish  home  in  bond, 
neither  was  indispensable.  Cod  were  still  caught  with  trawls 
and  baited  hooks.  The  best  bait  was  squid,  whose  abundance 
upon  the  banks  was  what  caused  the  cod  so  to  frequent  them. 
The  squid  could  be  had  freshest  as  well  as  cheapest  from  the 

514 


THE  SEAL  FISHERIES  QUESTION 

peasantry  of  the  Newfoundland  and  Nova  Scotia  coasts ;  but 
clams  carried  from  home  were  found  to  do  nearly  as  well. 
Accordingly,  few  collisions  occurred  in  1888,  and  as  the  sea 
son  of  that  year  closed  there  was  a  prospect  that,  even  with 
out  a  new  convention,  no  necessity  for  American  retaliation 
would  arise. 

Besides  the  Northeastern  fisheries  imbroglio,  the  seal 
fisheries  of  the  Northwest  gave  trouble.  The  occasion  was 
as  follows  :  Shortly  after  our  acquisition  of  Alaska,  Congress 
passed  stringent  laws  against  killing  fur-bearing  animals  in 
Alaska  or  the  adjacent  waters.  In  1870  the  Pribylov  or  Seal 
islands  were  leased  to  the  Alaska  Commercial  Co.,  under 
regulations  de'signed  to  preserve  the  seal  life,  rapidly  becoming 
extinct  everywhere  else.  Poaching  was  frequent  and  reckless. 
To  punish  and  prevent  it  the  Treasury  Department  in  1886 
attempted  to  treat  Behring  Sea  as  a  mare  clausum^  assuming 
that  the  United  States  had  jurisdiction  over  it  all,  whereas 
British  sealers  claimed  the  right  to  hunt  seals  wherever  they 
pleased  if  over  three  miles  from  land.  In  1886  the  British 
schooners  Carolina^  Onward  and  'Thornton^  though  beyond 
the  three-mile  limit,  were  seized,  taken  to  Sitka,  condemned, 
their  skins  confiscated,  and  their  masters  fined.  The  British 
Government  demanded  the  release  of  the  prisoners  and  ves 
sels  and  an  indemnity  of  $  160,000.  The  release  was  ordered 
by  President  Cleveland  in  January,  1887,  though  the  order 
was  not  immediately  executed.  In  the  summer  of  1887 
other  British  vessels,  together  with  American  seal-poachers, 
were  taken  from  thirty  to  seventy  miles  out  at  sea.  On 
August  19,  1887,  Secretary  Bayard  sent  circular  letters  to 
the  United  States  ministers  in  England,  France,  Germany, 
Japan,  Russia  and  Sweden,  directing  representations  to  be 
made  to  these  governments  that  action  was  desirable  for  the 
better  protection  of  the  seals  in  Behring  Sea.  All  the  pow 
ers  appealed  to,  except  Sweden,  began  conference  with  the 
United  States  in  the  interest  named,  and  for  the  present  no 


515 


THE  UNITED  STATES  IN  OUR  OWN  TIME 

more  British  vessels  were  seized.  In  March,  1892,  a  treaty 
was  ratified,  submitting  the  questions  that  had  arisen  between 
the  United  States  and  Great  Britain  touching  Behring  Sea 
affairs  to  arbitration  by  seven  commissioners,  one  each  from 
Canada,  Great  Britain,  Sweden,  France  and  Italy,  and  two, 
Justice  Harlan  and  Senator  Morgan,  from  the  United  States. 
On  the  five  questions  submitted  to  it,  the  Board  decided 
as  follows  :  (i)  By  the  treaty  of  1824  with  the  United  States 
and  by  that  of  1825  with  Great  Britain,  Russia  abandoned  the 
right  of  exclusive  jurisdiction  beyond  cannon-shot  from  shore, 
and  never  from  that  time  till  the  cession  of  Alaska  exercised  it. 
(2)  Great  Britain  never  recognized  Russian  claims  to  exclusive 
jurisdiction  outside  territorial  waters.  (3)  In  the  Anglo-Rus 
sian  treaty  of  1825  the  term  "  Pacific  Ocean"  included  Behring 
Sea.  (4)  At  the  cession  all  Russia's  rights  passed  to  the 
United  States  without  impairment  or  increase.  (5)  The  United 
States  had  no  right  to  the  protection  of  or  to  property  in  seals 
outside  the  ordinary  three-mile  limit.  Points  (3)  and  (4) 
were  decided  unanimously  ;  from  all  the  rest  Senator  Morgan 
and  from  (5)  Justice  Harlan  dissented.  The  Board  made 
happy  provisions  for  a  joint  police  of  Behring  Sea  by  Great 
Britain  and  the  United  States,  for  an  open  and  closed  fishing 
season,  and  for  the  careful  licensing  of  sealing  vessels.  Finally 
special  recommendations  were  offered  to  the  respective  govern 
ments  touching  measures  for  more  efficiently  protecting  the 
seals,  each  within  its  own  undoubted  jurisdiction. 


516 


CHAPTER   XVIII 

GENERAL   GRANT'S    FUNERAL— ANARCH 
ISM  IN  CHICAGO— STATE  CONSTI 
TUTIONS 


CLEVELAND'S  LETTER  TO  MRS.  GRANT. — GRANT  s  END. — THE  PRI 
VATE  FUNERAL. THE  BODY   IN     STATE  AT  ALBANY. IN    NEW  YORK 

CITY. CROWDS  AT    CITY    HALL. CATAFALQUE  AND    GUARD  OF 

HONOR. DISTINGUISHED     MEN     IN    PROCESSION. "  LET  US  HAVE 

PEACE." AT  AND  NEAR  THE  TOMB. THE  PROCESSION  ARRIVES. — 

THE  HERO  AT  REST. THE  STATUE  OF  LIBERTY  ENLIGHTENING  THE 

WORLD. ORIGIN  AND    DEVELOPMENT  OF  THE   SCHEME. THE  SITE 

PROVIDED. ARRIVAL  OF  THE  STATUE  IN  NEW  YORK  HARBOR. THE 

PROCESSION. RECEPTION  AT  CITY  HALL. THE  STATUE  IN  SITU. — 

THE  UNVEILING. THE  GREAT  SOUTHWESTERN  RAILWAY  STRIKE. — 

ORIGIN. VIOLENCE. EFFECTS. MARTIN  IRONS. THE  OLD  STORY. 

ANARCHISTS  IN  CHICAGO. MEETING   IN  HAYMARKET  SQUARE. — 

FIELDEN'S  SPEECH. — HIS  ARREST. — BOMBS. — THEIR  DEADLY  WORK. 

BRAVERY  OF  THE  POLICE. — SEVEN  MEN  INDICTED. THE  ALARM. 

THE    TRIAL    AND     THE     SENTENCES. — WERE    THE     CONDEMIIED 

GUILTY? — GOVERNOR  ALTGELD'S  PARDON. —  HIS  ARGUMENT  THERE 
FOR. H.  GEORGE  RUNS   FOR  MAYOR   OF  NEW  YORK. REVISION  OF 

STATE  CONSTITUTIONS. GEOGRAPHY  OF  THIS. CHARACTERISTICS 

OF  THE  NEW  INSTRUMENTS. —LEGISLATURES  BRIDLED  AND  THE  EX 
ECUTIVE  GIVEN  INCREASED    POWER.  —  CORPORATIONS. THE    JURY 

SYSTEM. TENDENCY  TOWARD  GOVERNMENT  BY  ADMINISTRATION. 

THE   AUSTRALIAN  BALLOT. SPIRIT  OF  SUFFRAGE    LAWS.  —  DIS- 

FRANCHISEMENT  OF  BLACKS  AT  THE  SOUTH. ALABAMA  DEMOCRACY 

WINS   BY  AID    OF  NEGROES.  —  THE    MISSISSIPPI    CONSTITUTION  OF 

1890. ITS  SUFFRAGE  PROVISIONS. UPHELD  IN  COURT.  —  INCREASE 

OF  NEGROES  QUALIFIED  TO  VOTE. THE  STRUGGLE  IN  SOUTH  CARO 
LINA. WADE    HAMPTON. REGISTRATION   ACT   OF  1882. JUDGE 

GOFF'S  INJUNCTION. DISSOLVED. THE    CONVENTION. THE  NEW 

CONSTITUTION. 

THE  elect  of  the  Solid  South,  and  determined  to  give  that 
section  its  rights,  Mr.  Cleveland   yet  took  every  occa 
sion  to  recognize  the  results  of  the  war,  and  to   honor   those 
who  had  made  it  successful.     On  learning  of  General  Grant's 
death,  he,  on  July  23,  1885,  wrote  Mrs.  Grant: 

517 


THE  UNITED  STATES  IN  OUR  OWN  TIME 

"  MY  DEAR  MADAM  :  Obeying  the  dictates  of  my  per 
sonal  feelings,  and  in  accord  with  what  I  am  sure  is  the  uni 
versal  sentiment  of  his  fellow-countrymen  toward  your  late 
husband,  I  am  solicitous  that  every  tribute  of  respect  and 
affection  should  be  duly  rendered,  and  with  constant  considera 
tion  of  your  personal  wishes  on  the  subject.  Adjutant-General 
Richard  C.  Drum  is  charged  with  the  delivery  of  this  note,  and 
will  receive  and  convey  to  me  any  intimation  of  the  wishes  of 
yourself  and  your  children  in  respect  to  the  selection  of  the 
place  of  burial  and  conduct  of  the  funeral  ceremonies,  and  the 
part  which  may  be  borne  by  those  charged  with  the  administra 
tion  of  the  government.  With  sincere  condolence, 
"  Your  friend  and  servant, 

"  GROVER  CLEVELAND." 

For  months,  intense  suffering  had  been  General  Grant's 
lot,  but  he  bore  it  in  a  hero's  way.  Never  before  had  his  char 
acter  seemed  so  admirable  as  in  this  battle  with  disease,  in 
which  he  was  doomed  to  fall.  No  word  of  complaint  escaped 
him.  Work  upon  his  "  Memoirs,"  whose  sale — such  his  pov 
erty — he  expected  to  be  his  family's  sole  source  of  support 
when  he  was  gone,  he  persistently  kept  up  till  four  days  before 
the  end.  His  protracted  affliction  made  the  Silent  Man  seem 
each  one's  next  of  kin.  All  that  had  been  out  of  order  in  his 
administration  of  the  Presidency  was  forgotten,  men's  thoughts 
gliding  kindly  back  to  the  days  of  his  immortal  deeds  in  the 
field.  When  it  was  known  that  he  was  gone,  the  entire  nation 
bent  over  his  bier  in  tears,  every  household  in  the  land,  North 
and  South,  feeling  itself  bereaved.  Southern  cities  half-masted 
their  flags  in  Grant's  honor,  Southern  legislatures  passed  reso 
lutions  speaking  his  praises  and  adjourned  out  of  respect  for 
him.  Even  Jefferson  Davis  unbent  for  a  moment,  uttering 
about  the  deceased  commander  a  greater  number  of  kindly 
words  than  the  public  had  heard  from  him  before  in  twenty-five 
years. 

518 


GEN.  GRANT'S  FUNERAL 

The  death  had  occurred  at  Mount  McGregor,  near  Sara 
toga.  The  private  funeral  services  were  performed  at  that 
place  on  August  4th  ;  and  the  same  day  a  heavily  draped 
railway  train  without  bell  or  whistle  bore  the  remains  to  Albany, 
where,  from  the  evening  of  August  4th  till  10.30  A.M.,  August 
5th,  the  body  lay  in  state  at  the  Capitol.  It  was  here  viewed 
by  over  seventy-seven  thousand  persons.  The  public  funeral 
took  place  in  New  York  City  on  August  8th — the  most  im 
posing  spectacle  of  the  kind  ever  seen  in  America.  Business 
was  suspended.  Crowds  poured  in  from  all  the  neighboring 
States,  every  train  and  steamer  being  packed  to  its  utmost 
capacity.  Positions  convenient  for  surveying  the  procession 
sold  for  as  much  as  fifty  dollars  apiece.  City  Hall,  the  im 
mense  pillars  and  winding  stairs  of  its  vestibule  impressively 
draped  in  black,  received  the  coffin,  and  through  its  iron  por 
tals  for  hours  flowed  a  steady  stream  in  double  columns  of 
twos.  It  was  thought  that  from  the  opening  to  the  closing  of 
the  gates,  nearly  or  quite  three  hundred  thousand  people  gazed 
upon  the  corpse. 

-As  day  broke,  August  8th,  was  heard  the  first  of  the 
dirges  that  till  sunset  were  at  no  moment  intermitted.  The 
sound  came  nearer  and  nearer,  till  five  hundred  veterans  of 
Meade  Post,  Grand  Army  of  the  Republic,  came  in  sight. 
Soon  old  Trinity's  grave  chimes  pealed  forth.  At  seven, 
notes  of  mourning  from  all  distances  and  directions  rose,  float 
ing  up  to  the  barred  gates  behind  which  lay  the  remains.  At 
8.50  General  Hancock  and  staff  slowly  entered  the  plaza,  first 
presenting  front  to  City  Hall  in  honor  of  the  dead,  and  then 
facing  Broadway,  prepared  to  lead  the  solemn  march.  At 
9.35  the  funeral  car  approached,  drawn  by  twenty-four  jet- 
black  horses,  a  colored  man  at  each  bridle.  Twelve  soldiers 
who  had  formed  the  Guard  of  Honor  at  Mount  McGregor, 
reverently  lifted  the  casket  upon  the  car,  which,  as  it  moved, 
was  flanked  by  veterans. 

The  procession,  eight  miles  long,  wended  up   Broadway 

519 


THE  UNITED  STATES  IN  OUR  OWN  TIME 


The   Grant  Funeral — The  Arrival  at  the  Toml 


between  lines  of  old  soldiers — flags  veiled,  drums  muffled  and 
arms  reversed.  The  Grant  family,  except  Mrs.  Grant,  who 
was  unable  to  be  present,  followed  in  four  carriages,  succeeded 
by  the  General's  old  staff,  his  Cabinet  officers,  and  detachments 
from  Grand  Army  Posts.  Members  of  the  Aztec  Club,  sur 
vivors  of  the  Mexican  War,  formed  a  group.  President  Cleve 
land  rode  with  Secretary  Bayard,  and  they  were  followed  by 
the  Vice-President  and  the  Cabinet,  the  Supreme  Court  Jus 
tices,  United  States  Senators,  and  a  Committee  of  the  House. 
Governor  Hill  and  his  suite  and  a  Committee  of  the  State 
Legislature  were  of  the  cortege,  also  gentlemen  who  had  occu 
pied  diplomatic  and  consular  offices  under  Grant  while  Presi 
dent.  Besides  all  these  were  official  guests  filling  a  hundred 
and  fifty  carriages.  Over  the  ashes  of  the  man  who  had  said  : 
"  Let  us  have  peace,"  all  bitter  memories  were  forgotten. 
Speaker  Carlisle  and  ex-Speaker  Randall  rode  with  Congress 
men  Hiscock  and  Reed,  Senator  Morrill  with  Senator  Cockrell, 
Sherman  with  Ransom,  Ingalls  with  Harris.  Famous  Con 
federates,  distinguishable  by  their  gray  silk  sashes,  fraternized 


520 


THE  NAVAL   DISPLAY 

with  Federal  chieftains.  Generals  Joe  Johnston  and  Buckner 
officiated  with  Sherman,  Sheridan  and  Logan  among  the  pall 
bearers.  Three  other  gallant  Southerners,  Wade  Hampton, 
Fitzhugh  Lee  and  Gordon,  were  also  present  at  the  funeral. 

The  tomb  had  been  prepared  in  the  upper  city,  near  the 
North  River  and  within  sight  of  the  Palisades.  Directly  op 
posite  it  that  day  lay  the  Despatch,  bearing  the  Rear- Admiral's 
pennant ;  near  her  the  Powbatan,  guns  gazing  from  her  ports  ; 
also  the  Omaha,  the  Swatara  and  the  Alliance.  The  vessels  had 
their  yards  "  a-cockbill  "  —obliquely  set  in  token  of  mourning. 
Their  brass  and  steel  fittings,  their  holystoned  decks  and  the 
accoutrements  of  their  marines  shone  in  the  bright  sun.  On 
land,  too,  wherever  you  looked,  were  brilliant  uniforms  and 
trappings,  plumed  cavalrymen  and  artillerists,  burnished  can 
non,  and  bodies  of  infantry  with  rifles  stacked  in  sheaves. 

Shortly  after  two,  trumpets  heralded    General  Hancock 


THE  UNITED  STATES  IN  OUR  OWN  TIME 


GRANT  TOMB  JUST  PREVIOUS  TO  COMPLETION 
Dra-wn  from  nature  by  Otto  H.  Backer 

and  staff.  Sweeping  past  the  tomb,  they  drew  rein  beneath 
trees  a  hundred  yards  north.  Soon  a  thunder-peal  from  the 
Powbatan  shook  the  bluff,  being  returned,  multiplied,  from  the 
Jersey  shore.  The  salute  was  repeated  at  intervals.  A  little 
after  four  another  strain  of  trumpets  was  heard  ;  then  the  sound 
of  muffled  drums,  announcing  the  approach  of  the  catafalque. 
Infantry  companies  which  had  escorted  it  formed  a  hollow 
square  between  it  and  the  tomb,  and  to  the  middle  of  this  the 
body  about  to  be  laid  away  was  transferred.  The  family 
mourners,  alighting,  stood  nearest,  then  General  Hancock, 
with  President  Cleveland,  Vice-President  Hendricks  and  mem 
bers  of  the  Cabinet.  Close  to  the  head  of  the  bier  were  Gen- 
erals  Sherman  and  Sheridan,  ex- Presidents  Arthur  and  Hayes, 
Admiral  Porter,  General  Fitzhugh  Lee,  General  Gordon  and 
General  Buckner.  Representatives  from  Meade  Post  circled  the 
casket  and  went  through  the  Grand  Army  ritual,  after  which 
came  the  burial  service  of  the  Methodist  Episcopal  Church.  At 
the  close  of  this  "Tattoo"  was  sounded,  ending  the  ceremonies, 
save  that  three  volleys  of  musketry  and  as  many  of  artillery 
were  let  off  while  the  Grant  family  re-entered  their  carriages. 


522 


LIBERTY  ENLIGHTENING  THE  WORLD 

The  burial  of  ex- President  Grant  had  been  immediately 
preceded  by  a  pleasant  event  of  international  interest.  June 
19,  1885,  the  New  York  Aldermanic  Chamber,  late  witness  of 
the  presidential  count,  might  have  been  seen  tricked  out  with 
our  red,  white  and  blue,  and  with  the  French  tricolor,  to  wel 
come  the  bringers  of  Bartholdi's  statue  of  Liberty  Enlightening 
the  World,  presented  by  Frenchmen  to  the  people  of  America. 
M.  Bartholdi  had  conceived  this  enterprise  before  the  Second 
Empire  fell.  Obeying  a  hint  of  M.  Laboulaye  touching 
American  love  for  Lafayette,  he  wished  that  French  and  Amer 
ican  effort  might  erect  a  monument  typical  at  once  of  American 
independence  and  of  liberty  itself.  Soon  after  the  re-establish 
ment  of  the  Republic,  a  French- American  Union  was  formed 
in  France  to  realize  this  idea.  Bartholdi's  plan  being  approved, 
a  popular  subscription  from  100,000  Frenchmen  brought  in 
more  than  $200,000,  the  cost  of  the  statue,  to  which  Americans 
added  $300,000  for  base  and  pedestal.  The  United  States 
set  apart  as  the  site  of  the  statue  Bedloe's  Island,  now  Liberty 
Island,  in  New  York  Harbor,  occupied  since  early  in  the  cen 
tury  by  the  star  fort  which  forms  so  suitable  a  part  of  the  base 
beneath  the  statue.  Upon  the  soil  of  the  island  was  laid  a  solid 
block  of  concrete,  the  largest  in  the  world,  90  feet  square  at 
the  bottom,  65  at  the  top,  and  52  feet  high,  and  this  was  sur 
rounded  by  a  concrete  arch  covered  with  turf.  Above  rose  the 
masonry  of  the  pedestal  proper,  with  huge,  rough-hewn  quoins. 

The  work  of  art  was  formally  made  over  to  our  Minister 
in  Paris  on  July  4th.  When  the  Isere,  bearing  it,  approached 
our  shores,  Senator  Evarts,  chairman  of  the  Pedestal  Commit 
tee,  Mayor  Grace,  the  French  Consuls  of  New  York  and 
Chicago,  with  many  invited  guests,  steamed  down  to  meet  her. 
The  naval  progress  up  the  harbor  was  led  by  the  Despatch^ 
with  Secretary  Whitney  on  board.  Other  American  men-of- 
war  followed,  behind  them  the  French  frigate  F/ore,  and  then 
the  Isere,  with  an  American  vessel  on  each  side.  Over  a  hun 
dred  excursion  boats,  big  and  little,  sail  and  steam,  brought  up 

523 


THE  UNITED  STATES  IN  OUR  OWN  TIME 


the  rear.  Clouds  of  smoke  and  incessant  thunder  from  the 
forts  reminded  one  of  the  Yorktown  celebration.  This  noise 
gave  place  to  a  bedlam  of  shrill  steam  whistles  when  the  fleet 
reached  Bedloe's  Island.  Here  the  American  Committee  and 
their  French  guests  landed,  while  French  choral  societies  of 
three  hundred  voices  sang  the  Marseillaise  and  Hail  Columbia. 
All  then  crossed  to  the  Battery,  whence  a  grand  procession 
moved  to  City  Hall.  Three  regiments  of  the  New  York  State 
Guard,  sixteen  hundred  strong,  mounted  policemen,  delega 
tions  from  the  Chamber  of  Commerce  and  other  New  York 
bodies,  prominent  residents,  the  aldermen,  with  Admiral  La- 
combe,  Captain  De  Saune,  and  other  guests  of  honor,  were 
formally  of  the  procession,  while  thousands  upon  thousands 
of  on-lookers  moved  as  it  moved.  Roofs  and  windows  along 
the  line  were  densely  filled.  In  the  Governor's  Room  at  City 
Hall  a  lunch  was  served  to  the  guests.  Over  the  old-fashioned 
desk  once  used  by  Washington  was  his  full-length  portrait, 
vis-a-vis  with  that  of  Lafayette.  The  table  bore  a  model  of 
the  Isere,  also  one  of  the  statue  on  its  pedestal,  and  an  em 
blematic  figure  of  France  wearing  a  tricolor  cap  and  bearing 
a  French  flag.  At  the  formal  reception,  in  the  chambers,  a 
number  of  addresses  were  made. 

The  goddess  was  not  unveiled 
till  October,  1886.  When  in  place 
she  stood  151  feet  high,  the  tip  of 
her  torch  extending  305  feet  above 
low  water.  Her  weight  was  440,- 
ooo  pounds.  Beside  her  the  Colos 
sus  of  Rhodes  would  seem  a  good- 
sized  boy.  The  statue's  only  rivals 
in  size  were  certain  figures  in  India 
cut  from  the  living  rock,  but  they 
were  hardly  works  of  art  or  of  en 
gineering.  The  frame  consisted  of 

?          '     l 

four   heavy  corner-posts,  joined   by 


FREDERIC  AUGUSTE 


524 


THE  UNVEILING 


horizontal  and  diagonal  braces.  The  contour  was  approxi 
mated  by  similarly  braced  struts,  with  a  flying  truss  to  support 
the  arm.  The  cuticle  was  of  copper  plates  3-32  inches  thick, 
strengthened  by  iron  strips  on  the  inside. 

In  contrast  with  the  bright  June  day  of  her  arrival,  the  day 
for  the  unveiling  was  chilly  and  drizzling,  mud  smearing  the 
streets  and  mist  lying  over  the  harbor.  From  a  shelterless  plat 
form  at  Madison  Square  President  Cleveland  and  his  Cabinet 
reviewed  a  procession  twenty  thousand  strong  as  it  marched 
to  the  Battery.  The  sidewalks  were  packed  with  humanity 
in  two  solid  columns.  Simultaneously  with  this  pageant  a 
grand  naval  parade  of  nearly  three  hundred  vessels,  led  by 
French  and  American  men-of-war,  wended  toward  Bedloe's 
Island,  where  at  last,  though  with  face  still  hidden,  stood  the 
goddess,  beautiful  indeed.  Afternoon  saw  the  island  crowded 
with  distinguished  guests.  The  head  of  the  French  Cabinet, 
the  Minister  of  Public  Instruction,  members  of  the  Senate 
and  Chamber  of  Deputies  and  the  Vice-President  of  the  Paris 
Municipal  Council  were  of  the  number.  Comte  de  Lesseps 
spoke  for  France,  when  Senator  Evarts,  in  a  more  extended 
address,  delivered  the  statue  to  the  President  as  representing 
the  people.  When  M.  Bartholdi  re 
moved  the  veil  cannon  roared  on  every 
side.  President  Cleveland  in  a  few 
words  accepted  the  gift.  Addresses  by 
M.  Lefevre  and  Hon.  Chauncey  M. 
Depew  followed.  Unfortunately  the 
weather  prevented  the  intended  pyro 
technic  display  in  the  evening,  though 
the  harbor  craft  were  all  illuminated. 

The  year  1886  brought  several  labor 
movements  which  had  grave  political 
and  social  significance.  The  Texas 
Pacific  Railroad  was  a  bankrupt  corpo 
ration  in  the  custody  of  the  United 


TERENCE    y.   POWDERLY 
From  a  f  holograph  by  Kuebler 


527 


THE  UNITED  STATES  IN  OUR  OWN  TIME 

States  Courts.  Its  receiver  having  refused  to  re-employ  a 
dismissed  foreman,  the  Executive  of  the  Knights  of  Labor, 
in  March,  ordered  the  employes  to  quit  work.  The  strike 
rapidly  spread  over  the  entire  Gould  system  in  the  Southwest, 
Missouri  Pacific  employes  making  common  cause  with  the 
original  strikers.  St.  Louis  was  the  storm-centre.  Here  vio 
lence  and  terrorism  were  rife,  and  United  States  troops  had 
to  be  sent  to  restore  and  keep  the  peace.  April  yth  and  9th 
bloody  riots  occurred,  fatal  to  several  and  destroying  vast 
amounts  of  property.  A  crowd  of  three  or  four  hundred 
persons  gathered  on  a  bridge  near  the  Louisville  and  Nash 
ville  Railroad  crossing,  which  was  guarded  by  eight  special 
deputies  brought  from  distant  points.  Taunts  were  freely 
thrown  at  them,  especially  at  one  who  was  conspicuous  on 
account  of  his  tall  figure,  surmounted  by  a  shock  of  red  hair. 
He  was  counselled  to  go  shoot  himself.  Instead,  he  advanced 
and  dragged  forth  his  tormentor,  whereupon  a  tumult  ensued, 
and  all  the  small  boys  set  up  the  cry  of  "  Rats  !  "  The  other 
deputies,  furious,  all  followed  the  example  of  the  red-haired 
one  when  he  levelled  his  gun  at  the  crowd.  Some  one  called 
out,  "  Don't  shoot ! "  but  the  response  was  a  volley  that 
felled  five  men  and  a  woman.  Now  panic-stricken  in  their 
turn,  the  deputies  sought  safety  in  the  jail,  one  in  his  flight 
killing  still  another  man.  The  wrathful  populace  dispersed 
to  secure  arms,  and,  once  more  assembling,  were  about  to 
advance  upon  the  jail.  This  violence  was  avoided  and  many 
lives  saved  by  the  leaders  of  the  Knights  of  Labor,  who 
hastened  to  the  spot  and  implored  the  people  to  make  no 
unlawful  demonstrations.  That  evening,  however,  some  $50- 
ooo  worth  of  property  was  destroyed  by  incendiarism.  Per 
ishable  goods  spoiled,  the  St.  Louis  flour  industry  was 
stopped,  and  the  price  of  provisions  greatly  increased. 
When  coal  rose  from  $5.50  to  $40  a  ton,  factories  of  all 
descriptions  had  to  shut  down. 

At  last,  some  agreement  being  reached,  General   Master 

528 


MARTIN  IRONS  ASSUMES  THE  LEAD 

Workman  Powderly,  of  the  Knights,  ordered  work  resumed; 
but  feeling  had  become  so  bitter  that  in  St.  Louis  his  man 
date  was  disobeyed.  Martin  Irons,  head  of  the  St.  Louis 
Knights,  assumed  the  leadership  and  kept  the  conflict  raging 
for  some  time.  Congress  raised  a  committee  to  investigate 
the  strike,  and  before  this,  in  the  course  of  time,  Irons  came. 
He  had  been  born  in  Scotland  in  1832,  arriving  in  America 
when  fourteen.  For  years  he  was  a  rover,  but  at  length 
settled  at  Sedalia,  Mo.,  near  Jesse  James's  old  camping  ground. 
His  ultra  policies,  much  more  than  his  ability,  had  made  him 
a  labor  leader.  It  was  "  a  weak,  irresolute,  half-cunning, 
half-frightened  face,  that  he  turned  toward  the  committee. 
He  wore  a  dirty  white  shirt  and  a  dirty  white  collar  held  in 
its  place  by  a  brass  stud.  An  imitation  diamond  relieved  the 
discolored  area  of  his  shirt-front,  and  a  heavy  brass  watch- 
chain  dangled  from  his  unbuttoned  vest.  His  first  act  after 
taking  his  seat  was  to  draw  a  spittoon  toward  him  and  take  a 
huge  quid  of  tobacco,  which  he  chewed  heavily  while  he  lis 
tened  to  Chairman  Curtin's  opening  address  to  him."  Irons 
and  many  more  were  examined.  It  was  the  old  story  :  hot 
heads  of  a  lax  labor  organization  making  rash  demands  ;  stiff 
capitalists  readier  to  die  than  yield  a  point.  The  strike  worse 
than  failed  of  its  purpose,  at  least  of  its  immediate  purpose. 
It  was  estimated  that  the  strikers  lost  $900,000  in  wages,  and 
non-striking  employes  deprived  of  work  not  less  than  $500,- 
ooo.  The  Missouri  Pacific,  it  was  thought,  lost  nearly 
$3,000,000. 

Serious  as  was  this  disturbance,  it  was  temporarily  for 
gotten  in  the  more  sombre  event  which  occurred  in  Chicago 
on  the  very  evening  when  the  Southwestern  strike  terminated. 
Chicago  labor  organizations  had  recently  started  a  movement  to 
secure  the  adoption  of  an  eight-hour  labor  day.  Forty  thou 
sand  workmen  struck  to  enforce  the  demand,  in  efforts  to 
withstand  which  some  workmen  had  been  shot  by  police  and 
by  Pinkerton  detectives.  On  the  evening  of  May  3d  was 

529 


THE  UNITED  STATES  IN  OUR  OWN  TIME 


Drawn  by  Orson  Lowell 
"WE   ARE   PEACEABLE" 
the  Tragedy  in  Haymarket  Square,  Chicago.      The  scene  during  Fielden" s  speech  just   before  the 

announced  a  public  indignation  meeting  for  next  day  in  Hay- 
market  Square,  which  "  good  speakers  "  would  address.  On 
Tuesday  some  1,400  workmen  assembled.  Most  of  the  ad 
dresses  were  comparatively  mild  in  tone,  but  about  ten  o'clock, 
after  the  Mayor  had  gone  and  part  of  the  audience  dis 
persed,  Samuel  Fielden  gave  utterance  to  vehement  incen 
diary  remarks :  "  John  Brown,  Jefferson,  Washington,  Pat 
rick  Henry  and  Hopkins  said  to  the  people  :  '  The  law  is 

530 


A  DEADLY  BOMB  IS  THROWN 


your  enemy.  We  are  rebels  against  it.'  The  skirmish  lines 
have  met.  The  people  have  been  shot.  You  have  been 
robbed,  and  you  will  be  starved  into  a  worse  condition."  At 
this  point  a  body  of  about  180  policemen  marched  up.  Halt 
ing  within  a  few  feet  of  the  speaker,  Captain  Ward  said  :  "  I 
command  you,  in  the  name  of  the  People  of  the  State  of  Illi 
nois,  to  immediately  and  peaceably  disperse."  Fielden  said, 
"  We  are  peaceable."  He  was  arrested. 

As  the  police  were  carrying  him  off  a  gleaming  missile 
was  seen  to  curve  in  the  air  and  fall  among  them.  A  deafen 
ing  explosion  ensued,  and  a  third  of  their  number  fell 
writhing,  seven  being  fatally  wounded.  "  Fall  in  ;  close 
up  !  "  The  officers  still  on  their  feet  obeyed  instantly,  and, 
not  knowing  the  extent  of  the  disaster  or  whether  the 
cowardly  attack  would  be  repeated,  dashed  against  the  mob, 
of  whom  over  fifty  fell, 
the  rest  fleeing.  Such 
magnificent  courage  in 
the  presence  of  a  sudden, 
mysterious  and  horrible 
danger,  of  a  nature  spe 
cially  calculated  to  breed 
panic,  won  for  the  Chi 
cago  police  force  admira 
tion  at  home  and  abroad. 
Army-disciplined  gen 
darmerie  or  regular 
troops  could  have  be 
haved  no  better.  The 
Chicago  people  did  well 
to  commemorate  the 
deed  with  a  monument. 
A  storm  of  wrath  fell 

,          A  ,    .  ,  HATMARKET  SQUARE,  LOOKING  EAST, 

upon  the  Anarchists,  who      shnoing  tht  Statue  Erected  in  Memory  ofthe  Murdered  Poiice. 

Ill  r  1  f  (The  bomb  was  thrown  from  the  alley  just   behind   the  centre 

had    thus    for    the    first        ending  on  /<•//.) 


531 


THE  UNITED  STATES  IN  OUR  OWN  TIME 


time  tried  their  methods  in  America.  The  actual  thrower 
of  the  bomb  was  probably  Rudolph  Schnaubelt ;  but  by 
shaving  off  his  beard  immediately  after  the  event  he  avoided 
identification,  though  twice  arrested,  and  finally  escaped 
to  unknown  parts.  Excitement  was  increased  by  the  dis 
covery  in  Cincinnati  of  Anarchists  to  the  number  of  600, 
organized  and  armed  with  rifles.  Efforts  were  redoubled  to 
bring  the  heads  of  the  Chicago  conspiracy  to  justice.  The 
bomb  used  was  probably  the  production  of  Louis  Lingg,  who 
all  the  afternoon  before  the  riot  had,  with  his  assistants,  been 
filling  bombs  similar  to  the  one  thrown.  Besides  Lingg  seven 
other  men  were  indicted,  connected  with  two  Anarchist  sheets, 
The  Alarm^  Albert  R.  Parsons's  paper,  and  the  Arbeiter 
Zeitung,  conducted  by  Augustus  Spies.  An  extract  from  the 
Alarm  read  as  follows:  "DYNAMITE!  Of  all  the  good 
stuff,  this  is  the  stuff.  Stuff  several  pounds  of  this  sublime 
stuff  into  an  inch  pipe  (gas  or  water  pipe),  plug  up  both  ends, 
insert  a  cap  with  a  fuse  attached,  place  this  in  the  immediate 
neighborhood  of  a  lot  of  rich  loafers  who  live  by  the  sweat  of 
other  people's  brows,  and  light  the  fuse.  A  most  cheerful  and 

gratifying  result  will  follow.  The 
dear  stuff  can  be  carried  around 
in  the  pocket  without  danger, 
while  it  is  a  formidable  weapon 
against  any  force  of  militia, 
police  or  detectives  that  may 
want  to  stifle  the  cry  for  justice 
that  goes  forth  from  the  plun 
dered  slaves.  A  pound  of  this 
good  stuff  beats  a  bushel  of  bal 
lots  all  hollow,  and  don't  you 
forget  it."  When  this  passage 
was  read  in  court  the  accused 
seemed  greatly  amused  at  the 


JOSEPH  E.    GARY 


wit  of  it. 


532 


SENTENCED  AND  EXECUTED 

It  was  mainly  upon  such  extracts 
from  Anarchist  papers  that  the  prose 
cution  was  based.  As  accessories  before 
the  fact,  equally  guilty  with  the  un 
known  principal,  having  by  speech  and 
print  advised  the  commission  of  murder, 
Augustus  Spies,  Michael  Schwab,  Sam 
uel  Fielden,  Albert  R.  Parsons,  Adolph 
Fischer,  George  Engel  and  Louis  Lingg 
were,  on  August  20,  1886,  sentenced  to 
death.  Oscar  Neebe  was  sentenced  to  GOV-  7°HfNT,f.- 

of  Illinois 

fifteen     years'     imprisonment    at    hard 

labor.  With  the  approval  of  Judge  Gary  and  District  Attor 
ney  Grinnell,  Governor  Oglesby  commuted  Schwab's  and 
Fielden's  sentence  to  life  imprisonment.  Lingg  escaped  the 
gallows  by  suicide,  or,  as  his  friends  maintained,  by  murder  at 
the  hands  of  the  police,  a  bomb,  l?is  chosen  weapon,  being 
exploded  in  his  mouth.  Four  more  bombs  were  found  in  his 
cell.  Engel  failed  in  an  attempt  to  kill  himself  by  poison. 
In  November,  1887,  Engel,  Parsons,  Fischer  and  Spies  were 
hanged,  remaining  defiant  to  the  last.  Their  bodies  were 
buried  two  days  later.  A  procession  of  Anarchists  followed 
them  to  the  grave,  singing  the  Marseillaise  and  disporting  red 
ribbons. 

There  were  people  of  intelligence,  standing,  patriotism 
and  high  courage  who,  then  and  later,  differed  from  the  pre 
vailing  opinion  touching  the  proper  method  for  dealing  with 
the  convicted.  Some  believed  that  Anarchy  would  be  dis 
couraged  by  mildness  more  effectively  than  by  severity  ;  others 
thought  that  all  the  condemned,  though  guilty,  were  proper 
objects  of  executive  clemency  ;  still  others  were  convinced  that 
the  seven  were  unjustly  convicted.  One  of  the  ablest  practi 
tioners  at  the  Chicago  bar,  thoroughly  conversant  with  all  the 
proceedings  and  evidence,  years  after  the  event,  when  all  pas 
sion  had  subsided,  using  the  utmost  emphasis,  declared  it  a 

533 


THE  UNITED  STATES  IN  OUR  OWN  TIME 


perfectly  clear  and  indubitable  as  well  as  a  most  sad  and  dis 
graceful  case  of  judicial  murder.  Henry  D.  Lloyd,  of  Chicago, 
Mr.  Howells  and  many  others  thought  that  there  might  have 
been  guilt,  but  strongly  favored  clemency.  Even  Judge  Gary, 

who  presided  at  the  trial,  wrote  : 
"  In  copying  these  fierce  denuncia 
tions,  these  recitals  of  alleged  tyran 
ny  and  oppression,  these  seemingly 
pitying  descriptions  of  the  hard 
ships  and  wrongs  of  the  humble  and 
the  poor,  written  with  apparent  sin 
cerity  and  real  intellectual  ability,  I 
have  occasionally  lost  sight  of  the 
atrocity  of  the  advice  given  by  the 
Anarchists,  and  felt  a  sort  of  sym 
pathy  with  the  rioters  who  would 
have  praised  my  assassination  as  a 
virtuous  act."  Mr.  Black,  of  the 
counsel  for  the  defence,  was  deeply 
touched  by  what  he  considered  the 
wrongs  of  his  clients.  Speaking  at 
the  graves  of  the  executed,  he  con 
fessed  that  he  "  loved  these  men  " 
when  he  came  to  know  "of  their  love 
for  the  people,  of  their  patience, 
gentleness  and  courage." 

Between  eight  and  nine  years 
after  the  Haymarket  riot,  Governor 
Altgeld,  of  Illinois,  pardoned  the 
three  Anarchists  still  in  the  peniten 
tiary,  bringing  upon  himself  un 
measured  and  lasting  condemnation, 
increased  by  the  fact  that  he  chdse  for  his  act  the  day  of  the 
dedication  of  a  monument  to  the  dead  Anarchists.  His 
Excellency  declared  that  the  pardon  was  not  mercy,  for 

534 


ABRAM  S.  HEH'ITT 


ALTGELD  DEFENDS  HIS  PARDON 

which  there  was  no  place,  but  tardy  justice.  He  said: 
"  If  the  defendants  had  a  fair  trial,  and  nothing  has  devel 
oped  since  to  show  that  they  are  not  guilty  of  the  crime 
charged  in  the  indictments,  then  there  ought  to  be  no  exe 
cutive  interference,  for  no  punishment  under  our  laws  could 
then  be  too  severe.  Government  must  defend  itself,  life  and 
property  must  be  protected,  and  law  and  order  maintained. 
Murder  must  be  punished,  and,  if  the  defendants  are  guilty  of 
murder,  either  committed  with  their  own  hands  or  by  some  one 
else  acting  on  their  advice,  then,  if  they  have  had  a  fair  trial, 
there  should  be  in  this  case  no  executive  interference."  He 
insisted  that  the  men  had  not  been  legally  convicted.  Their 
conviction  proceeded  solely  upon  the  ground  that  they  had  in  a 
general  way,  by  speech  and  print,  advised  classes,  not  particu 
lar  individuals,  to  commit  murder,  and  that,  in  consequence  of 
such  advice  somebody  not  known  threw  the  bomb.  There  was 
no  evidence  whatever  that  any  of  the  accused  threw  it,  or  that 
the  one  doing  so,  whoever  he  was,  ever  read  or  heard  a  word 
that  proceeded  from  the  mouth  or  pen  of  any  of  the  accused. 
Governor  Altgeld  was  thought  by  many  to  have  established 
the  facts  that  the  jury  was  prejudiced,  and  that  their  admis 
sion  to  the  panel,  as  also  the  principle  upon  which  conviction 
was  had,  was  a  legal  novelty.  He  charged  that  the  jury  was 
packed,  and  the  judge  not  judicial  in  conducting  the  trial  or  in 
delivering  sentence.  He  suggested  that  the  murder  was  not 
upon  the  seditious  advice  of  those  obscure  Anarchist  sheets, 
but  was  an  act  of  personal  retaliation  for  some  of  the  several 
instances  of  police  or  Pinkerton  shooting  and  brutality  which 
he  alleged. 

In  1886,  labor  strife  stirred  New  York  City  as  well  as 
Chicago.  Here,  in  June,  Johann  Most  and  three  other 
Anarchists  were  convicted  of  inciting  to  riot  and  imprisoned. 
Several  members  of  labor  unions  were  also  sentenced  for  boy 
cotting.  The  same  year  Henry  George  ran  as  Labor  candi 
date  for  the  office  of  mayor,  polling  nearly  seventy  thousand 

535 


THE  UNITED  STATES  IN  OUR  OWN  TIME 

votes.  In  this  campaign  the  foreign  element  for  once  deserted 
Tammany.  To  stem  such  adverse  tide  the  braves  nominated 
Abram  S.  Hewitt,  a  gentleman  of  courage,  ability  and  integ 
rity.  It  thus  came  to  pass  that  one  of  the  best  mayors  New 
York  ever  had  was  the  official  choice  of  Tammany  Hall. 
Never  previously  had  he  been  in  even  ostensible  alliance  with 
that  body,  and  he  was  not  so  afterward.  Indeed,  he  was  one 
of  the  famous  1894  Committee  of  Seventy,  of  whose  work 
the  reader  will  learn  later. 

The  exigencies  of  the  race  war  at  the  South,  various  new 
forms  of  civil  disorder  everywhere,  and  the  useless  and  archaic 
nature  of  many  provisions  in  the  old  instruments,  led  to  a 
pretty  general  revision  of  State  Constitutions.*  The  New  Eng 
land  States,  indeed,  continued  to  live  under  constitutions 
adopted  before  the  civil  war,  modified,  however,  in  most 
instances,  by  extensive  amendments.  Delaware,  New  Jersey 
and  New  York  were  equally  conservative,  as  also  the  group 
of  noble  States  next  to  the  westward  :  Ohio,  Indiana,  Michi 
gan  and  Wisconsin.  Of  the  more  westerly  States  only  Kan- 

*STATE  CONSTITUTION-MAKING   SINCE   1861. 

Provisional  Government     Reconstruction      Present  Constitution 

entered  upon  Act  adopted  adopted 

Alabama          ....       1865  1867  1875 

Arkansas         ....       1864  1868  1874 

Florida             ....       1865  1868  1885 

Georgia            ....       1865  1868  1877 

Louisiana         .           .           .           .1864  1868 

Mississippi       ....      1868  1890 

North  Carolina         .          .          .      1868  1876 

South  Carolina          .          .          .      1865  1868  1895 

Texas 1866  1868  1876 

Virginia           .           .           .           .1864  1870 

None  of  the  eight  Provisional  Constitutions  were  recognized  by  Congress.  Doings  of  Seces 
sion  Conventions  are  not  considered  here.  Usually,  aside  from  the  article  of  secession,  they  made 
merely  verbal  changes  in  existing  instruments  and  did  not  submit  the  altered  Constitutions  to  the 
people.  Texas  did  this,  however.  Maryland  adopted  Constitutions  in  1864  and  1867.  Missouri 
ratified  anti-secession  amendments  in  1861—63;  renewed  her  Constitution  in  1865  and  1875. 
West  Virginia  made  her  first  separate  State  Constitution  in  1861-63,  her  present  one  in  1872. 
Tennessee,  in  convention,  ratified  the  anti-secessional  amendment  in  1865;  made  her  present  Con 
stitution  in  1870.  Kentucky  adopted  her  present  ground-law  in  1891. 

536 


CONSTITUTIONAL  GEOGRAPHY 

sas,  Iowa,  Minnesota  and  Oregon  remained  content  with 
ante-bellum  instruments.  Between  1864  and  1866  eight  of 
the  Southern  States  inaugurated  provisional  governments, 
which,  however,  were  not  recognized  by  Congress.  These 
were  succeeded  by  governments  under  the  reconstruction  acts. 
Alabama  underwent  this  change  in  1867;  Virginia  in  1870; 
the  rest  in  1868.  After  the  death  of  the  carpet-bag  govern 
ments  eight  of  the  ten  reconstruction  constitutions  were  over 
thrown  by  1896.  During  the  Quarter-Century  surveyed  in 
this  History  eleven  new  States  entered  the  Union,  of  which 
all  but  West  Virginia  and  Nebraska  retained  their  first  bases 
of  government.  In  some  of  these  cases  amendments  made 
were  so  pervasive  as  to  render  the  constitutions  in  effect 
new  documents.  Among  constitutional  conventions  the  most 
important  were  two  in  New  Hampshire,  1876  and  1889,  one 
in  New  York,  1894,  and  one  each  in  Missouri,  Tennessee, 
Mississippi  and  South  Carolina. 

Generally  speaking,  the  new  State  constitutions  reserved 
to  the  people  large  powers  formerly  granted  to  one  or  more 
among  the  three  departments  of  government.  They  dis 
played  a  very  strong  tendency  to  hold  the  legislature  in  check 

Northern  and  Western  States  have  since  1861  made  fundamental  laws  as  follows,  those 
marked  with  an  asterisk  being  first  constitutions  of  new  States:  Nevada  in  1864*;  Nebraska  in 
1867*  and  1875  5  Illinois  in  1870  5  Pennsylvania  in  1873  5  Colorado  in  1876*;  California  in 
18795  Montana  in  1889*5  North  Dakota  in  1889*5  South  Dakota  in  1889*5  Washington  in 
1889*5  Idaho  in  1889*5  Wyoming  in  1889*5  Utah  in  1895.* 

The  following  States  were  still  (1896)  under  constitutions  adopted  before  1861  :  Connecti 
cut's  document  hailed  from  1818,  Delaware's  from  1831.  This  State  was  to  hold  a  convention, 
Dec.  I,  1896.  Indiana's  Constitution  dated  from  18515  Iowa's  from  1846;  that  of  Kansas  from 
18595  that  of  Maine  from  18205  that  of  Massachusetts  from  17805  that  of  Michigan  from  18505 
that  of  Minnesota  from  1857.  This  State  proposed,  on  November  3,  1896,  to  vote  on  the  ques 
tion  of  holding  a  revising  convention.  New  Hampshire's  Constitution  had  come  down  from  17925 
but  conventions  for  amendments  were  held  in  1876  and  1889.  New  Jersey's  Constitution  was 
made  in  1844.  New  York  State  held  an  able  Constitutional  Convention  in  1894,  which  passed 
many  amendments.  Ohio  enacted  her  great  document  in  18515  Oregon  did  the  same  in  1857; 
Rhode  Island  in  18425  Vermont  in  17935  Wisconsin  in  1884. 

It  appears  from  the  above  that  from  the  opening  of  the  Civil  War  to  1896  the  ten  Seces 
sion  States  passed  twenty-six  constitutions;  five  other  Southern  States  eight;  and  certain  Northern  and 
Western  States  fourteen  more,  making  forty-eight  new  constitutions  in  all.  Of  this  total  eleven 
were  first  constitutions;  one  of  these  Southern  (W.  Va.  )  and  ten  Western. 

537 


THE  UNITED  STATES  IN  OUR  OWN  TIME 

by  more  minute  directions  and  restrictions  than  were  formerly 
usual.  The  new  constitutions  were  much  longer  than  earlier 
ones,  dealing  with  many  subjects  previously  left  to  statutes. 
Popular  distrust  of  legislatures  was  further  shown  by  provi 
sions  shortening  the  length  of  sessions,  making  sessions  bien 
nial,  forbidding  the  pledging  of  the  public  credit,  inhibiting 
all  private  or  special  legislation,  items  being  usually  specified, 
and  fixing  a  maximum  for  the  rate  of  taxation,  for  State  debts 
and  for  State  expenditures.  Many  new  requirements  were  laid 
down  to  be  observed  in  the  passing  of  laws,  such  as  printing 
the  bills,  reading  them  thrice,  the  yeas  and  nays  on  every  bill, 
an  absolute  majority  voting  yea,  inhibition  of  "  log-rolling  " 
or  the  joining  of  two  or  more  subjects  under  one  title,  and 
enactments  against  legislative  bribery,  lobbying  and  "  riders." 
It  was  the  legislative  rather  than  the  executive  branch  of  the 
government  that  was  snubbed.  The  Revolutionary  distrust  of 
the  executive  had  vanished.  Indeed,  there  had  appeared  a  quite 
positive  tendency  to  concentrate  responsibility  in  the  Exec 
utive,  causing  the  powers  of  governors  on  the  whole  con 
siderably  to  increase.  In  consequence  the  governor  now 
enjoyed  a  longer  term,  and  could  veto  items  or  sections  of 
bills,  but  he  commonly  shared  his  pardoning  power  with  a 
board.  By  the  ten  latest  constitutions  all  other  executive  of 
ficers  as  well  as  the  governor  were  created  directly  by  the 
people,  neither  appointed  by  the  governor  nor  elected  by  the 
legislature. 

The  newer  constitutions  and  constitutional  amendments 
paid  great  attention  to  the  regulation  of  corporations,  especially 
of  railroads.  Commissions  were  created  or  provided  for  to 
deal  with  railroads,  insurance,  agriculture,  lands,  prisons  and 
charities.  Restrictions  were  laid  upon  trusts,  monopolies  and 
lotteries.  Numerous  modifications  of  the  old  jury  system 
were  introduced.  Juries  were  made  optional  in  civil  cases,  and 
not  always  obligatory  in  criminal.  A  number  less  than  twelve 
was  sometimes  allowed,  and  a  unanimous  vote  sometimes 

538 


THE  AUSTRALIAN  BALLOT 

not  required.  Restrictions  were  enacted  respecting  the  hours 
of  labor,  the  regulation  of  factories,  the  alien  ownership  of 
land.  The  old  latitude  of  giving  and  receiving  by  inheritance 
was  trenched  upon  by  means  of  inheritance  taxes.  The 
curbing  of  the  legislature,  the  popular  election  of  executive 
officials,  civil  service  reform,  and  the  consequent  creation  of  a 
body  of  administrative  officials  with  clearly  defined  duties,  all 
seemed  to  betray  a  strong  tendency  toward  the  development 
of  an  administrative  system. 

A  chief  stronghold  of  political  corruption  was  assaulted 
from  1888  to  1894  by  an  energetic  and  hopeful  measure  known 
as  the  ''Australian"  or  secret  ballot.  It  took  many  forms  in 
different  States  ;  yet  the  essence  of  the  device  everywhere  was 
the  provision,  in  case  of  every  voter,  of  opportunity  to  prepare 
and  fold  his  ballot  in  a  stall  by  himself,  so  that  no  one  could 
dictate  or  determine  whom  he  should  vote  for,  or,  unless  freely 
told  by  him,  know,  subsequently,  whom  he  had  voted  for. 
The  State  of  Massachusetts  and  the  City  of  Louisville,  Ky., 
employed  the  new  system  in  1888.  Next  year  ten  States  en 
acted  similar  laws.  In  1890  four  more  followed,  and  in  1891 
fourteen  more.  By  1894,  when  the  impulse  had  largely  spent 
itself,  thirty-seven  States,  making  all  the  members  of  the 
Union  but  seven,  practised  the  Australian  ballot  system.  Of 
these  seven,  six  were  Southern  States,  which  framed  their 
election  laws  mainly  with  the  view  of  securing  white  domi 
nation. 

Antagonists  of  the  reform  dubbed  it  "  penal  colony 
reform"  and  "  Kangaroo  voting,"  but  failed  to  render  it  unpop 
ular,  although  some  States  weakened  its  good  effects  by  im 
perfect  or  ill-enforced  regulations.  An  official  ballot  replaced 
the  privately — often  dishonestly — prepared  party  ballots  for 
merly  hawked  all  about  each  polling  place  by  workers  of  the 
various  political  parties.  This  new  ballot  was  a  "  blanket."  It 
formed  a  conspectus  of  all  the  candidates  before  the  people, 
whether  by  regular  nomination  or  by  the  petition  of  a  required 

539 


THE  UNITED  STATES  IN  OUR  OWN  TIME 

percentage  of  the  voters.  The  arrangement  of  candidates' 
names  varied  in  different  States.  One  ticket  was  so  constructed 
as  to  make  it  easy  for  the  illiterate  or  the  straight-out  party 
man  to  mark  or  stamp  his  will  at  the  head  of  a  column  of  party 
candidates.  Another  made  voting  a  heavy  labor  for  the  igno- 
'rant,  but  a  delight  to  the  discriminating  independent. 

It  was  painful  to  observe  that  the  new  method  of  balloting 
failed  to  produce  by  any  means  the  excellent  results  expected 
of  it.  The  connivance  of  election  officials  and  of  corrupt  voters 
often  annulled  its  virtue  by  devices  growing  in  variety  and 
ingenuity  as  ward  politicians  became  better  acquainted  with  the 
reform  measure  which  had  been  forced  upon  them. 

In  the  North  and  West  the  tendency  of  the  new  funda 
mental  laws  was  to  widen  the  suffrage,  making  it,  for  males 
over  twenty-one  years  of  age,  almost  universal,  except  in 
voting  on  financial  bills.  The  right  of  women  to  vote,  espe 
cially  upon  local  matters,  was  more  and  more  recognized.  In 
Wyoming  and  Utah  women  equally  with  men  exercised  the 
suffrage  upon  all  matters.  There  was  also  some  drift  toward 
accepting  national  citizenship  as  a  basis  for  State  citizenship. 
Much  agitation  occurred  in  favor  of  minority  representation, 
and  inclination  appeared  in  certain  quarters  to  adopt  it  more 
or  less  completely. 

All  over  the  South  was  manifested  an  irresistible  move 
ment  toward  the  disfranchisement  of  the  blacks.  At  first  the 
cause  was  advanced  illegally,  by  force,  fraud  and  corruption  ; 
later,  legal  means,  decent  constitutional  and  statutory  subter 
fuges,  were  tried.  In  North  Carolina  and  Louisiana  local  col 
ored  majorities  were  rendered  impotent  by  weakening  local 
self-government.  In  Florida,  Tennessee,  Arkansas,  Missis 
sippi,  Georgia,  South  Carolina,  and  in  Virginia  till  1882,  proof 
of  payment  of  taxes,  notably  of  poll-taxes,  was  made  an  indis 
pensable  prerequisite  to  voting,  either  alone  or  as  an  alterna 
tive  for  an  educational  qualification.  Such  as  had  not  paid, 
or,  having  paid,  had  failed  to  preserve  or  to  bring  to  the  polls 

540 


RACIAL  STRIFE  IN  POLITICS 

their  receipts,  were  cut  off.  Alabama,  Arkansas,  Mississippi, 
Tennessee,  Florida,  Virginia  and  South  Carolina  surrounded 
registration  and  voting  with  complex  enactments.  An  educa 
tional  qualification,  often  very  elastic,  sometimes  the  voter's 
alternative  for  a  tax-receipt,  was  resorted  to  by  Alabama, 
Arkansas,  Mississippi,  Tennessee  and  South  Carolina. 

White  solidarity  yielding  with  time  to  party  factions, 
there  were  heard  in  North  and  South  Carolina,  Alabama  and 
Louisiana,  loud  allegations  that  this  side  or  that  had  availed 
itself  of  negro  votes  to  make  up  a  deficit,  or  had  turned 
the  enginery  of  vote-suppression  against  its  opponents'  white 
supporters.  A  populist  cartoon  in  a  St.  Louis  comic  paper 
pictured  the  Democratic  "  trump  card "  in  Alabama  as  the 
"ace  of  spades,"  the  device  on  the  card  being  the  face  of 
an  unsightly  denizen  of  "  the  black  belt."  There  was 
no  doubt  whatever  that,  at  the  election  referred  to,  the 
Democracy  was  saved  from  defeat  solely  by  the  agency  of 
colored  votes. 

Nowhere  was  the  color  line  more  sharply  drawn  than  in 
Mississippi.  The  blacks  were  numerous  there,  and,  unless 
controlled,  would  rule  and  ruin  the  State,  themselves  with  it. 
It  was  easy  for  the  whites  to  keep  them  in  check,  as  they 
had  done  for  years,  by  bribery  and  threats,  supplemented, 
when  necessary,  by  the  use  of  flogging  and  the  shot-gun.  But 
this  policy  gave  to  the  rising  generation  of  white  men  the 
worst  possible  sort  of  a  political  education.  What  meaning 
could  free  institutions  have  for  young  voters  who  had  never  in 
all  their  lives  seen  an  election  carried  save  by  these  vicious 
means  !  The  system  was  too  barbarous  to  continue.  A  new 
constitution  which  should  legally  eliminate  most  of  the  negro 
vote  was  the  alternative.  Pursuant  to  an  act  of  the  preceding 
legislature  a  constitutional  convention  of  131  Democrats,  2 
Republicans  and  i  Greenbacker, deliberated  in  Mississippi  from 
August  12  to  November  i,  1890.  Its  main  problem  was  to 
steer  between  the  Scylla  of  the  Fifteenth  Amendment  and  the 

541 


THE  UNITED  STATES  IN  OUR  OWN  TIME 


BENJAMIN  R.    TlLLMAN 


Charybdis  of  negro  domination,  in 
other  words,  legally  to  abridge  the 
negro  vote  so  as  to  insure  Caucasian 
supremacy  at  the  polls. 

The  new  "  Mississippi  plan"  finally 
evolved  for  its  main  features  a  registry 
tax  and  an  educational  qualification, 
all  adjustable  to  practical  exigencies. 
Each  voter  must,  by  the  February  pre 
ceding  election,  pay  a  poll-tax  of  at 
least  $2,  never  to  exceed  $3,  for  school 
purposes,  and  must  produce  to  the 
officers  conducting  the  election  satisfactory  evidence  of  having 
paid  said  poll-tax  and  all  other  legal  taxes.  The  voter  must  be 
registered  "  as  provided  by  law."  He  "  must  be  able  to  read 
any  section  of  the  Constitution  of  the  State,  to  understand  the 
same  when  read  to  him,  or  to  give  a  reasonable  interpretation 
thereof."  In  municipal  elections  electors  were  required  to  have 
"  such  additional  qualifications  as  might  be  prescribed  by  law." 
The  Constitution  was  not  submitted  to  the  people  for  ratifica 
tion.  On  this  ground,  and  as  violating  the  Act  of  Congress 
re-admitting  Mississippi,  the  instrument's  validity  was  attacked, 
but  decisively  sustained  by  the  State  Supreme  Court  in  1892. 
South  Carolina  followed  Mississippi  in  efforts  to  secure  a 
reasonable  Constitution,  holding  for  this  purpose  a  convention 
in  1895.  As  a  stimulus  to  education  the  Mississippi  Consti 
tution  had  worked  well.  A  negro  member  of  the  South  Car 
olina  Convention,  protesting  against  the  disfranchisement  of 
his  race,  after  remarking  that  the  scandals  of  the  reconstruc 
tion  era  no  more  proved  the  incapacity  of  the  negro  for  self- 
government  than  the  scandals  of  the  Tweed  regime  proved  the 
incapacity  of  the  whites,  said  :  "  Other  States  have  marched 
on  to  prosperity  while  you  are  trying  to  keep  down  the  negro. 
You  may  as  well  make  up  your  minds  that  the  negro  will  rise. 
He  will  not  be  crushed.  The  negro  will  rise  sooner  or  later, 

542 


SOUTH  CAROLINA   FOLLOWS  MISSISSIPPI 

crush  us  as  you  may.     He  cannot  be  kept  down  forever.    It  is 
not  in  the  nature  of  human  affairs." 

Events  in  Mississippi  in  a  measure  confirmed  these 
words.  The  Mississippi  negroes  who  got  their  names  on  the 
voting  list  rose  in  number  from  9,036  in  1892  to  16,965  in 
1895.  This  result  of  the  "  plan  "  displeased  some  South  Car 
olina  statesmen.  Said  one,  in  the  1895  Convention:  "  If  the 
white  men  of  South  Carolina  undertake  to  have  fair  elections 
they  will  be  left.  They  will  all  be  ruined.  I  do  not  want 
fair  elections  and  I  do  not  propose  to  vote  for  anything  which 
would  disfranchise  any  white  man.  As  to  the  educational 
qualification,  the  black  man  is  learning  faster  than  the  white 
man,  and  under  it  the  first  thing  we  know  we  will  all  be  left.  I 
am  utterly  opposed  to  giving  the  Republicans  one  manager  of 
elections.  We've  got  to  throw  'em  out.  In  my  county  there 
are  five  or  six  negroes  to  one  white.  If  this  law  is  passed  we'll 
be  left,  in  Berkeley." 

The  shade  of  negro  domination  which  Mississippi  con 
jured  away  by  her  new  Constitution,  haunted  South  Carolina  the 
more  the  more  her  ordinary  white  population  got  control  and 
the  "  Bourbons  "  were  set  aside.  The  progressive  Democ 
racy  of  the  State,  led  by  the  enterprising  Captain  Benja 
min  R.  Tillman,  who  became  Governor  and  then  Senator, 
early  determined  to  pursue,  touching  the  race  imbroglio,  the 
Mississippi  path.  A  few  Bourbons  protested,  but  in  vain. 
Consistently  with  his  record  Wade  Hampton  wrote  in  1895  : 
"  I,  for  one,  am  willing  to  trust  the  negroes.  They  ask  only 
the  rights  guaranteed  to  them  by  the  Constitution  of  the  United 
States  and  that  of  our  own  State.  (  Corruption  wins  not  more 
than  honesty;'  I  advocate  perfect  honesty, for  defeat  on  that  line 
is  better  than  victory  by  fraud."  The  ex-Governor  probably  did 
not  herein  voice  the  opinion  of  a  majority  even  of  the  aristoc 
racy,  who  had  retained  control  till  the  *9o's,  though  all  were  dis 
gusted  with  the  dangerous  paradox  of  having  to  support  honest 
government  by  a  makeshift  of  fraud,  perjury  and  murder. 

543 


THE  UNITED  STATES  IN  OUR  OWN  TIME 

At  any  rate,  he  was  hopelessly  out  of  accord  with  the 
progressive  elements  of  the  Democracy.  So  early  as  1882  a 
registration  act  was  passed,  which,  amended  in  1893  and  1894. 
compelled  registration  some  four  months  before  ordinary  elec 
tions  and  required  the  registry  certificate  to  be  produced  at 
the  polls.  Other  laws  made  the  road  to  the  ballot-box  a  lab 
yrinth,  wherein  not  only  most  negroes  but  also  some  whites 
were  lost.  The  multiple  ballot-boxes  alone  were  a  Chinese 
puzzle.  The  registration  act,  however,  was  especially  attacked 
as  repugnant  to  the  State  and  to  the  Federal  Constitution. 
It  imposed  electoral  qualifications  not  provided  for  or  contem 
plated  in  the  State  Constitution  and  contrary  to  its  express 
provisions.  It  was  alleged  to  antagonize  the  Federal  Con 
stitution  (i)  in  fixing  by  statute,  instead  of  by  State  con 
stitutions,  the  qualifications  for  electors  of  Federal  representa 
tives,  (2)  in  virtually  abridging  the  rights  of  United  States 
citizens  on  account  of  race,  color,  or  previous  condition  of 
servitude,  and  (3)  in  establishing  a  white  oligarchy  in  place  of 
a  republican  form  of  government.  Judge  GofF,  of  the  United 
States  Circuit  Court,  at  Columbus,  S.  C,  on  May  8,  1895, 
declared  this  registration  law  unconstitutional  and  enjoined 
the  State  from  taking  any  further  action  under  the  same. 
This  seemed  effectually  to  block  the  way  to  the  Constitutional 
Convention,  which  was  confidently  looked  to  to  place  the 
State  on  the  same  electoral  platform  with  Mississippi.  But 
all  things  come  to  those  who  wait. 

In  June  the  Court  of  Appeals  overruled  Judge  GofF, 
and  the  injunction  was  dissolved.  Very  little  interest  was 
taken  in  the  election  of  delegates,  some  polls  not  even  being 
opened;  from  others  five-sixths  of  the  voters  stayed  away. 
The  Conservatives  held  that  the  proposition  had  been  voted 
down  in  the  fall  of  1894,  but  the  Tillmanites,  being  in  author 
ity,  proclaimed  it  carried.  The  Convention,  which  assembled 
on  September  loth,  was  in  the  hands  of  Tillman's  followers, 
many  of  them  ready  to  go  greater  lengths  than  he.  Tillman 


544 


WHY  A  NEW  CONSTITUTION  ? 

said  in  the  Convention,  "  I  am  willing  to  give  the  good  deserv 
ing  white  man  and  black  man  who  cannot  read  or  write,  and 
who  has  not  $300  worth  of  property,  two  years  within  which 
to  be  registered  and  become  a  qualified  voter.  I  shall  use 
every  effort  within  my  power  to  banish  illiteracy  from  the 
land,  but  let  us  make  this  law  fixed  and  beyond  the  possibility 
of  fraud,  so  that  after  January  i,  1898,  every  honest  and 
intelligent  white  man  and  negro  can  vote,  if  he  can  read  or 
write,  or  has  $300  worth  of  property."  It  was  over  Tillman's 
protest  that  Republicans  were  excluded  from  the  registration 
boards. 

The  Greenville  News  said  the  object  of  the  Convention 
was  to  "provide  a  system  of  elections  which  would  give  a 
white  majority  of  from  20,000  to  40,000  without  disfranchising 
anybody  and  without  requiring  officers  of  election  to  be  ex 
perts  in  perjury,  fraud  and  cheating.'*  The  Charleston  News 
and  Courier  said:  "The  Constitutional  Convention  has  been 
called  to  accomplish  in  a  constitutional  way  the  overthrow  of 
negro  suffrage.  Nobody  tries  to  conceal  it,  nobody  seeks  to 
excuse  it.  It  is  not  meant  to  disfranchise  every  negro  in  this 
State — there  are  some  of  them  who  are  qualified  by  education 
and  property  to  vote — but  it  is  intended  that  every  colored 
voter  who  can  be  disfranchised  without  violating  the  higher 
law  of  the  United  States  Constitution  shall  be  deprived  of  the 
right  to  vote.  On  the  other  hand,  it  is  meant  to  disfranchise 
no  white  man,  except  for  crime,  if  any  way  can  be  found  to 
avoid  it  without  violating  the  United  States  Constitution." 
The  Philadelphia  Bulletin,  a  Republican  paper,  noting  the 
fact  that  there  was  a  time  when  such  utterances  in  Mississippi 
or  South  Carolina  would  have  set  the  Republican  party  ablaze, 
proceeded:  "The  plain  truth  is  that  the  Republicans  generally 
have  come  to  the  conclusion  that  universal  negro  suffrage  has 
been  a  failure  and  that  the  desire  of  the  South  to  free  itself 
from  the  evils  of  a  great  mass  of  ignorance,  stupidity  and  su 
perstition  at  the  ballot  box  is  largely  pardonable." 


545 


THE  UNITED  STATES  IN  OUR  OWN  TIME 

The  Convention  adjourned  on  December  4,  1895.  By 
the  new  Constitution  the  Mississippi  plan  was  to  be  followed 
until  January  i,  1898.  Any  male  citizen  could  be  registered 
who  was  able  to  read  a  section  of  the  Constitution,  or  to  satisfy 
the  election  officers  that  he  understood  it  when  read  to  him. 
Those  thus  registered  were  to  remain  voters  for  life.  After  the 
date  named  applicants  for  registry  must  be  able  both  to  read 
and  to  write  any  section  of  the  Constitution,  or  to  show  tax- 
receipts  for  poll-tax  and  for  taxes  on  at  least  $300  worth  of 
property.  The  property  and  the  intelligence  qualification 
each  met  with  strenuous  opposition,  but  it  was  thought  that 
neither  alone  would  serve  the  purpose.  Any  person  denied 
registration  might  appeal  to  the  courts. 


540 


CHAPTER    XIX 
THE    NEO-REPUBLICAN  ASCENDANCY 

PRESIDENTIAL  CANDIDATES  IN  I  888. BENJAMIN  HARRISON. NOMI 
NATED  ON  THE  EIGHTH  BALLOT. THE  CAMPAIGN  LITTLE  PERSONAL. 

CLUBS    REPUBLICAN   AND    DEMOCRATIC. CAUSES  OF  CLEVELAND'S 

DEFEAT. FEDERAL  PATRONAGE. CIVIL  SERVICE  REFORMERS  DESERT 

CLEVELAND. DEMOCRATIC  BLUNDERS. THE  MURCHISON  LET 
TER. — SACKVILLE-WEST'S  REPLY. — "SEE  LAMONT  AT  ONCE." — THE 
BRITISH  MINISTER  GIVEN  HIS  PASSPORTS.  —  CLEVELAND'S  ACTION 

CRITICISED. OHIO  BALLOT-BOX   FORGERY. THE  TARIFF  ISSUE. — 

ELAINE. DEMOCRATIC    ATTITUDE. "BRITISH   FREE   TRADE.  "- 

HARRISON  AND  HILL  IN  NEW  YORK  STATE. CORRUPT  PRACTICES  IN 

INDIANA. FLOATERS  IN    "BLOCKS  OF  FIVE." THE  REPUBLICANS 

VICTORIOUS. — HARRISON'S  INAUGURAL. — RESTRICTION  OF  EMIGRA 
TION. CONSULAR  REPORTS  ON  THIS. CENTENNIAL  ANNIVERSARY 

OF  WASHINGTON'S  INAUGURATION. — MCKINLEY,   LODGE  AND  REED 

THE  REPUBLICAN  LEADERS. THREE  GREAT  REPUBLICAN  MEASURES. 

"  CZAR  "  REED  IN  THE  HOUSE. A  FORCE  BILL  PASSES  THE  HOUSE. 

—  BUT  DIES  IN  THE  SENATE.  —  DEPENDENT  PENSIONS  ACT. —  EVOLU 
TION  OF  THE  PENSION  SYSTEM. THE  BONDED  DEBT.  —  WHAT  TO  DO 

WITH  SURPLUS  REVENUE. THE  MCKINLEY  BILL. THE  NEW  ORLEANS 

MAFIA. CHIEF    HENNESSY    MURDERED. MASS    MEETING. "WHO 

KILLA  DE  CHIEF?" MASSACRE  OF  THE  PRISONERS. COMPLI 
CATIONS  WITH  ITALY. THE  SETTLEMENT. THE  UNITED  STATES 

AND  CHILE.— THE  BARRUNDIA  CASE. DEMOCRATIC  "LANDSLIDE" 

OF  1890. CAUSES. INTERNATIONAL  COPYRIGHT  BILL. 

\PPROACHING  the  presidential  campaign  of  1888  the 
Democrats  found  their  programme  ready-made.  Cleve 
land's  administration,  silencing  his  enemies  within  the  party, 
made  him  the  inevitable  nominee,  while  his  bold  advocacy  of 
reform  in  our  fiscal  policy  determined  the  line  on  which  the 
campaign  must  be  won  or  lost.  To  humor  the  West  and  to 
show  that  it  was  a  Democratic,  not  a  Mugwump  ticket,  Allen 
G.  Thurman  of  Ohio,  was  named  for  Vice-President.  The 
Republicans'  path  was  less  clear.  That  they  must  lift  the 
banner  of  high  protection  was  certain  ;  but  who  should  be 
the  bearer  of  it  was  in  doubt  till  after  the  Convention  sat. 

547 


THE  UNITED  STATES  IN  OUR  OWN  TIME 


ALLEN  G.    THURMAN 


The  balloting  began  with  John 
Sherman  far  in  the  lead,  polling  229 
votes.  Gresham  had  in,  Depew  99, 
Alger  84,  Harrison  only  80,  and 
Elaine  only  35.  After  the  third  ballot 
Depew  withdrew  his  name,  and  on 
the  fourth  ballot  New  York  and  Wis 
consin  joined  the  Harrison  forces.  A 
stampede  of  the  Convention  for  Elaine 
was  expected,  but  it  did  not  come, 
being  hindered  in  part  by  the  halting 
tenor  of  despatches  received  from  the 
Plumed  Knight,  far  away.  After  the  fifth  ballot  two  tele 
grams  were  received  from  Elaine  requesting  his  friends  to 
discontinue  voting  for  him.  Two  ballots  more  having  been 
taken,  Allison,  who  had  been  receiving  a  considerable  vote, 
withdrew.  The  eighth  ballot  nominated  Harrison,  and  the 
name  of  Levi  P.  Morton,  of  New  York,  was  at  once  placed 
beneath  his  on  the  ticket. 

Mr.  Harrison  was  the  grandson  of  President  William 
Henry  Harrison,  therefore  great-grandson  of  Governor  Ben 
jamin  Harrison,  of  Virginia,  the  ardent  Revolutionary  patriot, 
signer  of  the  Declaration  of  Independence.  An  older  scion 
of  the  family  had  served  as  major-general  in  Cromwell's  army 
and  been  put  to  death  in  1660  for  signing  the  death-warrant 
of  King  Charles  I.  Thoroughly  educated  and  already  a  suc 
cessful  lawyer,  Mr.  Harrison  was,  in  1860,  made  Reporter  of 
Decisions  to  the  Indiana  Supreme  Court.  When  the  war 
came  on,  obeying  the  spirit  that  in  his  grandfather  had  won 
at  Tippecanoe  and  the  Thames,  he  volunteered  and  was 
appointed  colonel.  Gallant  services  under  Sherman  at  Resaca 
and  Peach  Tree  Creek  made  him  a  brevet  brigadier.  Owing 
to  his  character,  his  lineage,  his  fine  war  record,  his  power  as 
a  speaker,  and  his  popularity  in  a  pivotal  State,  he  was  a 
prominent  figure  in  politics  not  only  in  Indiana,  but,  more 

548 


THE  CAMPAIGN  NOT  PERSONAL 


•and  more,  nationally.  Defeated  for  the  Indiana  governorship 
in  1876,  by  a  small  margin,  he  was  afterward  elected  United 
States  Senator,  serving  from  1 88 1  to  1887.  In  1880  Indiana 
presented  him  to  the  Republican  National  Convention  as  her 
favorite  son,  and  from  this  time,  particularly  in  the  West,  he 
was  thought  of  as  a  presidential  possibility.  Eclipsed  by  Elaine 
in  1884,  he  came  forward  again  in  1888,  this  time  to  win. 

In  the  campaign  which  succeeded  personalities  had  no 
place.  After  his  arrival  from  Europe,  August  loth,  Mr. 
Elaine  was,  on  the  Republican  side,  far  the  most  prominent 
campaigner.  The  West  and  the  East  both  heard  him  on  nearly 
every  question  entering  into  the  canvass,  and  every  speech  of 
his  was  widely  quoted  and  commented  on.  Harrison's  ability 
was  much  underrated  in  the  East,  for  which  reason,  it  was 
thought,  the  managers  kept  him  mainly  near  home.  But  his 
reputation  was  above  reproach ;  while,  fortunately  for  the 
party,  no  Republicans  cared  to  revive  the  mean  charges  against 
Cleveland  so  assiduously  circulated  four  years  before.  Instead 
of  defamation  both  sides  resorted  to  a  cleanlier  and  more  use 
ful  device,  the  political  club,  whose  evolution  was  a  feature  of 
this  campaign.  By  August,  1887,  6,500  Republican  clubs 
were  reported,  claiming  a  membership  of  a  million  voters. 
Before  the  election  Indiana  had  1,100  Republican  clubs,  New 
York  1,400.  The  Democrats,  less 
successful  than  their  opponents,  yet 
organized  about  three  thousand  clubs, 
which  were  combined  in  a  National 
Association,  to  correspond  to  the  Re 
publican  League  of  the  United  States. 
Numerous  reform  and  tariff  reform 
clubs,  different  from  the  clubs  just 
mentioned,  worked  for  Democratic 
•success.  This,  for  most  of  the  cam 
paign,  seemed  assured,  and  the  re 
verse  outcome  surprised  many  in 


LEV  I  P.  MORTON 


549 


THE  UNITED  STATES  IN  OUR  OWN  TIME 

both  parties.  The  causes  of  it,  however,  were  not  far  to 
seek. 

The  federal  patronage,  as  always,  benumbed  the  activi 
ties  of  the  Administration  and  whetted  the  Opposition.  The 
office-holder  army,  of  course,  toiled  and  contributed  for  the 
Democracy's  success ;  but,  operating  as  counter-weights  to 
office-holders  were  an  equal  or  greater  number  of  soured 
office-seekers,  each  with  his  little  following,  who  had  been 
11  turned  down  "  by  the  Administration.  The  Opposition,  on 
the  other  hand,  commanded  a  force  of  earnest  and  harmonious 
workers,  some  impelled  by  patriotism,  more,  perhaps,  by  hopes 
of  "  recognition  "  in  case  their  cause  won.  Thus  the  craving  of 
both  sides  for  political  "  swag  "  worked  against  the  Democratic 
party.  Though  the  tone  of  the  campaign  gave  little  hope  of  im 
provement  should  Harrison  be  elected,  a  large  number  of  civil 
service  reformers  indignantly  deserted  Cleveland  owing  to  his 
practical  renunciation  of  their  faith.  The  public  at  large  re 
sented  the  loss  which  the  service  had  suffered  through  changes 
in  office-holders.  Democratic  blunders  thrust  the  sectional  is 
sue  needlessly  to  the  fore.  The  Rebel  flag  incident,  Mr.  Cleve 
land's  fishing  trip  on  Memorial  Day,  the  choice  of  Mr.  Mills, 
a  Southerner,  to  lead  the  tariff  fight  in  Congress,  and  the 
prominence  of  Southerners  among  the  Democratic  campaign 
orators  at  the  North,  were  themes  of  countless  diatribes. 

Not  all  the  Republican  speakers  of  the  campaign  did  so 
much  to  make  people  think  Mr.  Cleveland  "  un-American  " 
as  was  accomplished  by  means  of  the  so-called  "Murchison 
Letter."  This  clever  Republican  document,  written  by  Mr. 
George  Osgoodby,  of  Pomona,  California,  was  dated  at  Po 
mona,  September  4,  1888,  and  directed  to  the  British  Minister 
at  Washington,  D.  C.  The  text  of  it  follows  : 

"  SIR  :  "  The  gravity  of  the  political  situation  here,  and  the 
duties  of  those  voters  who  are  of  English  birth,  but  still  con 
sider  England  the  motherland,  constitutes  the  apology  I  hereby 

550 


THE  MURCHISON  LETTER 

offer  for  intruding  for  information.  Mr.  Cleveland's  message 
to  Congress  on  the  fishery  question  justly  excites  our  alarm  and 
compels  us  to  seek  further  knowledge  before  finally  casting 
our  votes  for  him  as  we  intended  to  do.  Many  English  citi 
zens  have  for  years  refrained  from  being  naturalized,  as  they 
thought  no  good  would  accrue  from  the  act,  but  Mr.  Cleve 
land's  Administration  has  been  so  favorable  and  friendly  toward 
England,  so  kind  in  not  enforcing  the  retaliatory  act  passed  by 
Congress,  so  sound  on  the  free-trade  question  and  so  hostile 
to  the  dynamite  schools  of  Ireland,  that,  by  the  hundreds — 
yes,  by  the  thousands — they  have  become  naturalized  for  the 
express  purpose  of  helping  to  elect  him  over  again,  the  one 
above  all  of  American  politicians  they  considered  their  own 
and  their  country's  best  friend.  I  am  one  of  these  unfor 
tunates  with  a  right  to  vote  for  President  in  November.  I 
am  unable  to  understand  for  whom  I  shall  cast  my  ballot^ 
when  but  one  month  ago  I  was  sure  that  Mr.  Cleveland  was 
the  man.  If  Cleveland  was  pursuing  a  new  policy  toward 
Canada,  temporarily  only  and  for  the  sake  of  obtaining  popu 
larity  and  continuation  of  his  office  four  years  more,  but  in 
tends  to  cease  his  policy  when  his  re-election  in  November  is 
secured,  and  again  favor  England's  interest,  then  I  should 
have  no  further  doubt,  but  go  forward  and  vote  for  him.  I 
know  of  no  one  better  able  to  direct  me,  sir,  and  I  most  re 
spectfully  ask  your  advice  in  the  matter.  I  will  further  add 
that  the  two  men,  Mr.  Cleveland  and  Mr.  Harrison,  are  very 
evenly  matched,  and  a  few  votes  might  elect  either  one.  Mr. 
Harrison  is  a  high-tariff  man,  a  believer  on  the  American  side 
of  all  questions,  and  undoubtedly  an  enemy  to  British  inter 
ests  generally.  This  State  is  equally  divided  between  the  par 
ties,  and  a  mere  handful  of  our  naturalized  countrymen  can 
turn  it  either  way.  When  it  is  remembered  that  a  small  State 
(Colorado)  defeated  Mr.  Tilden  in  1876,  and  elected  Hayes> 
the  Republican,  the  importance  of  California  is  at  once  appar 
ent  to  all. 

551 


THE  UNITED  STATES  IN  OUR  OWN  TIME 

"  As  you  are  the  fountain-head  of  knowledge  on  the  ques 
tion,  and  know  whether  Mr.  Cleveland's  policy  is  temporary 
only,  and  whether  he  will,  as  soon  as  he  secures  another  term 
of  four  years  in  the  Presidency,  suspend  it  for  one  of  friend 
ship  and  free  trade,  I  apply  to  you  privately  and  confidentially 
for  information  which  shall  in  turn  be  treated  as  entirely  secret. 
Such  information  would  put  me  at  rest  myself,  and  if  favorable 
to  Mr.  Cleveland  enable  me  on  my  own  responsibility  to  assure 
many  of  my  countrymen  that  they  would  do  England  a  ser 
vice  by  voting  for  Cleveland  and  against  the  Republican  sys 
tem  of  tariff.  As  I  before  observed,  we  know  not  what  to  do, 
but  look  for  more  light  on  a  mysterious  subject,  which  the 
sooner  it  comes  will  better  serve  true  Englishmen  in  casting 
their  votes. 

"  Yours,  very  respectfully, 

"  CHARLES  F.  MURCHISON." 

The  Minister  replied  : 

"  SIR  :  I  am  in- receipt  of  your  letter  of  the  4th  inst.  and 
beg  to  say  that  I  fully  appreciate  the  difficulty  in  which  you 
find  yourself  in  casting  your  vote.  You  are  probably  aware 
that  any  political  party  which  openly  favored  the  mother 
country  at  the  present  moment  would  lose  popularity,  and 
that  the  party  in  power  is  fully  aware  of  the  fact.  The  party, 
however,  is,  I  believe,  still  desirous  of  maintaining  friendly 
relations  with  Great  Britain,  and  still  desirous  of  settling  all 
questions  with  Canada  which  have  been,  unfortunately,  re 
opened  since  the  retraction  of  the  treaty  by  the  Republican 
majority  in  the  Senate  and  by  the  President's  message  to 
which  you  allude.  All  allowances  must,  therefore,  be  made 
for  the  political  situation  as  regards  the  Presidential  election 
thus  created.  It  is,  however,  impossible  to  predict  the  course 
which  President  Cleveland  may  pursue  in  the  matter  of  retali 
ation  should  he  be  elected ;  but  there  is  every  reason  to 
believe  that,  while  upholding  the  position  he  has  taken,  he 

552 


"SEE  LAMONT  AT  ONCE" 


•will  manifest  a  spirit  of  conciliation  in  dealing  with  the  ques 
tion  involved  in  his  message.  I  enclose  an  article  from  the 
New  York  Times  of  August  22d,  and  remain  yours  faithfully, 

"  L.  S.  SACKVILLE-WEST." 

This  correspondence  was  published  on  October  24th,  and 
instantly  took  effect.  Sir  Sackville-West  was  famous.  His 
photographs  were  in  demand,  and  a  dime  museum  manager 
offered  him  $2,000  a  week  to  hold  two  levees  daily  in  his 
"  palatial  museum."  The  President  at  first  inclined  to  ignore 
the  incident,  but  changed  when  a  member  of  the  Cabinet  re 
ceived  from  the  Democratic  National 
Committee  the  following  :  "  Does  the 
President  know  that  the  Irish  vote  is 
slipping  out  of  our  hands  because  of 
diplomatic  shilly-shallying  ?  See  La- 
mont  at  once.  Something  ought  to 
be  done  to-day."  Something  was 
done.  On  October  3Oth  the  Minis 
ter  was  notified  that  he  was  a  persona 
non  grata.  His  recall  was  asked  for 
but  refused,  whereupon  his  passports 
were  delivered  to  him.  The  English 
Government  resented  this,  and  refused 
to  fill  the  vacancy  during  the  remaining  months  of  Cleveland's 
administration.  An  influential  newspaper  friendly  to  the  Pres 
ident,  said  :  "  If  President  Cleveland  had  resisted  the  clamor  he 
could  not  have  suffered  any  more  complete  defeat  than  that 
which  he  was  called  upon  to  endure,  while  he  would  have  had 
the  consciousness  of  having  acted  in  a  manly,  upright  and  cour 
ageous  manner,  with  full  appreciation  of  the  courtesy  which 
one  friendly  government  should  extend  to  another.  But  this 
was  one  of  the  instances  in  President  Cleveland's  career  in 
which  the  cunning  of  the  politician  outweighed  the  judgment 
•of  the  statesman,  and  he  caused  the  recall  of  Minister  Sack- 

553 


LORD  SACKVILLE-WEST 


THE  UNITED  STATES  IN  OUR  OWN  TIME 

ville  for  reasons  and  in  a  manner  that  will  always  stand  in 
history  as  an  instance  of  contemptible  personal  weakness.  The 
other  side  played  a  demagogic  trick  to  capture  the  Irish  vote  ; 
the  President  of  the  United  States  tried  to  outwit  them  by  a 
piece  of  trickery  of  even  larger  dimensions,  and,  as  in  this  in 
stance  he  deserved,  failed  of  his  purpose." 

Another  artifice  attracted  some  notice  in  this  campaign, 
particularly  in  Ohio.  It  was  directed  against  the  popular 
Democrat,  Hon  J.  E.  Campbell,  of  that  State,  whom  the 
evident  design  was  to  brand  as  corrupt,  as  using  his  political 
office  and  influence  for  the  purpose  of  personal  gain. 

In  September,  1888,  one  Richard  G.  Wood  delivered 
to  Governor  Joseph  B.  Foraker,  of  Ohio,  the  following  paper  : 

"WASHINGTON,  D.   C.,  July    2,    I  888. 

"  We,  the  undersigned,  agree  to  pay  the  amounts  set 
opposite,  or  any  part  thereof,  whenever  requested  so  to  do  by 
John  R.  McLean,  upon  c  Contract  No.  1,000,'  a  copy  of 
which  is  to  be  given  to  each  subscriber  upon  payment  of  any 
part  of  the  money  hereby  subscribed.  It  is  understood 
that  each  subscription  of  five  thousand  dollars  shall  entitle 
the  subscriber  thereof  to  a  one-twentieth  interest  in  said 
contract." 

First  among  "  the  undersigned  "  names  stood  that  of 
Governor  Campbell,  who  was  down  for  $  15,000  in  all.  John 
Sherman,  William  McKinley,  W.  C.  P.  Breckenridge  and 
other  prominent  men  of  both  the  great  political  parties  were 
also  among  the  apparent  subscribers.  "  Contract  No.  1,000  " 
was  an  arrangement  to  make  and  market  the  Hall  and  Wood 
ballot  box,  a  patent  concern  to  prevent  fraudulent  voting.  On 
July  23,  shortly  after  the  date  of  the  asserted  agreement,  Mr. 
Campbell  introduced  a  bill  in  the  national  Congress  which 
required  the  purchase  of  the  boxes  by  the  Government,  and 
their  use  where  it  had  the  authority. 

554 


THE  BALLOT-BOX  FORGERY 


In  a  little  over  a  fortnight  Foraker  handed  a  copy  of  the 
alleged  contract  to  the  editor  of  the  Cincinnati  Commercial 
Gazette^  which  came  out  on  October  4th  with  a  facsimile  thereof, 
to  which,  however,  only  Campbell's  name  was  attached.  Gossip 
supplemented  the  astute  silence  of  the  press.  Other  alleged 
signers  got  knowledge  of  the  paper  and  denounced  it  as  <\ 
forgery.  Campbell  vindicated  himself  completely  and  at  once. 
Just  a  week  after  publishing  the  contract,  the  Commercial  Ga 
zette  gave  out  a  statement  by  Mr.  Murat  Halstead,  the  editor, 
to  the  effect  that  he  was  satisfied  that  Campbell's  signature  was 
false,  but  he  still  omitted  to  mention  any  other  names.  For 
aker  as  well  as  Halstead  had  been  deceived  touching  the 
genuineness  of  the  contract,  but  the  Governor  seemed  in  no 
haste  to  rectify  the  harm  which  his  error  had  led  him  to  in 
flict.  Sherman  always  deemed  it  strange  that  Foraker,  hav 
ing  in  his  possession  a  paper  which  implicated  Butterworth, 
McKinley  and  Sherman  himself,  in  what  all  men  would  re 
gard  a  dishonorable  transaction,  did  not  inform  those  gentle 
men  and  give  them  an  opportunity  to  deny,  affirm,  or  explain 
their  alleged  signatures.  Inquiry  from  him  would  at  once 
have  elicited  the  facts.  "  No  doubt,"  said  Sherman,  "  Foraker 
believed  the  signatures  genuine,  but  that  should  not  have  deter 
red  him  from  making  the  inquiry." 

The  whole  matter  was  at  last  thor 
oughly  aired  in  Congress  and  the  con 
tract,  with  all  the  names,  published 
in  facsimile.  A  Committee  of  the 
House  found  that  Wood  and  two  con 
federates  were  responsible  for  the 
forgery,  and  that  Foraker  and  Hal- 
stead  unwittingly  aided  in  uttering  the 
same.  The  Congressmen  concerned 
were  wholly  exonerated. 

The  election,  after  all,  turned 
mainly  upon  the  tariff  issue.  Smarting 


J.   B.   FORAKER 


THE  UNITED  STATES  IN  OUR  OWN  TIME 

under  his  defeat  in  1884,  Mr.  Elaine  had  written:  "I  was 
not  sustained  in  the  canvass  by  many  who  had  personally 
a  far  greater  stake  than  I.  They  are  likely  to  have  leisure 
for  reflection  and  for  a  cool  calculation  of  the  small  sums 
they  were  asked  in  vain  to  contribute."  This  prophecy 
came  true.  In  1888  the  Republicans  screamed  that  protection 
was  on  trial  for  its  life.  Many  Democrats  held  the  same  view 
of  the  contest,  inveighing  against  protection  as  pure  robbery. 
They  accused  the  tariff  of  causing  Trusts,  against  which  several 
bills  had  recently  been  introduced  in  Congress.  At  the  open 
ing  of  the  campaign  Elaine  declared  such  combinations  largely 
private  affairs  "  with  which  neither  President  Cleveland  nor 
any  private  citizen  had  any  particular  right  to  interfere." 

Democratic  organs  diligently  used  this  utterance  to  prove 
that  Republicans  slavishly  served  the  rich  and  were  always  glad 
to  grind  the  faces  of  the  poor.  Moderate  Democrats,  taking 
cue  from  Mr.  Cleveland's  1887  tariff  message,  urged  simply 
a  reduction  in  protective  rates ;  but  they  usually  did  this 
with  arguments  which  would  have  served  equally  well  in  a  plea 
for  out  and  out  free  trade.  The  Mills  Bill  was  to  a  great 
extent  constructed  on  the  tariff-for-revenue  theory,  dutying  at 
snug  rates  good  revenue  articles  that  needed  no  protection,  and 
at  low  rates  many  which,  it  was  alleged,  could  not  be  produced 
in  the  United  States  without  protection.  Wool,  lumber  and 
salt  it  placed  upon  the  free  list.  Henry  George,  who  wished 
every  custom-house  in  the  land  levelled,  took  the  stump  for 
Cleveland.  Republican  orators  and  organs  pictured  "  British 
free  trade  "  as  the  sure  consequence  of  a  victory  for  Cleveland. 
"  British  goods  would  flood  us  ;  our  manufactures,  the  Home 
Market  gone,  would  be  driven  to  a  competition — in  which 
they  must  fail — with  the  pauper-made  products  of  FAirope  ; 
farming  would  be  our  sole  great  industry  ;  wages  would  vastly 
fall  or  cease  altogether."  Whether  solid  argument,  or  sophis 
try  which  a  longer  campaign  of  education  would  have  dis 
pelled,  these  considerations  had  powerful  effect.  Startled  at 

556 


FLOATERS  IN  BLOCKS  OF  FIVE 

prospects  so  terrible,  people  voted  to  uphold  the  "  American 
System."  The  worst  tug  of  war  occurred  in  New  York  State. 
"I  am  a  Democrat,"  said  Governor  Hill  on  every  occasion; 
yet  he  and  his  friends  disliked  the  Administration,  and  were 
widely  believed  to  connive  at  the  trading  of  Democratic  votes 
for  Harrison  in  return  for  Republican  votes  for  Hill.  "Harri 
son  and  Hill  "  flags  waved  over  liquor-saloons  in  nearly  every 
city  and  large  town  of  the  State.  Many  a  Democratic  meeting 
was  addressed  by  one  speaker  who  extolled  the  President  but 
would  not  say  a  word  for  the  Governor ;  then  by  another  who 
eloquently  lauded  the  Governor  but  ignored  the  President. 

To  all  the  above  it  is  unfortunately  necessary  to  add  that 
the  1888  election  was  among  the  most  corrupt  in  our  history. 
The  campaign  was  estimated  to  have  cost  the  two  parties  $6,- 
000,000.  Assessments  on  office-holders  were  largely  relied 
upon  to  replenish  the  Democrats'  campaign  treasury,  though 
goodly  subsidies  came  in  from  other  sources.  But  with 
"  soap,"  recurring  to  President  Arthur's  figure,  the  Republi 
cans  were  better  supplied  than  their  rivals.  The  manufactur 
ers  of  the  country  regarded  their  interests  and  even  their 
honor  as  assailed,  and  contributed  generously  as  often  as  the 
Republican  hat  went  round.  Special  store  of  "  the  needful  " 
was  laid  out  in  Indiana,  where  no  resource  which  could  assist 
the  Republican  victory  was  left  untried. 

The  National  Republican  Committee  wrote  the  party 
managers  in  that  State  :  "  Divide  the  floaters  into  blocks  of 
five  and  put  a  trusted  man  with  necessary  funds  in  charge  of 
these  five,  and  make  him  responsible  that  none  get  away,  and 
that  all  vote  our  ticket."  William  W.  Dudley,  Treasurer  of 
the  Committee,  was  alleged  to  have  written  this.  After  elec 
tion  a  complaint  was  brought  against  him  for  bribery,  but  the 
grand  jury  found  no  indictment.  The  mandate  to  the  State 
workers  was  obeyed.  In  one  place,  on  "the  night  before 
election,  more  than  a  hundred  of  the  '  floaters  '  had  been  col 
lected  in  various  buildings,  with  sentries  to  guard  them  against 

557 


THE  UNITED  STATES  IN  OUR  OWN  TIME 


BENJAMIN    HARRISON 


surprise  by  the  foe." 
Wagon-loads  of  them 
were  taken  into  the  sur 
rounding  country,  ready 
to  be  rushed  to  the  polls 
at  sunrise  before  they 
could  fall  into  the  hands 
of  the  enemy.  In  this 
particular  market  the 
price  of  votes  had  risen 
since  1880  from  $2  to 
about  $15.  Experts  re 
ferred  the  advance  not 
to  diminution  in  the  sup 
ply  of  purchasable  voters, 
but  rather  to  increase  in 
the  demand  for  them  oc 
casioned  by  the  impor 
tance  of  Indiana's  vote.  At  the  election  more  than  eleven 
million  ballots  were  cast,  yet  so  closely  balanced  were  the 
parties  that  a  change  of  ten  thousand  in  Indiana  and  New 
York,  both  of  which  went  for  Harrison,  would  have  re-elected 
Cleveland.  As  it  was,  his  popular  vote,  of  5,540,000,  exceeded 
Harrison's  of  5,400,000,  by  140,000.  The  Republicans  held 
the  Senate  and  won  a  face  majority  of  ten  in  the  House,  some 
what  increased  by  unseating  and  seating  subsequently.  In 
New  York,  because,  apparently,  of  the  trading  referred  to, 
Hill  was  re-elected  Governor.  Connecticut  gave  a  Demo 
cratic  plurality  of  336,  and  New  Jersey  one  of  7,149.  The 
Republicans  were  also  victorious  in  the  Congressional  elec 
tions,  the  House  at  the  opening  of  the  Fifty-first  Congress, 
first  session,  having  170  Republican  members  to  160  Demo 
crats.  The  Republicans  were  thus  in  control  of  all  branches 
of  the  general  government,  in  condition  to  carry  out  the 
principles  laid  down  in  the  Chicago  platform. 

558 


UNWELCOME   IMMIGRANTS 

The  new  President's  inaugural  address  reaffirmed  the 
Republican  principle  of  Protection  and  supported  Civil  Ser 
vice  Reform.  It  recommended  the  increase  of  the  Navy, 
and  advocated  steamship  subsidies.  A  reform  of  the  electoral 
and  of  the  immigration  laws  was  likewise  urged.  This  recom 
mendation  had  in  view  the  exclusion  of  undesirable  foreigners 
from  our  shores,  already  referred  to  in  this  History.  The 
first  movement  in  this  direction  dated  back  to  1882,  when,  on 
August  jd,  an  act  was  passed  prohibiting  the  landing  of  any 
convict,  lunatic,  idiot  or  person  unable  to  take  care  of  himself. 
On  March  3,  1887,  a  supplementary  act  was  passed,  but  its 
provisions  were  found  to  be  entirely  inadequate  to  prevent  the 
coming  of  improper  persons  to  our  shores.  In  December  of 
the  same  year  an  unsuccessful  bill  was  introduced  into  the  Sen 
ate  authorizing  the  Secretary  of  State  to  establish  rules  and 
issue  instructions  to  consuls  of  the  United  States  tending  to 
prevent  undesirable  immigration,  by  granting  certificates  only 
to  suitable  persons.  In  1888  Congress  made  an  investigation 
into  the  matter,  but  nothing  definite  was  accomplished. 

The  extent  to  which  the  evil  had  grown  was  well  set  forth 
by  an  address  of  one  hundred  American  consuls  to  the  general 
government  at  Washington  in  1888.  In  this  address  the 
Consul  at  Palermo  said:  "Emigration  is  here  considered  a 
mere  matter  of  business  so  far  as  steamship  companies  are  con 
cerned,  and  it  is  stimulated  by  them  in  the  same  sense  that 
trade  in  merchandise  is  when  they  desire  a  cargo,  or  to  com 
plete  one,  for  their  vessel,  as  the  company  desire  that  all  space 
in  their  vessels  shall  be  occupied  ;  and,  in  order  to  accomplish 
this,  they  employ  emigrant  brokers  or  agents,  to  whom  they 
pay  from  three  to  five  dollars  for  each  emigrant.  The  brokers 
are  a  low,  lying,  dishonorable  set,  who  will  swear  to  anything 
to  induce  the  poor,  ignorant  people  to  emigrate,  and  thus  earn 
their  fees."  The  Consul  at  Venice  said  :  "  Emigrants  are 
recruited  from  those  people  whom,  as  a  rule,  their  native 
country  does  not  wish  to  maintain.  They  are  no  more  fitted 

559 


THE  UNITED  STATES  IN  OUR  OWN  TIME 

to  perform  the  duties  of  citizenship  than  slaves  newly  released 
from  bondage."  The  immigration  question  had  entered  to  a 
slight  extent  into  the  campaign,  having  been  agitated  princi 
pally  by  the  American  Party,  which  held  a  convention  at 
Washington,  D.  C.,  August  I4th  and  I5th,  nominating  for  the 
Presidency  James  L.  Curtis,  of  New  York,  and  for  the  Vice- 
Presidency  James  R.  Greer,  of  Tennessee. 

Shortly  after  his  inauguration,  President  Harrison  was 
the  central  figure  in  one  of  the  most  unique  and  imposing 
demonstrations  ever  witnessed  in  America.  This  was  the  cel 
ebration  of  the  centennial  anniversary  of  the  inauguration  of 
General  Washington  as  President,  in  the  city  of  New  York, 
on  April  30,  1789.  The  celebration  lasted  for  three  days, 
beginning  on  the  morning  of  the  29th  of  April,  when  Mr. 
Harrison  was  entertained  by  the  Governor  of  New  Jersey,  as 
Washington  had  been  just  one  hundred  years  before.  From 
the  residence  of  Governor  Green  President  Harrison  viewed 
a  military  procession,  after  which  he  proceeded  to  Elizabeth- 
port,  where  he  was  received  by  the  revenue  cutter  Despatch 
and  conveyed  to  the  foot  of  Wall  Street.  Here  he  disem 
barked  at  the  spot  at  which  Washington  had  landed  on  his 
journey  to  take  the  oath  of  office.  The  Despatch  convoyed 
by  three  large  steamboats,  was  greeted  on  her  journey  by  the 
war  ships  of  the  United  States  navy,  drawn  up  in  line  in  the 
North  River  and  upper  bay,  and  a  salute  of  twenty-one  guns 
was  fired  from  each  vessel. 

The  naval  procession  which  followed  the  Despatch,  was  on 
a  grand  and  imposing  scale.  After  landing  in  the  city,  the 
President  proceeded  to  the  Lawyers'  Club  in  the  Equitable 
Building  on  Broadway,  where  a  reception  was  given  him,  fol 
lowed  by  a  public  reception  in  the  Governor's  Room  in  the 
City  Hall.  In  the  evening  of  the  29th  a  grand  ball  occurred 
at  the  Metropolitan  Opera  House.  On  the  second  day  of  the 
celebration,  President  Harrison  was  escorted  to  St.  Paul's 
Church,  Broadway,  where  the  Chief  Magistrate  occupied  the 

560 


ANNIVERSARY  OF  WASHINGTON'S  INAUGURATION 


PRESIDENT  HARRISON  BEING  ROWED  ASHORE  AT  WALL  STREET  DURING  THE 
INAUGURATION  CENTENNIAL 

After  a  photograph 

same  pew  which  Washington  had  occupied  on  the  day  of  his 
inauguration.  Here  the  Rt.  Rev.  Henry  C.  Potter,  Bishop 
of  New  York,  officiated,  as  did  Bishop  Samuel  Provost  in 
1789.  On  a  platform  erected  around  a  bronze  statue  of 
Washington  at  the  granite  steps  of  the  sub-Treasury  building, 
the  site  of  Federal  Hall,  where  the  first  President  took  his 
oath  of  office,  the  Literary  Exercises  of  the  second  day  oc- 
cured.  John  Greenleaf  Whittier  read  a  poem  and  Chauncey 
M.  Depew  delivered  an  oration.  President  Harrison  also 
addressed  the  throng.  These  exercises  being  concluded,  Arch 
bishop  Michael  A.  Corrigan  pronounced  the  benediction. 
Then  followed  a  grand  military  procession,  with  Major- 
General  Schofield  as  Chief  Marshal.  This  was  reviewed  by 
the  President  and  other  dignitaries  at  Madison  Square.  In 
the  procession  marched  over  50,000  men.  At  the  conclusion 

561 


THE  UNITED  STATES  IN  OUR  OWN  TIME 

of  the  second  day's  pageant  the  Metropolitan  Opera  House 
was  a  scene  of  a  brilliant  banquet.  The  third  day  witnessed 
an  industrial  parade  with  more  than  100,000  men  in  line. 

Mr.  Elaine  was  now  the  most  eminent  of  the  older  states 
men  surviving,  and  President  Harrison  could  not  do  other 
wise  than  make  him  Secretary  of  State  ;  but  even  he  was  hardly 
so  conspicuous  as  the  younger  leaders,  McKinley,  Lodge  and 
Reed.  This  became  noticeable  when  the  Republicans  in  the 
House  began  to  initiate  their  policy.  This  policy  was  mainly 
embodied  in  three  measures,  the  Federal  Elections  Bill,  the 
Dependent  Pensions  Bill,  and  the  McKinley  Tariff  Bill. 
Only  the  last  two  became  laws,  and  but  one  of  these  long 
survived. 

To  enact  any  of  those  bills  required  certain  parliamentary 
innovations,  which  were  triumphantly  carried  through  by  the 
Speaker  of  the  House  in  the  Fifty-first  Congress,  Hon. 
Thomas  B.  Reed,  of  Maine.  One  of  them  was  this  Speaker's 
practice  of  declining  to  entertain  dilatory  motions  ;  another, 
more  important,  his  order  to  the  clerk  to  register,  as  "present 
and  not  voting,"  those  whom  he  saw  endeavoring  by  stubborn 
silence  to  break  a  quorum.  The  Constitution  provides  that  a 
majority  of  either  House  shall  be  a  quorum  for  the  transaction 
of  business.  Although  the  Sergeant-at-Arms  was  empowered  to 
compel  the  presence  of  members,  yet,  hitherto,  unless  a  ma 
jority  of  the  House  answered  to  their  names,  no  majority  was 
recorded  as  "  present,"  and  legislation  could  be  blocked.  As 
the  traditional  safeguard  of  minorities  and  as  a  compressed  air 
brake  on  majority  action,  silence  was  indeed  golden.  Under 
the  Reed  theory,  since  adopted,  that  the  House  may,  through 
the  Speaker,  determine  the  presence  of  a  quorum  in  its  own 
way,  the  Speaker's  or  the  Clerk's  eye  was  substituted  for  the 
voice  of  any  recalcitrant  member  in  demonstrating  the  mem 
ber's  presence.  The  most  strenuous  opposition  met  the  at 
tempt  to  enforce  this  new  rule.  On  the  "  Yeas  and  Nays  " 
or  at  any  roll-call  some  Democrats  'would  dodge  out  of  sight, 

562 


THE  REED  "TYRANNY" 

others  start  to  rush  from  the  Cham 
ber,  to  be  confronted  by  closed  doors. 
Once  Mr.  Kilgore,  of  Texas,  kicked 
down  a  door  to  make  good  his  escape. 
Till  resistance  proved  vain  the  minor 
ity  would  at  each  test  rave  round  the 
Chamber  like  so  many  caged  tigers, 
furious  but  powerless  to  claw  the 
"  tyrant  from  his  throne."  Yet,  hav 
ing  calculated  the  scope  of  his  author-  -THOMAS  B.  REED 
ity,  Mr.  Reed  coolly  continued  to  count  and  declare  quorums 
whenever  such  were  present.  The  Democratic  majority  of 
1893  somewhat  qualified  the  newly  discovered  prerogative 
of  the  Speaker,  giving  it,  when  possible,  to  tellers  from  both 
parties.  Now  and  then  they  employed  it  as  a  piece  of  Demo 
cratic  artillery  to  fire  at  Mr.  Reed  himself;  but  he  each  time 
received  the  shot  with  smiles. 

The  cause  which  the  Reed  "  tyranny  "  was  in  1 890  meant 
to  support  made  it  doubly  odious  to  Democrats.  For  years 
negroes  in  parts  of  the  South  had  been  practically  disfran 
chised.  To  restore  them  the  suffrage,  the  Republicans  pro 
posed  federal  supervision  of  federal  elections,  supported,  in 
last  resort,  by  federal  arms.  A  "  Force  Bill  "  being  intro 
duced  into  Congress,  sectional  bitterness  reawoke.  The 
South  grew  alarmed  and  angry.  One  State  refused  to  be 
represented  at  the  Chicago  Fair,  a  United  States  Marshal  was 
murdered  in  Florida,  and  a  Grand  Army  Post  was  mobbed 
at  Whitesville,  Ky.,  on  Memorial  Day.  A  proposal  for  a 
Southern  boycott  of  Northern  merchandise  had  influential  sup 
port.  Against  the  threatened  legislation  Northern  phlegm 
co-operated  with  Southern  heat.  Many  who  were  not  Dem 
ocrats  viewed  the  situation  at  the  South  as  the  Republicans* 
just  retribution  for  enfranchising  ignorance  and  incompetence, 
and  preferred  white  domination  there  to  a  return  of  carpet-bag 
times.  Others  dreaded  the  measure  as  sure  to  perpetuate  the 

563 


THE  UNITED  STATES  IN  OUR  OWN  TIME 

Solid  South.  The  House  passed  the  bill,  but  in  the  Senate  it 
encountered  obdurate  opposition.  Forced  over  to  the  second 
session,  where  its  passage  depended  on  some  form  of  cloture, 
it  was  finally  lost  through  a  coalition  of  free-silver  Republican 
Senators  with  Senators  from  the  South,  standing  out  against  so 
radical  a  change  in  the  Senate  rules. 

The  Republican  majority  in  the  Fifty-first  Congress 
found  the  overflowing  Treasury  at  once  embarrassing  and 
tempting.  Their  policy  touching  it,  involving  vast  expendi 
tures,  won  for  this  Congress  the  title  of  the  "  Billion  Dollar 
Congress."  The  most  prominent  and  permanent  among  its 
huge  appropriations  was  entailed  by  the  Dependent  Pensions 
Act,  approved  June  27,  1890,  which  was  substantially  the 
same  as  the  one  vetoed  by  President  Cleveland  three  years 
before.  In  it  culminated  a  course  of  legislation.  Our  well- 
meant  pension  system  had  its  evil  side.  The  original  inten 
tion  of  it  was  easily  perverted.  In  1820  our  less  than 
10,000,000  people  were  alarmed  that  pensions  to  revolution 
ary  soldiers  aggregated  $2,700,000.  "The  revolutionary 
claimant  never  dies,"  became  the  proverb.  Investigation 
revealed  that  one-third  of  the  admitted  claims  were  fraudu 
lent.  This  was  the  result  of  a  Dependent  Pensions  Act,  for 
the  relief  of  all  indigent  Revolutionary  veterans  who  had 
served  nine  months.  History  repeated  itself. 

The  numerous  pensionable  cases  originated  by  the  Civil 
War  raised  up  a  powerful  class  of  pension  attorneys,  able  to 
control,  to  a  great  extent,  public  opinion  and  legislation. 
Their  agency  was  at  the  root  of  the  demand  which  induced 
Congress  in  1880  to  endow  each  pensioner  with  a  back  pen 
sion  equal  to  what  his  pension  would  have  been  had  he  ap 
plied  on  the  date  of  receiving  his  injury.  Unsuccessful  in  the 
Forty-fourth  Congress,  the  bill  was  in  1880  sent  with  all 
speed  to  President  Hayes,  who  gave  it  his  approval,  in  spite 
of  the  vastly  increased  expenditure  which  the  act  must  entail. 
Outgo  for  pensions  under  the  old  law  had  reached  its  maxi- 

564 


EVILS  CONNECTED  WITH  THE  PENSION  SYSTEM 

mum  in  1871.  It  was  then  $34,443,894.88.  In  1878  this 
item  of  our  national  expenditure  was  only  $27,137,019.08. 
The  next  two  years  doubled  the  amount.  In  1883  it  exceeded 
.$66,000,000;  in  1889  it  was  $87,624,000.  But  the  act  of 
1890  was  the  most  sweeping  yet,  pensioning  all  Unionists  who 
had  served  in  the  war  ninety  days,  provided  they  were  inca 
pacitated  for  manual  labor,  and  the  widows,  children  and  de 
pendent  parents  of  such.  At  the  beginning  of  the  fiscal  year 
1891-92,  the  Commissioner  of  Pensions  informed  the  chiefs 
of  division  in  his  office  that  he  wished  one  thousand  pensions 
a  day  issued  for  each  working  day  of  the  year  ;  311,567  pen 
sion  certificates  were  issued  that  year.  Rejected  claimants  by 
no  means  abandoned  hope,  but  assaulted  the  breastworks  again 
and  again,  many  at  last  succeeding  on  some  sort  of  "  new  evi 
dence."  Stirred  up  by  attorneys,  old  pensioners  could  not 
rest  content,  but  put  in  pleas  for  increase.  Thus  impelled 
the  pension  figure  shot  up  to  $106,493,890  in  1890;  $118,- 
548,960  in  1891  ;  and  to  about  $159,000,000  in  1893.  The 
maximum  seemed  thus  to  have  been  reached,  for  the  pension 
outgo  for  the  fiscal  year  ending  with  June,  1894,  was  but 
.$141,000,000. 

June  30,  1890,  $109,015,750  in  the  four  and  a  half  per 
cent,  bonds,  redeemable  September  i,  1891,  were  still  outstand 
ing.  By  April  i,  1891,  they  had,  by  redemption  or  purchase, 
been  reduced  to  $53,854,250,  of  which  one-half  in  value  was 
held  by  national  banks  to  sustain  their  circulation.  To  avoid 
contracting  this  circulation,  the  Secretary  of  the  Treasury  per 
mitted  holders  of  these  bonds  to  retain  them  and  receive  in 
terest  at  two  per  cent.  About  $25,364,500  was  so  continued. 
Interest  on  the  remainder  ceased  at  their  maturity,  and  nearly 
all  were  soon  paid  off.  The  bonds  continuing  at  two  per  cent, 
were  all  along  quoted  at  par,  though  payable  at  the  will  of 
the  Government,  revealing  a  national  credit  never  excelled  in 
history.  On  July  i,  1894,  after  an  increase  during  the  pre 
vious  fiscal  year  of  $60,000,000,  the  debt  less  cash  in  the 

565 


THE  UNITED  STATES  IN  OUR  OWN  TIME 


WILLIAM  Me  KIN  LET 


Treasury  stood  at  $899,313,381.  By 
this  time,  surplus  of  revenues,  which, 
in  October,  1888,  stood  at  about  $97,- 
000,000,  had  ceased  to  trouble  the 
Administration,  but  at  Mr.  Harri 
son's  accession  it  occasioned  extreme 
anxiety. 

Under  Cleveland's  leadership  the 
Democrats  would  have  reduced  the 
revenue  by  lowering  tariff  imports. 
The  Republicans  proposed  to  reach 
the  same  end  by  a  method  precisely 
the  reverse,  pushing  up  each  tariff  rate  toward  or  to  the  prohib 
itive  point.  This  was  the  policy  embodied  in  the  McKinley 
Bill,  which  became  law  October  i,  1890.  Sugar,  a  lucrative 
I  revenue  article,  was  made  free,  and  a  bounty  given  to  sugar 
producers  in  this  country,  together  with  a  discriminating  duty 
of  one-tenth  of  a  cent  per  pound  on  sugar  imported  hither 
from  countries  which  paid  a  bounty  upon  sugar  exportation. 
The  reciprocity  feature  of  this  bill  proved  its  most  popular 
grace,  though  it  was  flouted  in  the  House,  and  not  enacted  in 
the  form  in  which  its  best-known  advocate,  Mr.  Blaine,  con 
ceived  it.  Reciprocity  treaties  were  concluded  with  several 
countries,  considerably  extending  our  trade.  Those  with 
Germany,  France,  Belgium  and  Italy  resulted  in  relieving 
American  pork  from  the  embargo  placed  upon  it  in  those 
lands.  These  successes  did  not  wholly  reconcile  Mr.  Blaine 
to  the  bill.  By  his  hostility  to  t;he  McKinley  phase  of  pro 
tection  and  by  his  opposition  to  the  idea  of  a  Force  Bill,  the 
Secretary  of  State  stood  for  the  time  in  opposition  to  the 
younger  Republican  leaders,  though  he  probably  had  with 
him  a  majority  of  his  party. 

Long  schooled  to  appeal  from  bad  law  to  what  seemed 
righteous  disorder,  in  the  spring  of  1891  the  State  of  Louisiana 
was  confronted  with  an  occasion  for  such  appeal  that  would 

566 


HENNESSY  WAS  A  DYING  MAN 

have  sorely  tempted  the  most  orderly  population  in  the  world. 
Certain  Italians,  accused  of  shooting  some  of  their  country 
men,  had  been  convicted  by  false  swearing.  A  second  trial 
being  secured,  the  New  Orleans  Chief  of  Police,  David  C. 
Hennessy,  busied  himself  with  tracing  the  record  of  their 
accusers,  who  were  Sicilians.  He  was  surprised  to  find  evi 
dence  that  the  "  Mafia,"  an  oath-bound  secret  society  indi 
genous  to  Sicily,  had  thriving  branches  in  New  Orleans,  New 
York,  St.  Louis  and  San  Francisco.  This  dreaded  organiza 
tion  was  wont  to  demand  of  its  victims  sums  of  money,  $500, 
$1,000,  or  $2,000  each,  the  mandate  in  every  case  naming 
some  secluded  spot  for  the  deposit.  Few  dared  refuse. 

Engrossed  in  his  search,  the  Chief  of  Police  had  no  idea 
that  he  was  watched.  He  probably  knew  nothing  of  a  cer 
tain  Italian  neighbor  of  his,  Monasterio  by  name,  lately 
arrived  from  abroad,  occupying  a  shanty  fifty  yards  from  his 
house.  It  was  nearly  time  for  the  trap  to  be  sprung  and  full 
exposure  made,  when,  late  one  evening,  Hennessy  drew  near 
his  home.  A  boy  ran  in  front  of  him  and  gave  a  peculiar 
whistle.  Next  moment  the  chief  was  a  dying  man.  Bullets 
tore  three  cruel  rents  in  his  chest  and  abdomen,  his  right  knee 
and  his  left  hand  were  shot  through,  and  his  face,  arms  and 
neck  were  shockingly  mutilated.  Though  he  languished  till 
the  next  morning,  the  only  explanation  that  passed  his  lips  was 
the  whispered  word,  "  Dagoes."  Within  ten  minutes  of  the 
shooting  the  immigrant  was  seized  in  his  shanty.  Others 
were  arrested  later,  but  only  eleven  were  held  and  only  nine 
finally  presented.  The  trial  proved  that  Hennessy's  assassins 
hid  in  Monasterio's  hut,  and  that  an  Italian  boy  was  posted 
to  notify  them  of  Hennessy's  approach.  The  deadly  weap 
ons  were  found,  six  shot-guns,  five  with  barrels  sawed  off  and 
stocks  hinged  so  that  they  could  be  doubled  up  and  carried 
under  the  clothing. 

Verdict  was  rendered  on  Friday,  March  13,  1891.  The 
judge,  usually  imperturbable,  was  observed,  when  the  paper 

567 


THE  UNITED  STATES  IN  OUR  OWN  TIME 


was  handed  him,  to  look  at  it  for  a  moment  in  stupefaction. 
No  wonder.  Six  of  the  culprits  were  acquitted  ;  in  the  case  of 
three  the  jury  disagreed  ;  not  one  was  convicted.  "  Bribery," 
said  some.  Others  whispered  "  Intimidation."  All  agreed 
that  such  a  fiasco  was  an  "  outrage."  Awaiting  trial  upon  a 
second  indictment,  and  joyfully  reckoning  upon  a  similar 
result  next  time,  the  accused  were  again  locked  in  their  cells. 
At  the  moment  the  doors  closed  behind  them  a  vigilance  com 
mittee  of  well-known  citizens  were  writing  and  sending  to  the 
various  newspaper  offices  the  following  notice  : 

"  Mass  Meeting. 

"  All  good  citizens  are  invited  to  attend  a  mass  meeting 
on  Saturday,  March  I4th,  at  ten  o'clock  A.  M.,  at  Clay  Statue, 
to  take  steps  to  remedy  the  failure  of  justice  in  the  Hennessy 
case.  Come  prepared  for  action." 

The  assembly  at  the  statue  blocked  the  street-cars  and 
climbed  on  top  of  them.  Neighboring  balconies  were  peopled 

With  store  of  ladies,  whose  bright  eyes  rain'd  influence. 

Words  from  some  influential  man  in  the  crowd  voiced 
the  unanimous  view  :  "  When  the  law  is  powerless  the  rights 

delegated  by  the  people  are  relegated 
back  to  the  people,  and  they  are  justi 
fied  in  doing  what  the  law  has  failed  to 
do."  The  speaker  charged  that  the 
jury  was  corrupted  and  asked  if  the 
people  were  ready  to  follow  him.  The 
response  was  favorable,  loud,  and  una 
nimous.  The  prison  occupied  a 
whole  square,  its  main  iron  gates 
frowning  upon  Orleans  Street.  From 
within  the  deputy  sheriff  observed  a 
crowd,  larger  and  larger  each  moment, 
drifting  toward  the  building.  This, 
568 


DAVID   C.   HENNESST 
The  New  Orleans  Chief  of  Police 


"WHO  KILLA  DE  CHIEF?" 


with  the  mass  meet 
ing  at  the  Clay 
statue,  warned  him 
what  to  expect.  The 
Italian  prisoners, 
too,  had  heard  of 
the  meeting,  and 
trembled.  Carpen 
ters  barricading  the 
side  entrance  were 
jeered.  The  small 
boys  in  the  crowd  set 
up  a  shout :  "  Who 
killade  chief?  Who 
killa  de  chief?" 
Then  followed  the 
Mafia  whistle,  but 
what  a  new  meaning 
it  bore  to  its  authors 
now !  More  por 
tentous  than  the  chattering  of  those  gamins  was  the  hush 
long  maintained  by  the  multitude.  At  last  this  gave  way 
to  rolling  volleys  of  applause,  growing  louder  and  louder 
as  there  was  heard  the  steady  cadence  of  Hennessy's 
avengers  marching  hither  from  the  meeting  at  the  statue.  A 
neighboring  wood-pile  furnished  battering  rams,  and  the  work 
of  demolishing  the  front  gates  was  soon  finished,  a  burly 
negro  aiding  with  a  huge  stone.  The  vigilance  committee  ad 
mitted  to  the  prison  not  more  than  sixty  men,  posting  sen 
tries  at  all  exits  to  shoot  down  escaping  prisoners.  The 
Italians  had  been  set  free  within  the  prison,  to  escape,  if  they 
could,  by  hiding.  The  boy  who  had  warned  them  of  the 
chiefs  approach  on  the  night  of  the  murder  was  found  beat 
ing  at  the  cell  doors  and  begging  to  be  let  in.  He  was 
spared.  Three  poor  wretches  stood  in  line  behind  a  pillar  as 


The  Clay  Statue  in  New  Orleans 


THE  UNITED  STATES  IN  OUR  OWN  TIME 

the  lynchers  approached.  Peeping  from  his  shelter,  one  was 
shot  through  the  head  ;  the  second  stumbled  over  the  corpse 
and  was  at  once  riddled  ;  the  third  seized  an  Indian  club,  and 
in  desperation  beat  at  a  door  where  he  hoped  for  egress,  just 
as  a  crowd  from  the  other  direction  broke  in.  A  shot  in  the 
forehead  failed  to  fell  or  dishearten  him.  Thinking  to  parry 
a  charge  aimed  at  his  shoulder,  he  lost  his  hand.  The  next 
moment  a  rifle  was  pressed  to  his  breast  and  fired.  He  sank, 
and  the  crowd  passed  on  over  him.  In  the  women's  yard  six 
more,  huddled  in  an  attitude  of  supplication,  were  despatched, 
one  body  receiving  forty-two  bullets.  Two  others  were 
hanged  outside  the  prison.  One  of  these  had  gone  in 
sane,  and  was  kicked  to  the  lamp-post,  muttering  to  him 
self.  At  the  first  attempt  to  string  him  up  the  rope  broke  ; 
the  second  time  he  clutched  it  and  drew  himself  hand  over 
hand  to  the  cross-piece,  but  was  beaten  back  to  the  ground ; 
the  third  time  he  repeated  the  attempt  with  the  same  result. 
When  he  was  successfully  hanged  deafening  cheers  went  up. 
The  wretch's  clothing  was  stripped  from  him  and  torn  in 
pieces,  to  be  distributed  as  souvenirs. 

The  crowd  was  now  satisfied  with  the  work  done,  and 
walked  quietly  back  to  the  Clay  statue,  whence  they  dis 
persed. 

This  incident  opened  grave  international  complications, 
which  Mr.  Elaine  handled  with  skill.  Three  of  the  murdered 
men  had  been  subjects  of  King  Humbert.  Our  treaty  with 
Italy,  ratified  in  the  early  seventies,  provided  that  "  the  citi 
zens  of  each  of  the  high  contracting  parties  should  receive  in 
the  States  and  territories  of  the  other  the  most  constant  pro 
tection  and  security  for  their  persons  and  property,  and  enjoy 
in  this  respect  the  same  rights  and  privileges  as  were,  or 
should  be,  granted  to  the  natives."  The  Italian  Consul  at 
New  Orleans  stated  that  while  some  of  the  victims  were 
bad  men,  many  of  the  charges  against  these  were  without 
foundation  ;  that  the  violence  was  foreseen,  and  could  have 

570 


EPISODE   OF  THE  LYNCHING   OF  THE  ITALIANS  IN  NEff  ORLEANS 
The    Citixens   Breaking   Down   the   Door  of  the   Parish   Prison 

Drawn  by  W.  R.  Leigh  from  photographs  and  descriptions 


ELAINE  AND  DI  RUDINI 

been  prevented  ;  that  he  had  in  vain  requested  military  pro 
tection  for  the  prisoners  ;  and  that  at  the  massacre  he  and  his 
secretary  had  been  assaulted  and  mobbed. 

On  the  very  day  when  the  prisoners  were  killed,  Italy 
sent  her  protest  to  Mr.  Elaine,  who  expressed  his  horror  at 
the  deed.  He  at  the  same  time  urged  Governor  Nicholls  to 
see  the  guilty  brought  to  justice.  The  Italian  Premier,  Mar 
quis  di  Rudini,  insisted  on  indemnity  for  the  murdered  men's 
families,  and  on  the  instant  punishment  of  the  assassins.  Mr. 
Elaine  did  not  regard  indemnity  as  a  right  which  the  Italian 
Government  could  maintain,  though  intimating  that  the 
United  States  would  not  refuse  it  in  this  case.  Demand  for 
the  summary  punishment  of  the  offenders  he  declared  unrea 
sonable,  since  the  utmost  that  could  be  done  at  once  was  to 
institute  judicial  proceedings,  and  this  function,  he  explained, 
could  not  be  assumed  by  the  United  States,  but  belonged 
exclusively  to  the  State  of  Louisiana.  "  The  foreign  resi 
dent,"  said  he,  "  must  be  content  in  such  cases  to  share  the 
same  redress  that  is  offered  by  the  law  to  the  citizen,  and  has 
no  just  cause  of  complaint  or  right  to  ask  the  interposition  of 
his  country  if  the  courts  are  equally  open  to  him  for  the  re 
dress  of  his  injuries  ?  " 

The  Italian  public  thought  this  equivocation,  a  mean 
truckling  to  the  American  prejudice  against  Italian  immigrants. 
Baron  Fava,  the  Italian  minister  at  Washington,  could  not  see 
why  Italian  subjects  in  America  should  not  receive  the  same 
protection  accorded  to  Americans  in  Italy.  In  vain  did  Mr. 
Elaine  set  forth  that  by  our  federal  system  foreign  residents, 
however  shielded  by  treaty,  cannot,  any  more  than  citizens, 
claim  protection  from  the  national  authority  direct.  Baron 
Fava  was  ordered,  failing  to  obtain  assurance  of  indemnity  and 
of  immediate  and  impartial  judicial  proceedings,  to  "affirm  the 
inutility  of  his  presence  near  a  government  that  had  no  power 
to  guarantee  such  justice  as  in  Italy  is  administered  equally  in 
favor  of  citizens  of  all  nationalities."  Mr.  Elaine  replied  that 

573 


THE  UNITED  STATES  IN  OUR  OWN  TIME 

the  Italian  Premier  was  endeavoring  to  hurry  him  in  a  manner 
contrary  to  diplomatic  usage,  and  that  he  could  announce  no 
decision  until  the  cases  of  the  massacred  Italian  subjects  had 
been  investigated.  "  I  do  not,"  said  he,  "  recognize  the  right 
of  any  Government  to  tell  the  United  States  what  it  shall  do  ; 
we  have  never  received  orders  from  any  foreign  power  and 
shall  not  begin  now."  It  was  to  him  ua  matter  of  indiffer 
ence  what  persons  in  Italy  think  of  our  institutions.  .  .  I  can 
not  change  them,  still  less  violate  them."  Such  judicial 
proceedings  as  could  be  had  against  the  lynchers  broke  down 
completely.  The  Italian  minister  withdrew,  but  his  govern 
ment  was  finally  persuaded  to  accept  #25,000,  to  be  distributed 
among  the  families  of  the  murdered  men. 

When  Mr.  Elaine  was  for  the  second  time  made  Secre 
tary  of  State  a  Chilian  paper  spoke  of  him  as  "  that  foreign 
minister  who  made  us  so  much  trouble."  Aided  by  his  own 
unfortunate  choice  of  a  minister  thither,  Chile  now  became  a 
cause  of  trouble  to  Mr.  Elaine.  The  country  was  in  the  throes 
of  a  civil  war  between  the  "  presidential  party" — adherents  of 
President  Balmaceda — and  the  "  congressional  party."  Mr. 
Egan  eagerly  espoused  Balmaceda's  cause,  alienating  the  con 
gressional  party  and  a  majority  of  the  people.  The  misun 
derstanding  was  aggravated  by  the  Itata  incident.  On  May 


THE   ITATA   IN  S4N  DIEGO  HARBOR 

From  a  photograph  by  Slocum 

574 


EGAN'S  WOES  IN  CHILE 


PRESIDENT  BALMACEDA 
OF  CHILE 


6,  1891,  the  Itafa,  a  Chilian  cruiser  in 
the  service  of  the  Congressionalists, 
was,  at  the  request  of  the  Chilian 
minister,  seized  at  San  Diego  by  the 
United  States  marshal,  on  the  ground 
that  she  was  about  to  carry  a  cargo 
of  arms  to  the  Revolutionists.  The 
next  day  she  put  to  sea,  defying  the 
marshal's  injunction.  Two  days  after 
the  cruiser  Charleston  set  out  in  pur 
suit,  but  reached  Callao  without  hav 
ing  seen  her  quarry.  On  June  4th  the 
offender  surrendered  to  the  United  States  squadron  at  Iquique. 
Congressionalists  in  Chile  were  angry  at  us  for  meddling 
with  the  Itata,)  the  President's  party  for  not  making  our  in 
tervention  effective.  Excitement  ran  so  high  in  Chile  that  it 
was  unsafe  for  Americans  to  be  recognized  anywhere  on 
Chilian  territory.  On  October  iyth  some  sailors  from  the 
Baltimore  were  attacked  in  Valparaiso,  two  being  killed  and 
eighteen  hurt.  To  Secretary  Elaine's  demand  for  an  ex 
planation  the  Chilian  Foreign  Office  replied  on  October  28th. 
Later  was  furnished  a  satisfactory  indemnity. 

Another  incident   attracting;  some  attention  in    1890  re- 

o  ./ 

ferred  to  General  Barrundia,  a  political  refugee  from  Guatemala, 


THE  CHARLESTON  IN  SAN  DIEGO  HARBOR 

From  a  photograph  by  Slocum 

575 


THE  UNITED  STATES  IN  OUR  OWN  TIME 


who  took  passage  on  the  Pacific  Mail  steamer  Acapulco^  for 
Salvador.  The  captain,  Pitts,  assured  Barrundia  that,  though 
the  steamer  was  to  call  at  several  Guatemalan  ports,  he  would 
not  be  delivered  to  the  Guatemalan  authorities.  These  never 
theless  sought  to  arrest  him  at  Champerico  and  again  at  San 
Jose  de  Guatemala.  The  United  States  Minister,  Mr.  Miz- 
ner,  Consul-General  Hosmer  and  Commander  Reiter,  of  the 
United  States  Ship  of  War  Ranger  then  present  in  the  port  of 
San  Jose,  believed  that  Guatemala  had  a  right  to  do  this,  as 
the  Acapulco  lay  in  Guatemala's  territorial  waters.  They  so 
advised  Captain  Pitts,  who  then,  though  with  the  utmost  re 
luctance,  permitted  the  arresting  party  to  board  the  Acapulco. 
Barrundia  resisted  capture  and  was  killed.  Mizner's  action 
was  severely  censured  by  Secretary  Blaine  and  he  was  called 
home.  Commander  Reiter,  also,  for  not  interfering  to  pre 
vent  the  arrest,  was  deprived  of  his  command,  receiving, 
moreover,  a  sharp  letter  from  the  Secretary  of  the  Navy.  The 
officer  complained  that  this  letter  "  conveyed  a  severe  public 
reprimand — a  punishment  which  could  be  inflicted  legally 
only  by  the  sentence  of  a  general  court-martial."  He  was 
afterward  restored,  but  to  another  command.  Our  Govern 
ment's  attitude  in  this  affair,  seeking  to  set  up  a  doctrine 

of  asylum  on  merchant  ships,  was,  in 
international  law,  wholly  untenable. 
The  two  officials  were  cruelly  punished 
for  having  acted  with  admirable  judg 
ment  and  done  each  his  exact  duty. 

In  the  congressional  campaign  of 
1890  issue  upon  the  neo-Republican 
t^rffci^BM^          policy  was  squarely  joined.     The   Re- 
\  publicans  had   interpreted   Harrison's 

victory  as  a  popular  mandate,  given 
carte  blanche^  and  had  legislated  as  if 
never  to  be  called  to  account.  The 
1890  election,  a  "  landslide  "  unpre- 
576 


ROBERT  E.  PATTISON 
From  a  photograph  by  Gutekunst 


ATT  HEW  QUAY 
tor  from  Pennsylvanii 


MR.  QUAY  FLAYED 

cedented  in  our  political  history,  re 
vealed  their  error.  The  House  of 
Representatives  was  now  overwhelm 
ingly  Democratic.  Pennsylvania  once 
more  elected  Pattison  Governor,  and 
also  gave  the  Democrats  three  new 
seats  in  Congress.  In  this  State  the 
turn  of  the  tide  was  partly  due  to  the 
Republican  dislike  of  Senator  Quay. 
Early  in  1890  Mr.  H.  C.  Lea,  of 
Philadelphia,  had  made  charges,  reiter 
ated  in  leading  journals  with  wealth 
of  detail,  to  the  effect  that  as  State 
Treasurer  Ouay  had  been  guilty  of  peculation.  Honorable 
Robert  P.  Kennedy,  a  Republican  member  from  Ohio,  speak 
ing  in  the  House  of  Representatives,  impeached  Quay  on  the 
same  ground.  Kennedy's  indictment  was  expunged  from  the 
record,  which  widened  rather  than  narrowed  its  influence. 

The  political  change  was  far  from  local.  The  Pacific  slope 
aside,  huge  Democratic  gains  occurred  everywhere.  The 
defeated  referred  their  fall  to  "  off-year  "  apathy,  but  that  was 
not  its  sole  or  its  main  cause.  The  Billion  Dollars  gone,  the 
Force  Bill,  and  to  a  less  extent  the  McKinley  tariff,  had 
aroused  popular  resentment.  The  new  law  so  disliked  at 
home  was  naturally  odious  abroad.  France,  Germany  and 
Austria  talked  of  reprisals.  So  did  Great  Britain.  By  the 
tirades  against  him  there  McKinley  was  for  a  time  better 
known  in  Europe  than  any  other  American.  Yet  so  long  as 
the  sun  shone  Europe  diligently  made  hay.  Just  as  the 
advanced  rates  were  about  to  go  into  effect  ocean  greyhounds 
came  racing  hither  to  bring  in,  under  the  old  duties,  all  the 
goods  they  could.  The  Etrurias  speed,  saving  a  few  seconds, 
was  said  to  have  won  the  owners  of  her  cargo  no  less  than 
$1,000,000  in  this  way.  Vast  as  was  its  preponderance  of 
Democrats,  the  new  House  could  of  course  carrv  no  low-tariff 


577 


THE  UNITED  STATES  IN  OUR  OWN  TIME 

measure  against  Harrison  and  the  Senate ;  but  it  passed  a 
number  of  "  pop-gun  bills  "  for  free  raw  materials,  as  if  to 
make  "  coming  events  cast  their  shadows  before." 

The  international  copyright  bill  of  the  McKinley  Con 
gress  was  one  of  the  most  conspicuous  of  its  enactments,  the 
more  conspicuous  in  that  it  drew  the  favorable  comment  of  the 
"literary."  In  1886  an  international  conference,  from  which 
Austria-Hungary,  Russia  and  the  United  States  were  absent, 
resulted  in  a  treaty  for  international  copyright.  Two  years 
later  the  United  States  Senate  passed  a  bill,  which  failed  in  the 
House,  intended  to  reconcile  our  law  with  that  idea.  In  1890 
the  House  in  turn  passed  a  bill  with  similar  intent,  but  involv 
ing  severe  provisions  against  importing  foreign  books.  The 
Senate  amended  these  features  so  as  to  permit  the  importation 
of  foreign-made  books  like  other  foreign  articles.  The  bill 
ultimately  passed,  approved  by  the  President  on  March  3, 
1891,  provided  for  United  States  copyright  for  any  foreign 
author,  designer,  artist  or  dramatist,  provided  "  that  in  case  of 
a  book,  photograph,  chromo  or  lithograph,  the  two  copies  of 
the  same  required  to  be  delivered  or  deposited  with  the  Libra 
rian  of  Congress  shall  be  printed  from  type  set  within  the  lim 
its  of  the  United  States,  or  from  plates  made  therefrom,  or 
from  negatives  or  drawings  on  stone  made  within  the  limits  of 
the  United  States  or  from  transfers  therefrom."  Foreign  au 
thors,  like  native  or  naturalized,  could  renew  their  United 
States  copyrights  ;  and  penalties  were  prescribed  in  the  new 
law  to  protect  these  rights  from  infringement. 


578 


CHAPTER    XX 

IMPORTANT  EVENTS  MAINLY  NON-POLIT 
ICAL  DURING  HARRISON'S  TERM 

SIGNS  OF  A  NEW  TIME. HENRY  VV.    GRADY. BAD  TEMPER  OVER 

JEFF.  DAVIS. ZACHARIAH  CHANDLER  ARRAIGNS  DAVIS. GEN.  SHER 
MAN  DOES  THE  SAME. OKLAHOMA. —THE  "  BOOMERS." — GROWTH 

OF  THE  TERRITORY. THE     "  MESSIAH    CRAZE  "   AMONG  THE    IN 
DIANS. —  ITS     ALLEGED    ORIGIN. ANOTHER     ACCOUNT. END    OF 

SITTING  BULL.  — RELATED  MANIFESTATIONS  OF  THE  DELUSION. THE 

JOHNSTOWN    FLOOD. DEVASTATION   AND   DEATH. RELIEF  WORK. 

THE    SEATTLE    FIRE. FATAL    CONFLAGRATION    IN    SECRETARY 

TRACY'S    WASHINGTON     HOME. — THE     LOUISIANA    LOTTERY. — ITS 

FIGHT  FOR  LIFE.  — ITS  DEFEAT  AND  BANISHMENT. MORMONISM. — 

ANTI-POLYGAMY  LAWS. THE    MOUNTAIN  MEADOWS  MASSACRE. — 

EXECUTION  OF  JOHN  D.  LEE. THE   EDMUNDS  LAW. ITS  RIGOR. 

THE    HIGHEST  COURT  SUSTAINS    IT. A  "REVELATION"  AGAINST 

POLYGAMY. AMNESTY    AND    PARDON. UTAH  A   STATE. — GEARY 

ANTI-CHINESE  LAW. THE  UNITED  STATES  IN  SAMOA. HURRICANE 

THERE. ESCAPE  OF  THE  CALLIOPE. ADMIRAL  KIMBERLY  TO  CAP 
TAIN    KANE. RUSSIAN    FAMINE   OF   1892. THOUGHT   OF  RELIEF 

FROM  AMERICA. MINNEAPOLIS  IN  THE  LEAD. DESPERATE    SITU 
ATION  IN  RUSSIA. RUSSIANS1   OWN    GENEROSITY. THE    SUPPLIES 

FROM  AMERICA. WISDOM  SHOWN  IN  DISTRIBUTING  THEM. PHILA 
DELPHIA  CONTRIBUTES. GOOD  EFFECTS  OF  THE  RELIEF  MOVEMENT. 

POLITICAL  "TIDAL  WAVES"  OF  1892  AND  1894. 

IN  1890  and  1891  an  old  cycle  appeared  distinctly  merging 
into  a  new.  Memorials  rising  on  every  hand  shocked 
one  with  the  sense  that  familiar  figures  and  recent  issues  were 
already  of  the  past.  These  two  years  saw  monuments  raised 
to  Horace  Greeley,  Robert  E.  Lee,  Henry  Ward  Beecher, 
Stonewall  Jackson,  Garfield  and  Grant.  The  year  of  Grant's 
death  was  also  that  of  Hendricks's,  to  whom  a  statue  was 
speedily  erected  in  Indianapolis.  The  next  year  Logan, 
Arthur  and  Hancock  departed.  General  Sheridan  died  in 
1888.  In  1891  General  Sherman  and  Admiral  Porter  fell 
within  a  day  of  each  other.  General  Johnston,  who  had  been 


THE  UNITED  STATES  IN  OUR  OWN  TIME 


' 

•J'r$>-  - 


a  pall-bearer  at  the  funeral  of  each,  rejoined  them  in  a  little 
over  a  month.  All  these  heroes  of  the  war  followed  Grant  to 
the  tomb  in  1885,  and  had  now  followed  him  beyond  it.  A 
monument  just  reared  at  Atlanta  was  a  reminder  of  Henry  W. 

Grady's  recent  death,  in 
which  the  morning  star 
of  the  New  South  faded 
from  our  sky.  The  fra 
ternal  strife  ending  in 
1865  began  to  seem  a  far 
memory.  The  locality 
of  Lee's  monument  at 
Richmond,  amid  streets 
and  avenues,  was  farmland 
at  the  time  Lee  and  his 
army  were  protecting  the 
city.  The  unveiling  in 
May,  1890,  was  indeed 
no  little  of  a  Confederate 
occasion.  Fitzhugh  Lee, 
Joseph  E.Johnston,  Jubal 
Early,  Longstreet  and 
Gordon  were  all  in  at 
tendance  and  warmly  re 
ceived.  The  Lost  Cause 
was  mentioned,  but  little 
was  said  or  done  to  indi 
cate  that  any  regretted  its 
loss.  The  Confederate 
flag  was  displayed,  but 
not  in  derogation  of  the 
Stars  and  Stripes. 
Grady's  death  was  lamented  nowhere  more  sincerely  than 
at  the  North.  His  clever  speeches  at  the  New  England  So 
ciety's  New  York  dinner,  in  1886,  and  at  the  Merchants' 

580 


THE  STATUE   OF  THOMAS  J.   JACKSON  AT 

LEXINGTON,   VA. 

Unveiled  July  21,  l8qi,  the  Thirtieth  Anniversary  of  the 
First  Battle  of  Manassas,  where  he  gained  his  sobriquet 
of '•'•Stonewall:'  E.  B.  Valentine,  Sculptor 

(The  face  is  from  a  death-mask  by  Vole,  and  the  pedestal 
covers  the  vault  -where  are  the  bodies  of  Jackson  and  his 
two  daughters.) 


HENRY  GRADY 


'Club  dinner  in  Boston,  shortly  before  his  death,  December 
23,  1889,  had  brought  him  fame.  He  was  born  in  Athens, 
Ga.,  in  1851.  His  father,  a  man  of  wealth  and  a  colonel, 
was  killed  in  the  Confederate  service.  At  the  universities  of 
Georgia  and  Virginia  he 
had  been  a  universal  fa 
vorite,  celebrated  for  a 
brilliancy  akin  to  genius. 
Brought  up  at  the  feet 
of  Robert  Toombs,  the 
youth  acquired  the  old 
fire-eater's  ardor  without 
his  venom.  After  1876 
he  wrote  for  the  New 
York  Herald  and  other 
Northern  papers,  and  his 
letters  made  a  strong  im 
pression.  After  he,  in 
1880,  became  interested 
in  the  Atlanta  Comtitu- 


)  that  sheet  was  widely 
read  all  over  the  North, 
doing  much  to  allay  sec 
tional  animosity. 

The  last  angry  out 
break  of  this  related 
to  the  ex-President  of 
the  Confederacy,  Jeffer 
son  Davis.  Northerners 
might  with  great  satisfac 
tion  to  themselves,  and  with  justice,  speak  of  their  triumph 
in  the  war  as  a  victory  of  and  for  the  Constitution  ;  and  they 
could  not  but  indulge  the  natural  inclination  to  question 
the  motives  of  Southern  leaders.  But  Southerners,  however 
loyal,  now,  to  the  Union,  with  equal  inevitableness  took  the 

581 


THE  EQUESTRIAN   STATUE   OF 

ROBERT  E.   LEE 

On  the  Allen  Plot,  West  End,  Richmond,  Va.  Unveiled 
May  2Q,  l8qO.  Antonin  Mercie,  Sculptor.  Shows  Lee  as 
he  appeared  at  the  Battle  of  Gettysburg 

(The  pedestal  is  forty  feet  high,  and  the  statue  twenty.      The 
picture  shows  the  pedestal  cut  on  both  sides.) 


THE  UNITED  STATES  IN  OUR  OWN  TIME 


position  that  at  the  time  when  secession  occurred  the  question 
of  the  nature  of  the  Union  had  not  been  settled  ;  that,  there 
fore,  Mr.  Davis  and  the  rest  might  attempt  secession  not 
as  foes  of  the  Union  but  as,  at  heart,  its  most  loyal  friends 
and  defenders. 

In  the  early  morning  hours  of  March  3,  1879,  m~ 
genious  chemists  of  the  Republican  party  had  concocted  in 
the  Senate  an  acrid  and  effervescent  parliamentary  mixture, 
giving  a  foretaste  of  the  Bloody  Shirt  campaign  tactics  of 
1880.  The  question  of  suitable  pensions  to  the  soldiers  and 
sailors  of  the  Mexican  War  being  under  debate,  matters  sud 
denly  took  a  partisan  turn,  evoking  bitter  controversy,  when 
Senator  Hoar  moved  an  amendment  to  except  Jefferson  Davis 
from  the  benefits  of  the  act,  a  move  which  some  years  before, 
in  the  hands  of  James  G.  Elaine  in  the  House  of  Representa 
tives,  had  met  with  brilliant  success  in  connection  with  an 
amnesty  bill.  General  Shields  did  not  wish  further  to  exalt 
Mr.  Davis  by  such  a  distinction.  Senator  Thurman  opposed 
making  Davis  a  vicarious  sacrifice.  Exasperated  by  the  in 
vidious  import  of  the  amendment  and  by  remarks  from 
the  Republican  side,  Southern  Senators  launched  into  extrava 
gant  eulogies  of  Mr.  Davis,  as  indis 
creet  as  they  were  well  meant.  Senator 
Garland  said  :  "  His  services  are  upon 
the  record  of  this  country,  and  while 
they  may  not  surpass,  yet  they  will 
equal  in  history  all  Grecian  fame  and 
^-^^^—  all  Roman  glory."  Though  it  was 

A\       ,  not  yet  daylight,  sleepy  Senators  came 

| jBf    \1     flfcW'        pressing  into  the  Chamber,  while  the 

"V^H  galleries  were  recruited  from  unknown 

Vxj?  ^  ^ 

-j$F  sources. 

The  debate  had  proceeded  in  this 
strain  for  some  time,  when  Senator 
Zachariah  Chandler,  of  Michigan, 

582 


IV.  GRADT 
Fr«m    a    photograph  by  Mote 


THE  DISPUTE  OVER  JEFFERSON  DAVIS 


THE  BEECHER  STAUTE  IN  THE  CITY  HALL  PARK, 
BROOKLTN,  N.  T. 

John  3^  A.  Ward,  Sculptor.      Unveiled  June  25,  l8qi 

arose.  His  huge  frame,  loud  voice  and  earnest  manner  always 
made  his  speech  effective,  but  it  was  particularly  so  now : 

"  Mr.  President,"  said  he,  "  twenty-three  years  ago 
to-morrow,  in  the  old  Hall  of  the  Senate,  now  occupied  by 
the  Supreme  Court  of  the  United  States,  I,  in  company  with 
Mr.  Jefferson  Davis,  stood  up  and  swore  that  I  would  sup 
port  the  Constitution  of  the  United  States." 

After  narrating  Davis's  secession  and  his  opposition  to 
the  flag  notwithstanding  the  oath  he  had  taken,  Chandler  con 
tinued  :  "  I  remained  here,  sir,  during  the  whole  of  that  ter 
rible  rebellion.  I  saw  our  brave  soldiers  by  thousands  and 
hundreds  of  thousands,  ay,  I  might  say  millions,  pass  through 

583 


THE  UNITED  STATES  IN  OUR  OWN  TIME 


ZACHARIAH  CHANDLER 


to  the  theatre  of  war,  and  I  saw  their 
shattered  ranks  return  ;  I  saw  steam 
boat  after  steamboat  and  railroad 
train  after  railroad  train  arrive  with 
the  maimed  and  the  wounded ;  I  was 
with  my  friend  from  Rhode  Island, 
General  Burnside,  when  he  com 
manded  the  Army  of  the  Potomac, 
and  saw  piles  of  legs  and  arms  that 
made  humanity  shudder;  I  saw  the 
widow  and  the  orphan  in  their  homes 
and  heard  the  weeping  and  wailing 
of  those  who  had  lost  their  dearest  and  their  best.  Mr. 
President,  I  little  thought  at  that  time  that  I  should  live 
to  hear  in  the  Senate  of  the  United  States  eulogies  upon 
Jefferson  Davis,  living — a  living  rebel  eulogized  on  the  floor 
•of  the  Senate  of  the  United  States  !  Sir,  I  am  amazed  to 
hear  it ;  and  I  can  tell  the  gentlemen  on  the  other  side  that 
they  little  know  the  spirit  of  the  North  when  they  come  here 
at  this  day  and,  with  bravado  on  their  lips,  utter  eulogies 
upon  a  man  whom  every  man,  woman  and  child  in  the  North 
believes  to  have  been  a  double-dyed  traitor  to  the  Govern 
ment." 

The  presiding  officer  was  unable  to  repress  the  applause 
that  ran  round  the  galleries.  The  speech  was  quoted  with 
approval  all  over  the  North,  indicating  the  state  of  the  public 
mind  at  the  time.  The  Hoar  amendment  was  carried ;  but 
even  so  the  pension  proposal  did  not  commend  itself  to  the 
Senate,  presumably  because  so  many  Mexican  War  veterans 
were  also  ex-Confederates. 

The  question  whether  or  not  Jefferson  Davis  was  a  traitor 
came  up  in  the  Senate  again  in  1885.  At  a  Camp  Fire  of  the 
Grand  Army  of  the  Republic  at  St.  Louis,  General  W.  T. 
Sherman  made  the  assertion  that  Davis,  insincere  in  his  seces 
sion  doctrines,  had  in  1865  written  threatening  to  resist 

584 


LAMAR  7ERSUS  SHERMAN 


.  LAMAR 


"  separate  State  action  on  the  part  of 
Southern  States  even  if  he  had  to  turn 
Lee's  army  against  it."  Davis  made 
rejoinder,  calling  for  the  production 
of  the  letter.  General  Sherman  could 
not  reproduce  the  document,  but 
filed  in  the  War  Department  a  state 
ment  meant  to  constitute  evidence  of 
his  assertion  or  to  show  where  such 
could  be  found.  Controversy  over 
Davis  was  precipitated  in  the  Senate 
by  a  resolution  of  Senator  Hawley 
calling  for  General  Sherman's  state 
ment.  The  debate  waxing  bitter,  Senator  John  Sherman 
sought  to  justify  his  brother.  He  said  : 

"  Sir,  whenever,  in  my  presence,  in  a  public  assemblage, 
Jefferson  Davis  shall  be  treated  as  a  patriot,  I  must  enter  my 
solemn  protest.  Whenever  the  motives  and  causes  of  the 
war,  the  beginning  and  the  end  of  which  I  have  seen,  are 
brought  in  question,  I  must  stand,  as  I  have  always  stood, 
upon  the  firm  conviction  that  it  was  a  causeless  rebellion, 
made  with  bad  motives,  and  that  all  the  men  who  led  in  that 
movement  were  traitors  to  their  country." 

Senator  Lamar  answered  with  some  heat,  closing  :  cc  We, 
of  the  South,  have  surrendered  upon  all  the  questions  which 
divided  the  two  sides  in  that  controversy.  We  have  given  up 
the  right  of  the  people  to  secede  from  this  Union  ;  we  have 
given  up  the  right  of  each  State  to  judge  for  itself  of  the  in 
fractions  of  the  Constitution  and  the  mode  of  redress  ;  we  have 
given  up  the  right  to  control  our  own  domestic  institutions. 
We  fought  for  all  these,  and  we  lost  in  that  controversy  ;  but 
no  man  shall,  in  my  presence,  call  Jefferson  Davis  a  traitor, 
without  my  responding  with  a  stern  and  emphatic  denial." 

The  growth  of  population  still  continued  to  force  back 
the  barriers  of  the  Indian  reservations.  Pressure  was  now 


585 


THE  UNITED  STATES  IN  OUR  OWN  TIME 


Boomers  "  in  Camp  just  Outside  the  Line,  April  21, 
iSSq,  Waiting  for  the  Opening  of  the  Oklahoma 
Lands  Next  Day 


hardest  against  that  part  of  Indian  Territory  known  as  Okla 
homa.  This  consisted  of  a  large  tract  which  shortly  after  the 
Civil  War  the  Seminole  Indians  sold  to  the  Government  with 
the  understanding  that  no  white  man  but  only  colonies  of  In- 


A  General  View  of  the  Town  on 
April  24,  I&8q,  the  Second  Day 
After  the  Opening 


THE    BUILDING    OF   A    WESTERN' 
From  photographs 


586 


RISE  OF  THE  "BOOMER 


A  View  along  Oklahoma  Avenue  on  May  10,  l8Sq 

dians  and  freedmen  should  settle  there.  Nevertheless,  the 
great  cattle  kings  had  inclosed  large  tracts  of  the  territory. 
This  imposition,  helped  by  the  eviction  of  small  prospectors, 
raised  up  the  species  known  as  Oklahoma  "  boomers "  or 
fc  raiders,"  who  incessantly  clamored  that  this  land  be  opened 
for  settlement.  Western  nomads  called  "  movers  "  rallied  to 


»rw^  .iV# 

t    *    r     _J***Vto  './V 

^itiOSS 


Oklahoma  Avenue,  as   it  Appeared  on  May  10,  /5ft?,  during  Governor    Noble's    Visit 


TOWN,  GWTHRIE,   OKLAHOMA 
C.  P.  Rich 


THE  UNITED  STATES  IN  OUR  OWN  TIME 


The  Crook  Commission  Holding  a  Con 
ference  with  the  Sioux  Indians  at  Low 
er  Brule  Agency,  S.  £>.,  July  J,  lS8q 

(The  negotiations  led  to  the  ofening  for 
settlers  of  nine  million  acres  of  the  Sioux 
reservation  on  February  70,  iSqo.) 


every  filibustering  enterprise  into  the  reservations.  One 
David  L.  Payn  was  the  first  and  most  famous  of  the  "  Ok 
lahoma  raiders."  He  and  his  allies  made  repeated  forays  into 
the  forbidden  region,  but  were  each  time  driven  off  at  the  tails 
of  their  carts.  Kansas  real  estate  men  found  business  dull  and 
added  their  voices  to  the  cry  that  Oklahoma  must  be  opened  ; 
but  they  sought  their  end  by  legislation  rather  than  by  raids. 

It  at  length  became  obvious  that  the  conditions  on  which 
the  lands  had  been  bought  could  not  be  complied  with,  and  in 
1888—89  Congress  gladly  appropriated  $4,000,000  to  obtain  a 
fee  simple.  The  sluice-gates  were  opened  one  after  another 
by  proclamation.  The  first  one  was  appointed  to  give  way  on 
April  22,  1889.  The  incidental  advertising  which  preceded 
the  event  spread  excitement  from  Denver  to  New  York. 
The  General  Land-Office  and  the  Post-Office  Department 
made  hasty  preparations  for  the  rush,  which  involved  five 
times  as  many  people  as  could  obtain  foothold.  In  spite  of 
utmost  efforts  on  the  part  of  the  military  the  woods  and  val- 

588 


MUSHROOM  CITIES 

leys  of  Oklahoma  were  full  of  "  sooners  "  before  the  opening 
day  ;  but  the  vast  majority  lined  up  on  the  borders  awaiting 
the  bugle-call  at  noon  of  April  22d.  When  it  sounded  there 
was  a  sudden  cloud  of  dust  and  a  wild  scurry  of  hoofs,  wheels 
and  feet,  spreading  out  frontward  like  a  fan.  It  was  said  that 
one  man  on  foot,  carrying  his  kit,  ran  six  miles  in  sixty  min 
utes  to  reach  his  choice  claim,  where  he  fell  down  exhausted. 
Those  in  or  rushing  in  at  the  opening,  were  followed  later  by 
heavily  loaded  trains  from  a  distance.  All  went  armed,  and 
bloodshed  was  prevented  only  with  difficulty.  Liquor-selling 
within  the  territory  had  to  be  totally  prohibited.  At  noon  on 
the  eventful  day  Guthrie  was  only  a  town  site  ;  at  nightfall 
it  was  a  city  of  10,000  and  had  taken  steps  toward  forming  a 
municipal  government.  Oklahoma  City  grew  less  rapidly, 
but  perhaps  more  solidly.  By  June  business  blocks  and  resi 
dences  had  risen  there,  the  wonder  of  all  residents.  On 
so  short  notice  the  Promised  Land  had  gotten  ready  for  the 
pilgrims  no  milk  or  honey — not  even  water,  though  a  yellow 


Settlers    Passing    Through    Chamberlain,  S.  D.,  on  their  Way 
to  the  Lands  Acquired  by  the  Treaty  with  the  Sioux 


539 


THE  UNITED  STATES  IN  OUR  OWN  TIME 


A  DISBELIEVER  IN  THE  "MESSIAH' 
From  a  photograph  by  H.  F.  Denton 


brackish  fluid  by  that  name  was 
peddled  on  the  streets.  Sand 
wiches  were  hawked  for  twenty- 
five  cents  each,  and  in  the 
restaurants  a  plate  of  pork  and 
beans  sold  for  seventy-five  cents. 
In  a  day  or  two  the  vast  major 
ity  of  the  rushers  left  in  disgust 
at  the  dust,  heat  and  hardships, 
many  of  them  being  on  the  point 
of  starving.  Yet  by  December 
the  territory  was  estimated  to 
hold  60,000  people,  who  boasted 
eleven  schools,  nine  churches, 

three  daily  and  five  weekly  newspapers.  Guthrie  had  8,000 
and  Oklahoma  City  5,000  souls,  both  towns  being  governed 
by  voluntary  acquiescence  in  the  ordinances.  Under  acts  of 
Congress  proclamations  from  time  to  time  opened  other 
tracts,  when  in  each  case  similar  scenes  were  enacted.  The 
Sioux  reservation  in  South  Dakota  was  unlocked  on  February 
10,  1890.  From  the  towns  of  Chamberlain  and  Pierre  troops 
of  boomers  galloped  and  ran  to  locate  claims.  Carts  and 
wagons  loaded  with  building  materials  were  hurried  forward. 
In  one  case  a  house  on  wheels  was  dragged  across  a  river 
on  the  ice. 

In  this  settlement  of  their  old  hunting-grounds  Indians 
saw  a  new  imposition  by  the  whites.  Their  lands  had  been 
seized  piece  by  piece  and  their  attempts  to  get  justice  or 
revenge  had  only  added  to  their  misery.  Many  savages 
passed  the  winter  of  1890  on  the  verge  of  starvation  because 
of  the  Government's  failure  to  provide  rations.  In  South 
Dakota  twelve  hundred  were  in  this  condition.  In  such 
extremity  many  tribes  ordinarily  hostile  to  each  other  together 
gave  up  to  the  so-called  "  Messiah  craze."  Six  thousand 
fighting  men  in  North  Dakota  and  as  many  more  in  the 

5QO 


THE    INDIAN  "MESSIAH  CRAZE" 

Indian  Territory  were  infected.  Sioux,  Cheyennes,  Arapa- 
hoes,  Osage,  Missouri  and  Seminole  Indians  participated  in 
the  ghost  dances,  which  formed  an  invariable  part  of  the  new 
cult.  There  were  several  accounts  of  the  delusion,  all  pos 
sibly  authentic,  and  all  in  some  way  involving  the  belief 
that  the  Great  Spirit  or  his  Representative  would  soon  appear 
with  a  high  hand  and  an  outstretched  arm  to  deliver  the  Red 
men  from  their  White  oppressors.  They  were  perhaps  ver 
sions  of  Christ's  second  coming  brought  to  the  Indians  by 
missionaries,  which  fanatics  or  charlatans  had  distorted  and 
mixed  with  vulgar  spiritualism. 

According  to  what  was  said  to  be  the  original  story,  a 
young  Indian  dreamed  that  the  Messiah  appeared  to  him, 
bidding  him  take  other  youth  of  good  habits  and  set  out  by  a 
way  revealed  through  an  unknown  country  to  the  Great  Sea. 
At  each  camping  place  on  the  journey  they  found  a  spring 
supplying  just  enough  water  for  them  to  drink.  Arrived  at 
the  shore  of  the  Great  Sea,  amid  a  strong  light  which  shone 
<ever  brighter  and  brighter,  they  saw  in  dim  outline  the  Son  of 


SIOUX  INDIANS  ABOUT  TO  TAKE   PART    IN  A  '•'•GHOST  DANCE" 

(During  the  "Messiah  Craxe  ") 
From  a  photograph  in  the  possession  of  H.  F.  Denton 

591 


THE  UNITED  STATES  IN  OUR  OWN  TIME 

the  Great  Spirit  coming  toward  them  over  the  water.  The 
prints  of  the  nails  were  visible  in  his  hands  and  feet  and  the 
spear-marks  in  his  side.  He  bade  them  come  out  to  him,  but 
they  dared  not,  and  he  drew  close  to  the  shore.  Avowing  a 
long-time  sympathy  with  the  red  men,  he  taught  them  that 
this  earth  was  merely  their  temporary  home  and  that  those 
who  were  faithful  to  him  would  after  death  be  taken  to  a 
better  country.  He  advised  them  touching  the  way  to  live, 
warning  them  above  all  things  not  to  attempt  a  war  against 
the  whites.  Finally  he  said  :  <c  Return  to  your  homes,  tell 
your  friends  what  you  have  seen,  and  assure  them  of  my  in 
terest  in  them."  Ere  they  could  thank  him  the  Son  of  the 
Great  Spirit  had  gone  and  they  saw  and  heard  nothing  but  the 
dashing  waves  of  the  Great  Sea. 

Certain  of  the  prophets  had  it  that  the  Mighty  Spirit 
promised  to  put  all  the  Indians  behind  him  and  all  the  whites 
in  front,  then  bury  the  whites  with  their  tallest  works  deep 
underground,  while  the  prairie  would  thunder  with  the  tramp 
of  buffalo  and  the  gallop  of  wild  horses.  To  others  the  Mes 
siah  appeared  and  said,  "  I  will  teach  you  a  dance,  and  I  want 
you  to  dance  it."  They  obeyed,  uttering  weird  chants  and 
cries  of  "  The  buffaloes  are  coming  !  "  General  Miles  thought 
that  this  strange  hallucination,  spreading  so  steadily  and  far, 
indicated  "  a  more  comprehensive  plot  than  anything  inspired 
by  Tecumseh  or  even  Pontiac." 

Here  and  there  an  Indian  was  above  the  superstition. 
Red  Cloud  prophesied :  "  If  it  (the  new  gospel)  is  true  it- 
will  spread  all  over  the  world ;  if  not  it  will  melt  like  snow 
under  the  hot  sun."  Little  Wound  said  they  would  dance  till 
spring,  but  stop  if  the  Messiah  did  not  then  appear.  Sitting 
Bull,  the  whites'  inveterate  enemy,  the  old  schemer  who  had 
stayed  behind  and  made  medicine  during  the  Custer  fight, 
now  had  a  characteristic  interview  with  the  Indian  Messiah, 
who  wished  to  know  what  he  would  like.  He  replied  that  he 
would  take  a  little  buffalo  meat,  as  he  had  not  had  any  for  a 

592 


DEATH  OF  SITTING  BULL 

long  time.  In  response,  as  he  reported,  a  herd  of  buffaloes 
appeared,  when,  shooting  one,  he  cooked  and  ate  its  hump. 
Elated  by  the  confidence  of  the  Superior  Power,  Sitting  Bull 
grew  troublesome.  In  December  the  Indian  police  arrested 
him  with  others,  and  in  attempting  to  escape  he  was  killed. 
Fortunately,  the  craze  became  less  intense  and  dangerous  as 
it  spread.  The  Southern  negroes  in  sections  lent  a  ready  ear 
to  "  voodoo  doctors,"  and  soon  ghost  dances  were  common 
also  among  them.  Even  the  scattered  Aztecs  of  Mexico 
gathered  by  hundreds  around  the  ruins  of  their  ancient  tem 
ple  at  Cholula.  There  they  performed  mystic  rites  and 
looked  for  a  Messiah  who  should  cause  Popocatapetl  to  in 
undate  the  country  with  lava  till  all  but  the  Aztecs  were 
destroyed,  and  should  then  raise  them  again  to  their  pristine 
glory. 

On  May  31,  1889,  western  Pennsylvania  was  visited  by 
one  of  the  most  awful  catastrophes  ever  chronicled.     A  flood 


MAIN  STREET,  JOHNSTOWN,  AFTER   THE   FLOOD 

Wreckage  filed  up  thirty  or  forty  feet  high 
From  a  photograph  by  Rau 


593 


THE  UNITED  STATES  IN  OUR  OWN  TIME 


A   VIEW   AFTER    THE 

JOHNSTOWN  FLOOD 
Looking     Across     the      Great 

Drift   to   the  Pennsylvania 

R.  R.  Bridge 

From  a  photograph  by  Rau 


from  a  burst  reservoir  annihilated  the  city  of  Johnstown  with 
its  numerous  suburbs,  destroying  thousands  of  lives  and 
$10,000,000  worth  of  property.  The  reservoir  was  two  and 
a  half  miles  in  length,  one  and  a  half  broad  at  places,  one 
hundred  feet  deep  in  places,  and  situated  two  hundred  and 
seventy-five  feet  above  the  level  of  Johnstown.  Heavy  rains 
had  fallen  and  the  dam  was  known  to  be  weak  ;  yet  the  people 
below,  who  were  repeatedly  warned  during  the  day,  took  no 
alarm.  When,  starting  just  before  the  break,  about  3  P.M., 
Engineer  Park  galloped  down  the  valley  shouting  to  all  to 
run  for  their  lives,  it  was  too  late.  Hard  behind  him  came 
thundering  along  at  a  speed  of  two  and  a  half  miles  a  minute, 
a  mountain  of  water  fifty  feet  high,  thirty  feet  wide  at  first, 


594 


THE  JOHNSTOWN  FLOOD 

and  widening  to  half  a  mile,  bearing  upon  its  angry  crest, 
whole  or  in  fragments,  houses,  factories,  bridges,  and  at  length 
villages,  and  growing  wilder,  higher,  swifter,  deadlier  and 
more  powerful  as  it  moved.  Trees,  brush,  furniture,  boul 
ders,  pig  and  railway  iron,  corpses,  machinery,  miles  and  miles 
of  barbed  wire,  and  an  indescribable  mass  of  miscellaneous 
wreckage,  all  inextricably  mixed,  also  freighted  the  torrent. 
Immense  mills  were  knocked  from  their  foundations,  and 
whirled  down  stream  like  children's  block-work.  Pig-iron 
by  the  hundred  tons  was  borne  away,  the  bars  subsequently 
strewn  for  miles  down  the  valley.  Engines  weighing  twenty 
tons  were  tossed  up  and  on  as  if  the  law  of  gravity  had  been 
repealed.  One  locomotive  was  carried  a  mile.  At  Johns 
town,  where  the  shape  of  the  valley  generated  an  enormous 
whirlpool,  the  roar  of  the  waters  and  the  grinding  together  of 
the  wreckage  rent  the  air  like  lost  spirits  groaning  in  chorus. 

Hundreds  who  had  clambered  to  the  roofs  of  houses 
floated  about  on  that  boiling  sea  all  the  afternoon  and  night, 
shot  hither  and  thither  by  the  crazy  flood.  Most  who  met 
death  were,  we  may  hope,  instantly  drowned,  but  many  clung 
to  fragments,  falling  into  the  waters  only  when  their  strength 
gave  way,  their  limbs  were  broken  or  their  brains  dashed  out. 
A  telegraph  operator  at  Sanghollow  saw  one  hundred  and 
nineteen  bodies,  living  or  dead,  float  by  in  an  hour.  Early 
next  morning  two  corpses  had  reached  Pittsburg,  seventy- 
eight  miles  distant.  A  little  boy  was  rescued  who,  with  his 
parents,  a  brother  and  two  sisters,  had  sailed  down  from 
Johnstown  in  a  small  house.  This  went  to  pieces  in  going 
over  the  bridge,  and  all  were  drowned  but  he.  A  raft  formed 
from  part  of  a  floor  held  a  young  man  and  two  women,  prob 
ably  his  wife  and  mother.  As  they  neared  Bolivar  bridge  a 
rope  was  lowered  to  rescue  them,  and  the  man  was  observed 
to  be  instructing  the  women  how  to  catch  and  hold  it.  Him 
self  succeeded  in  clutching  it,  but  they  failed,  whereupon  he 
purposely  let  go  and  regained  the  raft  as  it  lurched  under  the 

595 


THE  UNITED  STATES  IN  OUR  OWN  TIME 


bridge.  Later  it  struck 
a  tree,  into  which  with 
preternatural  skill  and 
strength  he  helped  his 
protegees  to  climb  ;  but 
a  great  wreck  soon 
struck  the  tree,  instant 
ly  overwhelming  the 
trio  in  the  seething  tide. 
Fate  reached  the  acme 
of  its  malignity  next 
day,  June  ist,  after  the 
flood  had  begun  to  sub 
side.  Then  the  im 
mense  boom  of  debris 
gathered  at  the  rail 
way  bridge  just  below 
Johnstown — an  eighth 
of  a  mile  wide  and 
long,  from  thirty  to 


THE  SEATTLE  FIRE 

The  Beginning  of  the  Fire,  Looking  South  on  Front  Street,  and  a  View  Showing  the  Ruins,  Looki 
South  from  Commercial  Street 

596 


RELIEF  FOR  THE  SUFFERERS 

fifty  feet  deep,  and  rammed  so  solid  that  dynamite  was  at 
last  required  to  rend  it — took  fire.  The  flames  raged  for 
twelve  hours.  No  effort  was  spared  to  recover  the  living 
imprisoned  in  the  pile.  Fifty  or  more  were  taken  out,  but  it 
is  feared  that  no  fewer  than  five  hundred  perished. 

Relief  work  began  at  once,  commendably  systematic  and 
thorough,  and  on  a  scale  commensurate  with  the  disaster.  In 
less  than  twenty-four  hours,  spite  of  washed-out  tracks  and 
ruptured  telegraph-wires,  Pittsburg  had  trainloads  of  provi 
sions  in  Johnstown,  and  a  body  of  nearly  three  hundred  active 
men  who  comforted,  fed,  clothed  and  housed  the  distressed 
people  until  relieved  by  the  Flood  Relief  Commission  on 
June  1 2th.  Pittsburg  contributed  $252,000  in  money,  $64,000 
of  it  being  subscribed  in  an  hour.  Philadelphia  contributed 
half  a  million  dollars  to  the  relief  fund ;  New  York  the  same. 
Nearly  every  city  in  the  Union  aided.  President  Harrison 
was  chairman  of  a  meeting  in  Washington  where  $3 0,000  was 
pledged.  Several  sums  were  telegraphed  from  abroad,  among 
them  one  of  $1,000  from  Baroness  Burdett-Coutts.  The  total 
of  contributions  reached  $3,000,000.  Trainloads  of  supplies 
rolled  in.  The  Red  Cross  Society,  with  physicians,  nurses, 
tents,  disinfectants,  medicines,  food  and  clothing  was  promptly 
on  the  ground.  Rigid  sanitary  provisions  were  enforced, 
made  specially  necessary  by  the  length  of  time  inevitably 
elapsing  before  all  the  dead  could  be  interred.  Ere  the  gloom 
proceeding  from  this  event  was  lifted,  during  the  same  month 
of  June,  the  public  was  horrified  afresh  by  an  awful  fire  in 
Seattle,  Wash.,  destroying  many  million  dollars  worth  of 
property,  and  demolishing  almost  the  entire  business  part  of 
the  city.  Happily,  few  lives  were  lost. 

In  the  evening  of  February  3,  1890,  the  library  of  Sec 
retary  Tracy's  Washington  house  caught  fire.  A  colored  man 
rang  the  bell  and  informed  the  astonished  servant,  who  threw 
open  the  doors  of  the  library,  whereupon  the  fire  rushed  into 
Jthe  hall,  driving  him  from  the  house.  The  flames  spread 

597 


THE  UNITED  STATES  IN  OUR  OWN  TIME 

swiftly.  Mrs.  Wilmerding,  the  Secretary's  daughter,  and  his 
granddaughter  were  saved  by  leaping  from  the  front  win 
dows.  A  servant  girl  perished  in  her  room  ;  another  ser 
vant  was  rescued  from  the  cornice.  At  the  risk  of  suffocation 
men  rushed  to  the  Secretary's  room.  At  the  door  they  found 
the  body  of  his  other  daughter,  whose  life  had  been  lost  in  the 
attempt  to  arouse  her  parents.  Inside,  Mr.  Tracy  was  stretched 
unconscious  and  was  with  great  difficulty  restored.  His  wife, 
who  had  vainly  tried  to  move  him  to  the  window,  now,  at 
the  moment  of  rescue,  became  bewildered  and  suffered  a  fatal 
fall  to  the  stone  area  below.  At  the  President's  desire  the  re 
mains  of  Mrs.  and  Miss  Tracy  were  removed  to  the  White 
House,  whither  they  were  in  due  time  carried  to  a  place  of  tem 
porary  interment. 

The  Federal  power  helped  relieve  the  South  from  a 
worse  blight  than  the  enactment  of  the  Force  Bill  would 
have  been.  The  Louisiana  Lottery  Company  was  incorpo 
rated  in  1868,  as  a  monopoly  to  last  twenty-five  years.  In 
1879  tne  charter  was  repealed,  but  this  action  was  rendered 
invalid  by  a  judicial  decision.  A  Constitutional  Convention 
which  soon  followed  reinstated  the  charter,  providing  that 
after  its  expiration  all  lotteries  should  be  prohibited  in  the 
State.  By  1890  the  lottery  had  assumed  towering  propor 
tions.  It  was  estimated  to  receive  one-third  of  the  whole 
mail  matter  coming  to  New  Orleans,  and  it  cashed  postal 
notes  and  money  orders  to  the  amount  of  $30,000  a  day. 
The  press  was  won  to  its  service  and  new  papers  started  in 
its  interest.  As  the  year  1893,  the  term  of  its  charter,  drew 
near,  the  monster  bestirred  itself  to  secure  a  new  lease  of  life, 
but  it  now  felt  the  strength  of  the  Federal  arm.  In  Sep 
tember,  1890,  an  anti-lottery  bill  passed  Congress,  by  which, 
being  satisfied  that  any  person  or  company  was  conducting  a 
lottery,  the  Postmaster-General  might  cause  to  be  returned 
all  registered  letters  addressed  to  such  person  or  company, 
and  payment  to  be  refused  on  postal  money  orders  drawn  in 

598 


THE  LOTTERY  AND  THE  STATE  OF  LOUISIANA 


favor  of  such.  As  the  express  companies,  however,  still 
tolerated  its  patronage,  the  business  of  the  lottery  was  safe  so 
long  as  its  native  State,  Louisiana,  continued  it  in  existence. 
Its  fight  for  life  therefore  was  on  Louisiana  soil.  In  return 
for  an  amendment  to  the  State  Constitution  enfranchising  the 
lottery  for  twenty-five  years,  the  impoverished  State  was 
offered  $1,250,000  per  year,  $350,000  of  this  sum  to  main 
tain  the  levees,  $350,000  for  charitable  purposes,  $50,000  for 
Confederate  pensions,  $100,000  for  drainage  in  New  Orleans 
and  $250,000  for  the  general  fund  of  the  State.  In  connec 
tion  with  this  proposal,  it  was  ingeniously  suggested  that  only 
seven  per  cent,  of  the  lottery's  revenue  came  from  Louisiana 
itself. 

A  bill  introduced  in  the  Legislature  to  give  effect  to  this 
bargain  passed  by  a  two-thirds  majority  in  each  house,  but 
was  promptly  vetoed  by  Governor  Nicholls.  Liberal  bribes 
to  legislators  were  supposed  to  have  supplemented  the 
$1,250,000  per  year  offered  the  State;  yet  in  attempting  to 
override  this  veto,  voicing  as  it  truly  did  the  sentiment  of 
thousands,  the  lottery  company  feared  opposition  in  the  Sen 
ate.  After  pushing  the  bill  once  more  through  the  House, 
its  promoters  changed  front  and  sent  it  directly  to  the  Secre 
tary  of  State  for  promulgation,  on  the 
ground  that  a  proposal  for  a  constitu 
tional  amendment,  though  in  form  a 
bill,  did  not  require  the  Governor's 
signature.  The  Secretary  of  State 
refused  to  take  this  view,  but  it  was 
sustained  by  the  Supreme  Court, 
three  to  two.  Let  a  majority  of  the 
people  now  vote  "  aye  "  on  the  pro 
posed  amendment,  and  the  lottery 
was  saved.  Or,  if  the  Democratic 
nomination,  ordinarily  equivalent  to 
an  election,  fell  to  lottery  candidates,  MURPHY  j.  FOSTER 


599 


THE  UNITED  STATES  IN  OUR  OWN  TIME 


BRIG  HAM   YOUNG 
From  a  photograph  by  Rau 


the  amendment  could  again  be  put 
upon  its  passage.  The  "  pro  "  Dem 
ocrats  carried  New  Orleans,  but  most 
of  the  country  parishes  were  swept  by 
a  fusion  of  "  anti "  Democrats  and 
Farmers'  Alliance  men.  The  number 
of  contesting  delegations,  however, 
placed  the  result  in  doubt.  Two  rival 
Democratic  conventions  met  at  Baton 
Rouge,  each  claiming  a  majority  of 
the  delegates  elected.  The  conven 
tion  of  the  "  antis  "  nominated  Mur 
phy  J.  Foster  for  Governor ;  that  of 
the  "  pros  "  ex-Governor  McEnery, 

whose  vote  as  Supreme  Judge  had  been  one  of  the  three 
to  sustain  the  lottery's  contention.  The  "  pro "  conven 
tion  having  been  presided  over  by  the  chairman  of  the 
State  committee,  thus  giving  that  faction  a  show  of  special 
legitimacy,  the  "  pro  "  leaders  now  made  the  party-whip  sing. 
Politicians  little  different  from  carpet-baggers  shouted  for 
harmony,  denouncing  the  "  antis  "  as  a  third  party  working  to 
disrupt  the  Democracy  and  restore  Republican  rule.  The 
election,  which  occurred  in  April,  1892,  negatived  the  lottery 
amendment  and  made  Foster  Governor.  The  fight  for  a 
constitutional  amendment  was  given  up.  Not  only  so,  but 
Foster,  while  Governor,  was  permitted  to  sign  an  act  "  pro 
hibiting  the  sale  of  lottery  tickets  and  lottery  drawings  or 
schemes  in  the  State  of  Louisiana  after  December  31,  1893." 
In  January,  1894,  the  lottery  company  betook  itself  to  exile 
on  the  island  of  Cuanaja,  in  the  Bay  of  Honduras,  a  seat 
which  the  Honduras  Government  had  granted  it,  together 
with  a  monopoly  of  the  lottery  business  for  fifty  years. 

The  same  year,  1890,  formed  a  crisis  in  the  history  of 
Mormonism  in  America.  The  book  of  Mormon  was  pub 
lished  in  1830,  professing  by  divine  revelation  to  give  an 

600 


MORMONS    EMIGRATE  TO  UTAH 

account  of  the  Western  Hem 
isphere,  as  the  Scriptures 
dealt  with  the  Eastern.  Next 
year  not  a  few  converts  rallied 
around  the  author,  Joseph 
Smith,  among  them  Brigham 
Young,  a  granite  Vermonter, 
whose  energy  soon  pervaded 
the  new  Church.  Though 
missionaries  gathered  in  ar 
mies  of  recruits  from  far 
regions,  and  though  poly 
gamy  was  not  at  first  avowed 

by  them  as  part  of  their  creed  or  practice,  the  Mormons 
seem  always  to  have  been  unpopular,  even  odious,  with 
their  Gentile  neighbors.  They  were  driven  from  place  to 
place,  yet  incessantly  thriving,  till  in  1844  their  prophet, 
Joseph  Smith,  was  shot  by  a  mob.  Brigham  Young  now 
easily  and  naturally  assumed  command  of  the  demoralized 
hosts,  leading  them  with  military  precision  and  masterly  skill 
across  the  Great  American  Desert  to  Utah.  There  for  many 


THE    MORMON  TEMPLE  AT 
SALT  LAKE   ClTT 

From   a   photograph   by    Rau 


MAIN  STREET,  SALT   LAKE   CITY 

From  a  photograph  by  Rau 


601 


THE  UNITED  STATES  IN  OUR  OWN  TIME 

years  he  was  able,  by  diplomacy  and  other  means,  to  reign 
supreme  among  the  "  Saints,"  and  to  snub  the  far-off  "States  " 
to  his  heart's  content. 

In  1855,  in  1859  and  in  1862  anti-polygamy  bills  were 
introduced  in  Congress.  The  last,  fathered  by  Senator  Mor- 
rill,  who,  like  Brigham  Young  himself,  was  a  Vermonter, 
became  a  law,  but  was  enforced  only  fitfully  and  to  a  trifling 
extent.  The  invasion  of  the  railroad,  and  the  proclaimed  dis 
covery  of  precious  metal  mines — a  discovery  against  which 
Young  struggled  in  vain — destroyed  the  isolation  of  the  pe 
culiar  people,  though  the  Mormon  majority  could  still  be 
maintained  by  assisted  immigration  from  Mormon  colonies 
abroad. 

In  1871  Brigham  Young  and  other  leaders  were  arrested 
under  the  1862  law,  and  some  of  them  convicted.  Others 
were  arrested  on  charges  of  murdering  Gentiles,  a  crime  of 
which  the  Mormons  were  more  than  once  suspected  after  the 
frightful  Mountain  Meadows  Massacre  of  1857,  though  Mor 
mon  juries  failed  to  convict  those  indicted.  In  1874  the 
Poland  Act  introduced  reforms  in  impaneling  juries,  when 
John  D.  Lee  was  once  more  arraigned  for  complicity  in  the 
Mountain  Meadows  tragedy,  and  convicted.  In  March,  1877, 
twenty  years  after  the  commission  of  the  crime  wherein  he 
had  been  leader,  this  monster  was  taken  to  the  scene  of  it. 
There  a  cairn  and  a  rude  cedar  cross  rose  above  the  mingled 
bones  of  the  120  victims,  who  had,  after  surrendering  their 
arms,  been  murdered  in  cold  blood.  The  curse  of  the 
Almighty  seemed  to  have  blasted  the  vegetation  and  dried 
the  springs  about  the  hideous  site.  There  Lee  seated  himself 
upon  his  coffin,  the  sharp  report  of  a  volley  was  heard,  and 
tardy  justice  was  at  last  meted  out. 

The  measure  of  1862  proving  inoperative,  Senator  Ed 
munds,  still  another  man  from  Vermont,  introduced  a  bill, 
which  became  law  March  22,  1882.  By  it  bigamy,  polygamy 
or  the  cohabitation  of  a  man  with  more  than  one  woman  in 

602 


LAWS  AGAINST  POLYGAMY 

any  Territory  of  the  United  States  was  made  punishable  by  a 
fine  of  not  more  than  $500  and  imprisonment  for  not  more 
than  three  years.  A  person  convicted,  moreover,  could 
neither  vote  nor  hold  any  position  of  public  trust  or  emolu 
ment.  The  children  of  such  illicit  relations  were  to  be 
deemed  illegitimate.  Jurymen  who  were  living  or  had  lived 
in  these  practices,  or  believed  them  right,  were  disqualified. 

Some  of  these  provisions  resembled  the  "thorough"  re 
construction  treatment  administered  to  the  South  after  the 
War.  A  test-oath  was  imposed  upon  voters.  Elections  were 
supervised,  returns  canvassed  and  certificates  supplied  by  a 
commission  of  five  persons,  three  of  whom  might  be  of  the 
same  political  party.  If  the  Commission  reminded  one  of 
the  Returning  Boards,  there  were  not  wanting  in  Utah 
office-holders  who  seemed  to  the  Mormons  nothing  but 
carpet-baggers.  Southern  statesmen  were  prominent  in  op 
posing  the  bill  as  unconstitutional,  impolitic  and  sectional, 
referring  to  the  easy  and  frequent  divorces  in  many  Northern 
and  Western  States  as  more  immoral  than  aught  occurring  in 
Utah. 

Nevertheless  the  law  was  rigidly  enforced.  In  two  years 
twelve  thousand  Mormons  were  disfranchised,  though  monog 
amous  as  well  as  polygamous  Mormons  made  common  cause 
against  the  law.  When  convicted  persons  promised  to  obey 
the  laws  of  the  land  in  future  they  were  set  free,  but  few 
availed  themselves  of  the  chance.  On  May  19,  1890,  and 
again  on  December  19,  the  next  year,  the  Supreme  Court  de 
clared  the  law  constitutional,  thus  taking  away  the  last  hope 
of  the  Mormon  hierarchy.  This  attitude  of  the  court, 
combined  with  the  influx  of  Gentile  population  and  the  desire 
that  Utah  should  become  a  State,  which  would  be  impossible 
while  polygamy  continued,  led,  in  October,  1890,  to  a  "  reve 
lation,"  which  thenceforth  made  polygamy  morally  wrong,  as 
it  had  before  been  legally.  After  that  date  convicts  under  the 
Edmunds  law  with  one  accord  promised  to  obey  it  in  future, 

603 


THE  UNITED  STATES  IN  OUR  OWN  TIME 


and  were  without  exception  set  free,  sentence  being  suspended. 
In  December,  1891,  the  officials,  pledging  the  obedience  of 
the  church  membership  to  the  laws  against  plural  marriages 
and  unlawful  cohabitation,  petitioned  for  amnesty  for  past 
offenses,  which  petition  was  endorsed  by  the  Utah  Commis 
sion  reporting  next  year.  President  Harrison,  on  January  4, 
1893,  granted  "a  full  amnesty  and  pardon  to  all  persons 
liable  to  the  penalties  of  said  act  by  reason  of  unlawful  co 
habitation  under  the  color  of  polygamous  or  plural  marriage, 
who  had  since  November  i,  1890,  abstained  from  such  un 
lawful  cohabitation ;  but  upon  the  express  condition  that 
they  should  in  the  future  faithfully  obey  the  laws  of  the 
United  States  hereinbefore  named." 

On  July  17,  1894,  President  Cleveland  signed  a  bill  pro 
viding  for  a  Utah  Constitutional  Convention  in  March,  1895, 
and  the  constitution  framed  by  that  body  for  the  proposed 

State  of  Utah  was  rati 
fied  by  the  people  in 
November,  1895.  Utah 
became  a  State  on  Jan 
uary  4,  1896. 

In  1888  the  anti- 
Chinese  act  passed  dur 
ing  President  Arthur's 
Administration  was  a- 
mended  so  as  to  pro 
hibit  the  return  of  Chi 
nese  laborers  who  had 
once  departed  from  this 
country.  In  the  spring 
of  1892  Mr.  Geary,  of 
California,  introduced  a 
still  more  drastic  meas 
ure,  called  after  his 
name.  It  re-enacted  for 


604 


UNITED  STATES  INTEREST  IN  SAMOA 


ten  more  years  all  laws  regulating  and  prohibiting  Chinese 
immigration.  It  provided  for  the  fining,  imprisonment 
and  subsequent  deportation  of  all  Chinamen  who  did  not 
within  a  year  obtain  certificates  from  the  Government  prov 
ing  their  right  to  be  here.  Under  advice  of  eminent  coun 
sel  Chinese  laborers  generally  disobeyed  the  act,  but  ten 
days  after  the  limit  expired  its  constitutionality  was  af 
firmed  by  the  Supreme  Court.  The  Executive,  however, 
did  not  enforce  its  provisions,  owing  to  a  shortage  of  appro 
priation.  It  would  have  required  at  least  $5,000,000  to 
deport  all  infractors,  and  only  $  100,000  had  been  provided 
for  the  purpose.  Congress,  therefore,  in  1893  extended  the 
time  of  certification  for  six  months. 

In  1878  the  United  States  obtained  by  treaty  the  Samoan 
harbor  of  Pago  Pago,  the  finest  in  Polynesia,  for  a  coaling 
station.  The  English  and  Germans  had  in  the  islands  com 
mercial  interests  far  more  important  than  ours.  Later  the 
German  and  British 
consuls  signed  a  con 
vention  to  secure  good 
local  government  in 
the  town  and  neigh 
borhood  of  Apia.  The 
American  consul  co 
operated  in  this  en 
deavor,  but  was  not  a 
party  to  the  conven 
tion.  Within  six  years 
German  influence  se 
cured  from  King  Ma- 
lietoa  Laupepe  control 
of  the  islands,  and  a 
little  later  the  German 
flag  was  raised  over 
them.  Persuaded  by 


MALIETOA  LAUPEPE 


605 


THE  UNITED  STATES  IN  OUR  OWN  TIME 


STERN  OF  THE  U.  S.  S.  NIP  SIC 

Showing  the  Bent  Propeller  and  the  Loss 

of  Rudder,  Rudder-post  and  Heel 


the  Samoans,  the  United  States 
consul  assumed  a  protectorate  in  op 
position,  but  his  action  was  promptly 
disavowed  at  home.  Our  Secretary 
of  State  suggested  that  a  conference 
of  German,  British  and  United 
States  commissioners  devise  a  plan 
for  the  election  by  the  natives  of  a 
ruler  who  should  be  sustained  by 
all  three.  After  several  bootless 
sittings  at  Washington  the  confer 
ence  adjourned,  with  the  express 
understanding  that  the  status  quo, 
Malietoa  still  king,  should  be  maintained  pending  further 
deliberations.  Notwithstanding  this,  and  in  spite  of  British 
and  American  protest,  Bismarck  made  unreasonable  demands 
upon  Malietoa,  which,  not  being  complied  with  in  a  few 
hours,  were  followed  by  his  summary  dethronement  and  the 
elevation  of  the  German  creature,  Tamasese. 

Early  in  the  spring  of  1889,  seven  warships  occupied 
the  harbor  of  Upolu,  near  Apia,  a  body  of  water  barred  from 
the  open  ocean  by  a  circular  coral  reef,  with  a  gap  in  the 
front  centre  for  the  entrance  and  exit  of  ships.  Three  of  the 
vessels  were  American,  the  Trenton,  flagship,  Rear-Admiral 
Kimberly  commanding,  the  Vandalia  and  the  Nipsic.  As 
many  were  German,  the  Adler,  the  Eber  and  the  Olga.  One, 
the  Cal!i0peywa.s  British,  Captain  Kane  in  command.  On  March 
1 5th  falling  ba 
rometers  indi 
cated  the  ap 
proach  of  a 
storm,  yet  none 
of  the  warships 
made  for  the 
Clear  sea.  By  THE  GERMAN  GUNBOAT  ABLER  ON  HER  BEAM-ENDS 


ooo 


THE  SAMOAN  HURRICANE 


ADMIRAL   KIMBERLT 

From  a  photograph  in  the  collection  of 

H.  (f.  Fay 


daylight  of  the  1 6th  the  typhoon  was 
on,  the  wind  blowing  inshore  with 
fearful  velocity,  rolling  mountainous 
billows  into  the  harbor.  The  ves 
sels  dragged  their  anchors  and  several 
collisions  occurred.  One  vessel  lost 
her  smoke-stack,  another  her  bow 
sprit,  but  these  were  comparatively 
small  injuries.  Early  in  the  morning 
the  Eber  crashed  against  the  coral  and 
sank.  The  Nipsic  struck  sand  in 
stead  of  coral,  and  lay  stranded,  but 
in  safety.  The  Adler  was  also  dragged 
to  the  reef,  and  the  next  wave  would 
have  been  her  ruin  too  ;  but  just  as  she  scaled  the  water- 
mountain  the  seamen  slipped  her  moorings,  so  that  she  was 
lifted  up  and  thrown  on  the  reef  "  like  a  schoolboy's  cap 
upon  a  shelf."  No  longer  thinking  of  Germans  as  foes,  the 
Samoans  nobly  helped  to  rescue  the  survivors,  being  foremost 
in  that  good  work  all  day. 

There  remained  the  Trenton  in  the  harbor  mouth,  and 
the  Calliope  farther  in,  threatened  now  on  one  side  by  the  O/ga, 
now  on  the  other  by  the  Vandalia^  and  in  the  rear  continually 
by  the  reef.  The  harbor  was  death,  the  high  seas  salvation, 
and  Captain  Kane  determined  upon  a  desperate  effort  to  get 
out.  Her  furnace  walls  red-hot  and  her  boilers  strained 
nearly  to  bursting,  the  Calliope  matched  her  engines  against 
the  awful  tornado.  For  a  time  she  stood  stationary,  then 
crawled  or  rather  sidled  to  the  gap  in  the  outside  reef,  close 
by  the  'Trenton,  which  was  pitching  at  anchor,  with  fires 
drowned  and  wheel  and  rudder  gone.  As  the  Englishman  at 
last  came  to  the  wind  outside  a  rousing  cheer  went  up  from 
the  American  flag-ship,  returned  with  a  will  by  the  British 
tars.  The  Vandalia,  trying  to  beach  herself  beside  the  Nipsic, 
missed  her  aim,  struck  the  reef  and  slowly  settled  to  her  tops, 

607 


THE  UNITED  STATES  IN  OUR  OWN  TIME 


The  Ebe, 


The  Adle 


The  TV 


SCENE  IN  THE  HARBOR    OF   UPOLU  AFTER    THE   GREAT  SAMOAN    HURRICANE 
The  Natives  Going  Out  to  the  Wrecked  Vessels 

From  a  photograph  in  the  possession  of  Commander  F.  E.  Chadwick,  U.  5.  N. 

which  were  crowded  with  men.  Then  the  Trenton  parted  her 
cables  and  drifted,  helpless  as  an  iceberg,  into  collision  with 
the  Olga.  The  two  ships  struck  once  or  twice,  when  the  Ger 
man  craft  slipped  her  moorings  and  escaped,  having  the  Nip- 
sic  s  good  fortune  to  light  upon  sand  instead  of  hard  reef. 
Impelled  by  the  wind  and  by  some  mysterious  current,  the 
Trenton  now  bore  slowly  but  surely  upon  the  populous  tops  of 
the  Vandalia,  rescuing  in  her  approach  the  clinging  seamen  by 
throwing  them  lines.  Soon  she  struck  and  stopped.  By  next 
morning  she  had  settled  to  the  gun-deck,  but  those  of  her 
men  and  the  Vandalias  who  survived  successfully  reached 
shore.  Admiral  Kimberly  gathered  the  shipwrecked  Ameri 
cans  about  him,  and,  parading  the  band  of  the  Trenton,  had  it 
strike  up  "  Hail  Columbia."  The  Calliope  returned  on  the 

608 


CIVIL  WAR  IN  SAMOA 

1 9th  to  find  all  the  other  war-ships  ruined.  Captain  Kane 
hastened  to  acknowledge  the  parting  cheer  sent  after  him  as 
he  put  to  sea.  Our  Admiral  replied :  "  My  dear  Captain  : 
Your  kind  note  received.  You  went  out  splendidly  and  we 
all  felt  from  our  hearts  for  you,  and  our  cheers  came  with  sin 
cerity  and  admiration  for  the  able  manner  in  which  you  han 
dled  your  ship.  We  could  not  have  been  gladder  if  it  had 
been  one  of  our  ships,  for  in  a  time  like  that  I  can  say 
truly,  with  old  Admiral  Josiah  Tatnall,  that  c  blood  is  thicker 
than  water.'  "* 

Thoughts  of  war  were  banished  by  the  havoc  Nature  had 
wrought.  The  conference,  renewed  in  Berlin,  ended  by  a 
practical  back-down  on  Bismarck's  part.  Tamasese  was  de 
posed,  the  exiled  Malietoa  restored.  The  three  powers  agreed 
that  after  his  death  the  natives  should  elect  a  successor.  This 
triangular  authority  did  not  work  well.  It  was  an  annoyance 
to  the  Powers  and  a  grievous  exasperation  to  the  natives,  who 
regarded  the  weak  Malietoa  as  merely  the  scalawag  creature 
of  white  carpet-baggers.  One  rebellion,  headed  by  Mataafa, 
was  cut  off,  and  the  leaders  deported  to  an  island  in  the  Mar 
shall  group.  Then  the  younger  Tamasese  rose,  gathering  the 
disaffected  Samoans  about  him.  The  war-vessels  of  the  Pow 
ers  were  compelled  to  co-operate  in  suppressing  this  rebellion, 
which  after  all  continued  to  smoulder. 

Of  all  the  Old  World's  troubles  few  ever  aroused  among 
Americans  more  interest  or  generosity  than  the  Russian  famine 
of  1891—92.  It  was  a  time  when,  throughout  immense 
reaches  of  that  far  empire,  children  and  the  aged  were  suffer 
ing  and  dying  on  every  hand,  no  cow  or  goat  for  milk,  not  a 
horse  left  strong  enough  to  draw  a  hearse,  old  grain  stores 
exhausted,  crops  a  failure,  the  land  a  waste,  life  itself  a  black 
ness  and  a  curse.  Loud  cry  for  help  was  raised  from  every 
hut  in  the  vast  famine  region.  The  cry  was  not  in  vain  ;  it 
was  heard  on  this  side  of  the  Atlantic. 

*The  description  of  the  storm  is  abridged  from  R.  L.   Stevenson's. 
609 


THE  UNITED  STATES  IN  OUR  OWN  TIME 


A  Russian  pease, 


the  famine  District 


The  credit  of  first  turning  pub 
lic  attention  to  the  duty  of  relieving 
Russia  was  probably  due  to  I'he 
Northwestern  Miller,  a  Minneapolis 
journal  devoted  to  the  great  flour 
interests  of  the  Northwest.  On 
December  4,  1891,  having  pre 
viously  ascertained  from  the  Rus 
sian  Government  that  such  a  gift 
would  be  acceptable,  this  paper 
published  an  appeal  to  the  millers 
of  the  United  States  to  unite  in 
sending  a  cargo  of  flour  to  the 
starving  Russians.  The  Minneapo 
lis  millers,  the  great  Pillsbury  firm 
at  their  head,  began  generous  dona 
tions  of  flour.  Interest  spread  rapidly  through  Minnesota,  the 
energetic  Governor  Merriam  ardently  assisting,  and  thence  to 
other  States,  millers  all  over  the  country  nobly  responding. 

Terrible,  indeed,  was  the  necessity.  Famine  was  no 
new  thing  for  great,  weak,  pitiable  Russia  ;  but  a  famine  which 
brought  suffering  to  thirty  millions  of  people,  through  twenty 
provinces,  comprising  475,000  square  miles  of  eastern,  central 
and  southern  Russia,  was  exceptional  even  there. 

Under  ordinary  circumstances  the  Russian  peasant  was 
not  so  far  below  other  peasants  as  many  travellers  had 

affirmed.  Dressed  in 
his  unkempt  sheepskin, 
dirty  and  slovenly,  lack 
ing  in  ambition  and 
the  power  to  help  him 
self  rise,  he  was  yet 
sturdy,  industrious  and 

'•'•HUNGER   BREAD"  ,.     ,    ,  r^, 

(Bread  made  by  starving  peasants  from  weeds,  cockle  straw  and  reliable.        HlC 
refuse  of  various    sorts   mixed   with  a  little  rye.      The  small  *     *         J      1         1 

piece  of  white  bread  on  the  left  shows  the  contrast  in  color.)  VlSltCQ      haO.       OttCC 


6lO 


RUSSIAN  FAMINE  OF   1891-92 

the  most  fertile  in  Russia,  but  their  soil  had  become  im 
poverished  by  a  bad  system  of  communal  land-holding,  so 
that  peasants  found  themselves  no  better  off  than  before 
1 86 1,  when  they  were  serfs.  Drought,  floods,  enormous  taxes 
and  cruelties  by  government  officers  added  to  their  miseries. 

The  niggardliness  of  nature  would  scarcely  have  caused 
famine  had  the  exportation  of  cereals  fallen  off  in  proportion 
to  their  production,  but  this  was  not  the  case.  In  1891,  after 
the  exports  had  been  made,  there  was  a  deficit  of  about 
_==_=__=========_=====^  eighteen  pounds  per  in 
habitant  in  the  usual 
corn  supply.  Since  sup 
ply  was  never  evenly 
distributed,  this  deficit 
meant  starvation  for 
many.  The  Russian 
peasant's  dwelling  was 
at  best  a  forlorn,  foul- 
smelling  hovel,  where 
his  whole  family  and 
often  his  domestic  ani 
mals  lived  huddled  in 
a  single  room  not  over 
fifteen  or  twenty  feet 
square.  When  famine 
came  to  such  homes 
the  results  were  terrible. 
In  some  districts  the  annual  death-rate  increased  from  thirty- 
five  to  two  hundred  in  the  thousand.  Well  had  it  been  could 
hunger  have  wrought  its  fatal  results  directly  instead  of  invok 
ing  those  awful  means,  the  typhus,  the  scurvy  and  the  small 
pox,  by  which  it  prefers  to  bring  death  ;  but  this,  like  every 
famine,  was  made  more  awful  by  those  accompaniments. 

*The  accompanying  "Russian  famine"  photographs  are  published  through   the  courtesy  of 
The  Northwestern  Miller. 


The  steamship  Missouri  after  unloading  her  relief  cargo 


611 


THE  UNITED  STATES  IN  OUR  OWN  TIME 

Russia  herself  gave  generously,  though  distributing  in 
clumsy  ways.  It  was  estimated  that  to  June,  1892,  the  gov 
ernment  of  that  country  spent  from  seventy-five  to  one  hun 
dred  millions  of  dollars  in  the  famine  district.  A  large  portion 
of  this  was  in  loans,  administered  by  the  county  councils,  made 
directly  to  the  most  needy.  Taxes  were  remitted  and  the 
poor  given  public  work.  The  higher  classes  showed  a  kindly 
spirit.  Many  a  one  of  the  old  landed  proprietors  took  his 
villagers  back  under  his  care  and  fed  them  as  in  serfdom  days. 
Not  a  few  followed  the  course  of  the  novelist,  Leo  Tolstoi, 
who  with  his  family,  carried  on  a  great  relief  work  in  Samara, 
the  centre  of  the  famine  tract,  establishing  free  eating-rooms 
and  sending  out  soup  and  bread,  at  times  feeding  as  many 
as  twenty  thousand  a  day. 

Most  of  the  supplies  for  Tolstoi's  work  and  much  of  the 
provision  dispensed  in  other  sections  came  from  the  United 
States  of  America.  No  other  nation  outside  of  Russia 
equalled  us  in  this  splendid  philanthropy.  Besides  individ 
ual  gifts  sent  with  characteristic  open-handedness,  our  people 
despatched  four  shiploads  of  supplies,  whose  value  must  have 
reached  hundreds  of  thousands.  Large  gifts  by  the  Chamber 
of  Commerce  gave  New  York  the  first  place  among  the  con 
tributors.  Minnesota  proved  a  close  second.  Nebraska 
came  third,  her  donations  including  two  train-loads  of  corn- 
meal,  which  proved  very  popular  in  Russia.  In  all  twenty- 
five  States  joined  in  making  up  the  cargoes.  Railroads 
carried  the  grain  to  tide-water  free  of  charge,  and  the  necessary 
telegraphing,  storage  and  other  expenses  connected  with  the 
enterprise  were  all  gratuitous. 

By  the  first  of  March,  1892,  nearly  five  and  a  half  mil 
lion  pounds  of  flour  and  meal  had  been  gathered  at  New 
York  ready  for  transportation.  A  generous  donation  was 
made  by  the  American  Transport  Line,  which  offered  its  fine 
steamer  Missouri  to  carry  the  food  across  the  ocean.  This 
generosity  was  the  more  appreciated,  as  a  bill  to  have  the 

612 


AMERICAN  FOOD  FOR  RUSSIA 


THE  FIRST  TRAINLOAD  OF  AMERICAN  FOOD  ABOUT  TO  START  FROM  LIEAU 
FOR  THE  INTERIOR 

American  Government  transport  the  flour  had  been  defeated 
in  Congress.  The  Missouri  sailed  from  New  York  March 
1 6th.  She  arrived  at  the  Russian  port  of  Libau  on  April  jd. 
After  an  enthusiastic  welcome  from  the  Russians  there,  her 
cargo  was  sent  forward  in  two  hundred  and  forty-one  car 
loads  to  thirteen  provinces  in  the  heart  of  the  famine-country. 
Through  the  careful  planning  of  our  Minister  to  Russia,  Hon. 
Charles  Emory  Smith,  every  pound  of  the  American  flour  was 
sent  to  responsible  distributors,  by  whose  hands  it  reached  the 
hungriest  poor.  Mr.  Smith's  enlightened  advice  was  followed 
in  selecting  all  the  American  relief  stores  as  well  as  in  dispens 
ing  them  on  their  arrival  in  Russia.  Many  Americans  had 
declared  the  sending  of  a  flour  cargo  a  foolish  display,  urging 
that  a  generous  bill  of  exchange  from  America  cashable  in 
Russia  would  do  more  good  in  less  time.  This  was  an  error. 
The  amount  of  money  which  the  Missouri's  cargo  represented, 
besides  being  harder  to  obtain  in  the  first  place,  would  have 
been  able  to  purchase  much  less  food  in  Russia,  where  famine 
prices  ruled,  and  would  therefore  have  accomplished  far  less 
benefit. 

This  charity  of  the  American  millers,  while  the  most 
popular  and  widely  known,  was  by  no  means  America's  only 
relief  agency  for  Russia.  Early  in  the  winter  the  citizens  of 

613 


THE  UNITED  STATES  IN  OUR  OWN  TIME 

Philadelphia  appointed  a  relief  commission,  which  worked 
with  such  energy  that  by  February  22d  the  staunch  old 
Indiana^  a  Philadelphia  ship,  could  steam  down  the  Delaware 
bearing  a  plentiful  and  well-chosen  relief  cargo.  This,  like 
the  Missouri's^  consisted  chiefly  of  flour,  but  it  contained 
various  other  food  supplies  and  also  some  lumber.  The 
vessel  arrived  at  Libau  March  24th.  Directed  by  our  Min 
ister  at  St.  Petersburg,  the  cargo  went  straight  to  the  centre 
of  the  famine-stricken  population.  The  good  effect  of  these 
two  cargoes  was  at  once  apparent.  On  their  arrival  in  the 
region  about  Samara  the  price  of  bread-stuffs  fell  fifty  per 
cent. 

By  the  middle  of  April  a  third  ship  from  America,  the 
Conemaugh^  was  ready  to  sail  from  Philadelphia.  The  last 
week  in  April  the  <fynebead  also  sailed,  laden  with  stores  gotten 
together  by  the  energy  and  perseverance  of  many  women's 
committees.  In  this  effort  Iowa  women  led,  their  donations 
of  money,  corn  and  flour  representing  two-thirds  of  the  value 
of  the  cargo.  The  expense  of  this  steamer's  voyage  was  gen 
erously  borne  by  City  of  Washington  people.  This  expedition 
also  represented  the  Red  Cross  Society.  In  the  steamer  went 
a  party  of  women  who  supplemented  America's  other  relief 
work  by  the  aid  which  they  rendered  the  Red  Cross  agents  of 
Russia  itself. 

Apart  from  the  immediate  good  it  did,  the  Russian  relief 
movement  had  the  valuable  result  of  cementing  and  increasing 
Russia's  friendliness  for  the  United  States.  America  became 
a  household  word  to  Russians  in  the  most  remote  interior.  It 
was  said  that  even  among  the  poorest  there,  to  whom  our 
country  could  be  only  a  name,  many  long  "  thanked  God,  the 
Emperor  and  the  Americans "  for  the  help  which  came  to 
them  amid  the  famine  of  1892. 

Our  account  of  the  Democratic  victory  in  1892  must  be 
reserved  for  the  next  Chapter.  Harrison  was  then  defeated 
and  the  Senate  won  for  the  Democracy.  Reasoning  from  the 

614 


A  THIRD  "TIDAL  WAVE" 

fate  of  Federalism,  a  prominent  Republican  senator  inter 
preted  his  party's  repeated  overwhelming  defeat  as  heralding 
its  extinction.  However  natural,  the  fear  was  unfounded. 
The  Fifty-second  Congress  proved  unwieldy  and  discordant, 
soon  being  no  less  unpopular  than  the  Fifty-first.  If  that  was 
profligate,  this  was  more  so,  its  expenditures  reaching  $1,028,- 
000,000.  So  the  new  generation  of  voters  had  in  store  for 
1894  a  third  tidal  wave,  a  veritable  "  trikumia"  as  ^Eschylus 
would  have  said,  bearing  the  Republicans  once  more  into 
power  in  Congress.  Meantime  thoughts  of  politics  were  ban 
ished,  as  all  eyes  were  turned  toward  Chicago,  where  the  ma 
tured  era  since  the  war  was  about  to  be  fittingly  celebrated  by 
a  splendid  efflorescence  of  its  prosperity  and  progress. 


615 


CHAPTER   XXI 

COLUMBUS'S  DEED   AFTER  FOUR    CEN 
TURIES 

WORLD'S  EXPOSITIONS. — IDEAS  OF  A  WORLD'S  COLUMBIAN  EXPOSI 
TION. ASSURANCE  THEREOF. CHICAGO  MADE  ITS  SITE. RISE  AND 

GROWTH  OF  CHICAGO. JACKSON    PARK. THE  WORK  OF  PREPARING 

IT. BUILDING  BEGUN. THE  HIVE  STILLED  OCT.  21,  1892,  COLUM 
BUS  DAY. BOTH  HARRISON  AND  CLEVELAND  ABSENT. VICE-PRESI 
DENT  MORTON  DOES  THE  HONORS. THE  FESTIVITIES. COLUMBUS 

ANNIVERSARY     IN    NEW    YORK    CITY. PRESIDENTIAL     ELECTION     OF 

1892. REASONS       FOR        HARRISON'S       DEFEAT. THE       HOMESTEAD 

STRIKE. PINKERTON  POLICE  MOBBED. ATTEMPTED  ASSASSINA 
TION  OF  H.  C.  FRICK. ARRESTS,  TRIALS  AND  COMMENTS. SENA 
TOR  PALMER'S  VIEWS. — DESTRUCTIVE  FIRE  AT  TITUSVILLE  AND  OIL 

CREEK. MINING  RIOTS  IN  TENNESSEE. ISSUES  DISCUSSED  IN  THE 

CAMPAIGN. POPULISM  GAINS. SWEEPING  NATURE  OF  THE  DEMO 
CRATIC  VICTORY. PRESIDENT  CLEVELAND  OPENS  THE  WORLD'S 

COLUMBIAN  EXPOSITION. THE  SCENE. — OPENING  EXERCISES  AT  THE 

WOMAN'S  BUILDING. — VARIOUS  STATE  DAYS. — CHICAGO  DAY. — SIZE 

AND  SPLENDOR  OF  THE  GROUNDS  AND  BUILDINGS. JOHN  W.  ROOT. 

RICHARD    M.    HUNT. GENERAL,  ARRANGEMENT    OF  GROUNDS. — 

STATE  BUILDINGS. THE  WOODED  ISLAND. INTRAMURAL  RAILWAY. 

THE  ARCHITECTURE   OF  THE  EXPOSITION. VARIOUS    BUILDINGS 

AND  WORKS  OF  ART. FIRE  IN   THE  COLD  STORAGE  BUILDING. 

THE   FISHERIES   BUILDING. SPECIALLY  INTERESTING   EXHIBITS. 

THE    MIDWAY. THE    FERRIS    WHEEL. TRANSPORTATION  TO  AND 

FROM   THE   EXPOSITION. ATTENDANCE. ORDER. ASSASSINATION 

OF  MAYOR  CARTER  HARRISON. — THE  "WHITE  CITY"  GOES  UP  IN 

FLAME. 

THE  historian  of  the  half-century  will  turn  with  pleasure 
from  the  battles  which  he  must  describe  to  the  victories 
of  peace,  whose  records  are  traceable  in  a  stately  succession  of 
World's  Expositions,  transient  as  breakers,  yet  each  marking  a 
higher  tide  of  well-being  than  the  one  before  it.  The  first  of 
these  to  occur  this  side  the  Atlantic  enlivened  New  York  in 
1853.  The  second  was  in  Philadelphia  in  1865.  Memory 
of  both  these  was  well-nigh  obliterated  by  the  Centennial 

617 


THE  UNITED  STATES  IN  OUR  OWN  TIME 

Exposition  in  1876.  In  1883  Boston  held  a  modest  Inter 
national  Exposition,  contemporaneously  with  a  similar  display 
at  Louisville.  The  New  Orleans  Cotton  Exposition  of  1881 
may  be  mentioned  in  connection  with  its  notable  successor 
of  1884.  The  World's  Columbian  Exposition  at  Chicago 
in  1893  excelled  all  that  had  preceded  it,  whether  here  or 
abroad. 

The  idea  of  celebrating  in  this  way  Columbus's  discovery 
of  the  New  World  long  anticipated  the  anniversary  year. 
New  York  was  appealed  to  as  a  suitable  seat  for  the  enter 
prise,  and  entertained  the  suggestion  by  subscribing  $5,000,- 
ooo,  whereupon,  in  1889,  Chicago  apprised  the  country  of 
her  wish  to  house  the  Fair.  St.  Louis  and  Washington 
appeared  as  competitors,  but  the  other  three  cities  unani 
mously  set  Washington  aside.  St.  Louis  showed  little  enthu 
siasm.  Thirty-five  citizens  of  Chicago,  led  by  a  specially 
active  few  of  their  number,  organized  Chicago's  energies  with 
such  success  that  on  appearing  before  Congress  she  had 
$5,000,000  in  hand  and  could  promise  $5,000,000  more. 
The  commodiousness  of  the  city  as  well  as  its  position  near 
the  centre  of  population  and  commerce  told  in  its  favor. 
Father  Knickerbocker  was  not  a  little  chagrined  when  his 
alert  and  handsome  cousin  persuaded  Congress  to  allot  her 
the  prize.  The  act  organizing  the  Exposition  was  approved 
April  25,  1890.  A  National  Commission  was  appointed, 
under  the  presidency  of  Hon.  T.  W.  Palmer,  of  Michigan. 
An  Executive  Committee  was  raised,  also  a  Board  of  Refer 
ence  and  Control,  a  Chicago  Local  Board,  a  Board  of  Lady 
Managers,  and  a  number  of  standing  committees  to  deal  with 
various  branches  of  the  colossal  undertaking. 

In  the  seventeenth  century  the  present  site  of  Chicago 
was  a  swamp,  which  fur-traders  and  missionaries  found  fatally 
miasmatic.  About  1 800  a  government  engineer,  viewing  that 
rank  morass  traversed  by  a  sluggish  stream,  pronounced  it  the 
only  spot  on  Lake  Michigan  where  a  city  could  not  be  built. 

618 


CHICAGO'S    TASK  AT  JACKSON  PARK 


In  1 804  Fort  Dearborn  was  erected  here  to  counteract  British 
influence.  In  1812  the  fort  was  demolished  by  Indians,  but 
in  1816  rebuilt,  and  though  abandoned  in  1837,  it  continued 
standing  till  1871.  Around  the  little  fort  in  1840  were  settled 
4,500  people.  The  number  was  30,000  in  1850;  109,000 
in  1860;  300,000  in  1870.  In  1880  the  community  em 
braced  503,185  souls ;  in  1890  it  had  1,099,850.  In  18-55  tne 
indomitable  city  illustrated  her  spirit  by  pulling  herself  bodily 
out  of  her  natal  swamp,  lifting  churches,  blocks  and  houses 
from  eight  to  ten  feet,  without  pause  in  general  business. 

A  task  similar  to  this  was  now  again  incumbent.  The 
least  unavailable  site  for  the  Exposition  was  Jackson  Park,  in 
the  southeastern  part  of  the  city,  where  one  saw  at  the  water's 

edge  dreary  ridges  of 
sand,  in  the  background 
a  swamp  with  flags, 
marsh-grass  and  clumps 
of  willow  and  wild-oak. 
Paris  had  taken  nearly 
three  years  to  prepare 
for  the  Exposition  of 
1889;  twenty  months 
were  allowed  Chicago. 
The  site  to  be  gotten 
in  readiness  was  four 
times  as  large  as  that 
for  the  Paris  Exposi 
tion.  A  dozen  palaces 
and  ten  score  other  ed 
ifices  were  to  be  located, 
raised  and  adorned  ;  the 
waters  to  be  gathered  in 
canals,  basins  and  la 
goons,  and  spanned  by 
bridges.  Underground 


PLAN  OF  THE   WORLD'S  FAIR   GROUNDS  AT 

JACKSON  PARK 

A,  Administration  Building;  B,  MacMonnies  Fountain,-  C, 
Casino;  D,  Music  Hall;  E,  Central  Railroad  Station;  F, 
Manufactures  and  Liberal  Arts;  G,  Agriculture  Building; 
H,  Machinery  Hall;  7,  Stock  Pavilion;  J,  French  Agricul 
ture;  K,  Forestry  Building;  i,  Transportation  Building; 
M,  Mines  and  Mining  Building;  A7,  Electricity  Building;  0, 
Choral  Building;  P,  Horticultural  Building;  Q^Women  s 
Building;  R,  Government  Building;  S,  Fisheries  Building; 
T,  Art  Galleries;  U,  Naval  Exhibit;  ^,  Illinois  Building. 


619 


THE  UNITED  STATES  IN  OUR  OWN  TIME 

conduits  had  to  be  provided  for  electric  wires.  Endless  grad 
ing,  planting,  turfing,  paving  and  road-making  must  be 
accomplished.  Thousands  of  workmen  of  all  nationalities  and 
trades,  also  fire,  police,  ambulance  and  hospital  service — a 
superb  industrial  army — had  to  be  mustered  in  and  controlled. 
The  growth  of  the  colossal  structures  seemed  magical.  Sec 
tions  of  an  immense  arch  would  silently  meet  high  in  air 
"  like  shadows  flitting  across  the  sky."  Some  giant  pillar 
would  hang  as  by  a  thread  a  hundred  feet  above  ground  till 
a  couple  of  men  appeared  aloft  and  set  it  in  place.  Workmen 
in  all  sorts  of  impossible  postures  and  positions  were  swarm 
ing,  climbing  and  gesticulating  like  Palmer  Cox's  Brownies. 

On  Wednesday,  October  21,  1892,  the  hive  was  stilled, 
in  honor  of  Columbus's  immortal  deed.  Just  four  hundred 
years  before,  for  the  first  time  so  far  as  we  certainly  know  or 
ever  shall  know,  European  eyes  saw  American  land.  This 
climacteric  event  in  human  history  was  by  Old  Style  dated 
October  I2th.  The  addition  of  nine  days  to  translate  it  into 
New  Style  made  the  date  October  2ist.  On  that  day  occurred 
a  reception  in  the  Auditorium,  3,500  persons  responding  to 
the  invitation.  President  Harrison  was  unable  to  attend 
because  of  what  proved  to  be  the  last  illness  of  his  wife. 
Under  the  circumstances  Mr.  Cleveland  won  much  praise  by 
considerately  declining  the  invitation  sent  him.  The  presi 
dential  campaign  of  1892  was  already  in  progress,  Harrison 
and  Cleveland  being  matched  for  the  second  time.  Mr. 
Cleveland  wrote  :  "  I  should  be  very  glad  to  be  present  on 
this  interesting  occasion  and  thus  show  my  appreciation  of  its 
importance,  if  I  could  do  so  solely  as  an  ex-President  of  the 
United  States.  I  am  sure,  however,  that  this  is  impossible, 
and  I  am  unwilling  to  take  a  trip  which,  from  beginning  to 
end,  despite  all  efforts  on  my  part,  would  be  regarded  as  a 
political  tour  made  by  a  candidate  for  the  presidency. 

>£  My  general  aversion  to  such  a  trip  is  overwhelmingly 
increased  in  this  particular  instance,  when  I  recall  the  afflictive 

620 


THE 

UNIVERSITY 


COLUMBUS  DAY 


dispensation  which  detains  at   the   bedside   of  his   sick   wife 
another  candidate  for  the  presidency." 

The  post  of  honor,  Columbus  Day,  was  occupied  by 
Vice-President  Morton.  On  Thursday  he  reviewed  a  civic 
parade  three  hours  long,  marshalled  by  General  Miles.  On 
Friday  the  special  exercises  in  dedication  of  the  buildings  and 
grounds  brought  to  Jackson  Park  over  250,000  people. 
High  officials  reviewed  imposing  military  columns  in  Wash 
ington  Park,  and  proceeded  thence  to  the  Manufactures 
Building  on  the  Exposition  grounds.  Here  a  chorus  sang 
the  Columbus  hymn,  by  John  Knowles  Payne,  and  Bishop 
Fowler  offered  prayer.  The  buildings  were  then  formally 
handed  over  to  the  National  Commission  and  by  it  to  the 
Nation,  through  Vice-President  Morton.  Medals  were 
awarded  to  artists  and  architects.  Several  addresses  were 
made.  Beethoven's  anthem,  and  the  prayer  of  benediction 
by  Rev.  H.  C.  McCook,  D.D.,  of  Philadelphia,  concluded 
the  ceremonies.  In  the  evening  were  fireworks,  among  them 
a  hundred  fire-balloons  armed 
with  rockets. 

The  Columbus  anniver 
sary  was  observed  in  many 
other  cities.  New  York  cel 
ebrated  October  I2th.  Fifty 
thousand  troops  passed  the 
reviewing  stand,  millions 
lined  the  sidewalks.  On 
April  27,  1893,  occurred  a 
notable  naval  parade,  em 
bracing  thirty-five  vessels  and 
more  than  1 0,000  men.  The 
ships  were  splendid  speci 
mens  of  naval  architecture. 
The  Russian  Dimitri  Donskoi 
was  the  largest.  Its  com- 


D.   H.   BURN  HAM 
>r  of  Works  at   World's  Fair 


621 


THE  UNITED  STATES  IN  OUR  OWN  TIME 

pany  numbered  570.  Next  in  size  was  the  British  Blake. 
The  Argentine  Nueve  de  Julio  was  the  swiftest  ship  present. 
The  Kaiserin  Augusta^  the  prognathous  Jean  Eart^  of  France, 
and  the  ill-starred  Reina  Regente  were  of  the  fleet.  The  ma 
rines'  land  muster  was  even  more  brilliant  than  the  parade  of 
the  1 2th.  Curious  among  its  features  was  the  "mascot"  of 
the  Tartar's  crew,  a  goat  decked  in  scarlet  silk  and  gold  lace, 
like  an  Egyptian  or  a  Siamese  deity. 

Work  was  resumed  at  Chicago  October  22d,  and  pushed 
day  and  night,  rain  or  shine,  to  make  ready  for  the  opening, 
May  i,  1893.  When  that  date  arrived,  the  chief  magistracy 
of  the  nation  had  changed  hands.  The  contest  for  the  presi 
dency  had  been  exceptionally  good-humored,  each  candidate 
being  treated  by  his  political  opponents  with  studied  respect. 
"  My  desire,"  said  Harrison,  "  is  to  have  a  Republican  cam 
paign,  and  not  a  personal  one."  In  spite  of  the  "  snap " 
New  York  Convention,  which  sent  Hill  delegates  to  the 
national  Democratic  Convention,  Cleveland  had  won  the 
nomination  on  the  first  ballot  by  a  trifle  over  the  required 
two-thirds.  For  the  nonce  his  enemies  were  thoroughly  sub 
dued.  Harrison,  too,  had  overcome  Platt,  Hill's  Republican 
counterpart  in  New  York.  He  had  also  divested  himself  of 
Quay  in  Pennsylvania,  and  of  certain  other  influential  party 
men  much  criticised  for  their  political  methods.  Many  such 
now  turned  against  him,  declaring  him  a  craven,  willing  to 
benefit  by  services  of  any  sort,  but  ready  to  repudiate  his 
agents  so  soon  as  there  was  outcry  against  them.  Mr.  Har 
rison's  personal  manner  was  cold,  repelling  rather  than  attract 
ing  those  with  whom  he  came  in  contact.  The  same  circum 
stances  connected  with  the  civil  service  which  told  against 
Cleveland  in  1888,  now  told  with  equal  force  against  Har 
rison.  Though  sincerely  favoring  the  Reform  and  doing 
much  to  extend  the  scope  of  the  Reform  Law,  Harrison  had 
gone  quite  as  far  as  his  predecessor  in  "  turning  the  rascals 
out."  Advertisement  of  the  1888  corruption  and  the  subse- 

622 


THE  HOMESTEAD  STRIKERS  BURNING  THE  BARGES  FROM  WHICH  THE   PINKERTON 

MEN  HAD  BEEN  TAKEN 
Drawn  by  Orson  Lowell  from  photographs  taken  during  and  just  after  the  trouble 


FIERCE  CONFLICT  AT  HOMESTEAD 

quent  adoption  by  many  States  of  the  "  Australian  "  ballot 
law  to  prevent  vote-buying  and  similar  evils,  rendered  the 
election  of  1892  much  purer  than  the  preceding  one.  Vice 
still  lurked  about  the  polls,  but  it  was  now  more  closely 
watched  and  more  severely  reprobated. 

Harrison's  chances  had  been  lessened  by  the   strike  at 
Homestead,  Pa.,  against  the  Carnegie  Steel  Company,  which 
broke  out  in  the  summer  of  1892,  because  of  a  reduction  in 
wages.     The  Amalgamated  Steel  and  Iron  Workers  sought  to 
intercede  against  the  reduction,  but  were  refused  recognition 
by  the  company.      H.  C.  Frick,  President  of  the  company, 
was  burned  in  effigy.     A  shut-down  was  ordered.     Preparing 
to  start  up  again  with  non-union  men,  the  company  arranged 
to  introduce  a  force  of  Pinkerton  detectives  to  protect  these 
new  employes.     The  Pinkertons  came  in  barges  by  the  river, 
and  when  they  approached  the  mills  the  strikers  met  them 
with  a  volley  of  bullets,  beginning  a  regular  battle  which  raged 
two  days.     The  barges,  armored  inside,  were  impervious  to 
bullets  ;  therefore  on  the  second  day  cannons  were  used,  bom 
barding  the   boats   for  hours.     Effort  was  also   made  to  fire 
them   by   means   of  burning  oil   floated  down   against   them. 
Seven  detectives  were   killed  and   twenty  or  thirty  wounded. 
On  the  workmen's  side  eleven  were  killed.     The  wretches  in 
the  boats  again  and  again  hoisted  a  flag  of  truce,  but  it  was 
shot  down  each  time.      Later,  however,  officers  of  the  Amal 
gamated  Association  interfered  and  a  committee  was  sent  on 
board  to  arrange  terms  of  surrender.      Having  no  alternative, 
the  Pinkerton  police  agreed  to  give  up  their  arms  and  ammu 
nition  and  retire  from  the  scene.      Strikers  were  to  guard  them 
on  their  departure,  and  effort  was  made  to  do  this  ;  yet,  as 
they  marched  through  Homestead  streets,  the  mob  element, 
always   on  hand   at   such  times,  brutally  attacked  them  with 
clubs,  stones  and  bullets.     After  cruel  delay  the  Second  Brig 
ade  of  the  Pennsylvania  National  Guard,  from  Pittsburg,  the 
Third  Brigade  from  Lebanon,  and  the  First  Troop  of  Phila- 

625 


THE  UNITED  STATES  IN  OUR  OWN  TIME 

delphia  City  Cavalry  arrived  on  the  1 2th,  and  quickly  restored 
order.  Good-will  it  was  harder  to  reinstate.  Several  work 
men  were  arrested  on  charge  of  murder,  which  led  to  counter 
arrests  and  charges  against  Carnegie  officers,  the  Pinkertons 
and  some  of  their  subordinates.  During  most  of  the  disturb 
ances  public  sympathy  was  with  the  strikers,  as  the  employ 
ment  by  great  corporations  of  armed  men,  not  officers  of 
the  law,  to  defend  property,  was  very  unpopular.  Sentiment 
turned  the  other  way  when,  in  the  latter  part  oT  July,  Mr. 
Frick  was  brutally  shot  and  stabbed  in  his  own  office  by  Alex- 


THE   CARNEGIE   STEEL   WORKS 

hjwingthe  shield  used  by  the  strikers  when  firing  the  cannon  and  when  watching  the  Pinke-rton  men;  also  the 
which  the  cannon  was  anchored,  and  a  wheelbarrow  full  of  bolts  and  nuts  used  as  ammunition) 

Drawn  by  G.  W.  Peters  from  photographs  made  after  the  militia  had  taken  possession  of  the  work, 

626 


INVESTIGATING  THE  CAUSES  OF  THE  TROUBLE 


THE  MILITIA  BEHIND   THE  BARRICADE  INSIDE  THE  CARNEGIE  WORKS 
From  a  f  holograph 

ander  Bergmann,  an  anarchist  from  New  York.  The  man 
fired  two  shots,  one  of  which  passed  through  Mr.  Frick's 
head,  the  other  through  his  neck,  then  grappled  with  him,  in 
flicting  three  stab  wounds  in  the  chest,  the  abdomen  and  the 
leg.  Mr.  Frick  displayed  utmost  courage.  Though  seeming 
to  be  fatally  wounded,  he  succeeded  in  holding  his  foe  until 
help  arrived.  After  being  kept  in  bed  for  thirteen  days  Mr. 
Frick  resumed  his  active  duties,  and  in  a  few  weeks  had  wholly 
regained  his  strength  and  color.  Disclaim  and  reprobate  this 
deed  as  they  might,  the  displaced  laborers  could  not,  in  the 
public  mind,  disconnect  it  from  their  own  doings.  October 
nth  a  Grand  Jury  returned  against  thirty-one  strikers  true 
bills  for  high  treason  ;  and  against  several  Carnegie  officials 
and  their  detectives  for  murder. 

This  strike  drew  public  attention  to  the  evils  and  dangers 
of  the  private  militia  system.  On  May  I2th,  before  the  strike, 
the  House  of  Representatives  had  ordered  its  Judiciary  Com 
mittee  to  investigate  that  system.  On  August  2d  the  Senate 
raised  a  select  committee  to  do  the  same.  Addressing  the 

627 


THE  UNITED  STATES  IN  OUR  OWN  TIME 

Senate  on  July  yth,  Senator  Palmer,  of  Illinois,  roundly  scored 
the  Pinkerton  "  mercenaries,"  who  had  "  shed  the  blood  of 
citizens  "  in  many  States.  He  declared  the  attempts  by  the 
Carnegie  Company  "  to  maintain  their  rights  by  the  aid  of  this 
organized  force  a  contempt  of  the  authority  of  the  State  of 
Pennsylvania."  He  avowed  the  conviction  that  the  strikers 
had  a  right  to  be  in  the  mill  yard  and  "  a  right  to  employ 
ment  there."  "  I  maintain,"  said  he,  "  that  these  laborers, 


From  Cornea's  Building,  looking  South 


THE  FLOOD  AND  FIRE 

From  photographs 


having  been  in  that  service,  having  spent  their  lives  in  this 
particular  line  of  service,  have  a  right  to  insist  upon  the  per 
manency  of  their  employment,  and  they  have  a  right  to  insist, 
too,  on  a  reasonable  compensation." 

The  loss  of  life  at  Homestead  seemed  the  more  sad  as 
following  so  soon  the  unique  disaster  which  befell  Titusville 
and  Oil  City  on  June  5th.  Oil  Creek,  already  high,  was 
swollen  by  a  cloud-burst  and  had  flooded  the  lower  part  of 
Titusville,  when  several  oil-tanks,  probably  struck  by  light- 


628 


FLOOD  AND  FIRE  AT  TITUSVILLE 


ning,  gave  way,  the  oil  flowing  out,  ignited,  over  the  water, 
forming  an  immense  sheet  of  moving  flame.  Scores  of  build 
ings  in  Titusville  were  soon  on  fire,  and  about  a  third  of  the 
city  was  destroyed.  The  flaming  flood  swept  down  to  Oil 
City,  eighteen  miles  below,  overwhelming  or  burning  such 
persons  and  property  as  could  not  be  gotten  out  of  its  track. 
Nearly  two  hundred  perished,  and  between  $  1,000,000  and 
$2,000,000  worth  of  property  was  destroyed. 


From  foot  of  Monroe  Street,  looking  South,  at  II  A.M.,  Sunday,  June  5,  i8g2 

LE,  PA. 

by  Mather 

As  Democrats  saw  political  capital  in  the  Homestead  dis 
turbance,  so  Republicans  pointed  to  labor  troubles  in  a  Demo 
cratic  State.  The  bad  system  of  farming  out  convicts  to  labor 
in  competition  with  deserving  citizens  led,  in  Tennessee,  dur 
ing  1891  and  1892,  to  riots  and  loss  of  life.  For  three  years 
previously  the  State's  prisoners  had  been  farmed  to  a  large 
coal  and  iron  company.  This  company  worked  most  of  them 
at  Tracy  City  and  Inman,  subletting  the  rest,  partly  to  colliers 
at  Coal  Creek  and  Oliver  Springs,  partly  to  contractors  who 

629 


THE  UNITED  STATES  IN  OUR  OWN  TIME 


NON-COMBATANTS— A  TENNESSEE  MOUNTAIN  HOME 

used  them  in  Nashville  making  bricks  and  harness  and  build 
ing  sewers.  The  contractors  fed  and  clothed  the  convicts  and 
provided  guard-houses  for  such  as  wrought  at  a  distance  from 
the  main  prison ;  but  the  State  appointed  the  guards  and  pre 
tended,  through  inspectors,  to  see  that  the  prisoners  were  de- 


THE   CONVICT  STOCKADE  AND  MILITARY  CAMP  AT  OLIVER   SPRINGS 
From  a  photograph 


630 


CONVICT-LABOR  TROUBLES  IN  TENNESSEE 


DR.  BETTS, 


THE   COffBOr  PREACHER,"  INCITING  THE  MINERS  TO 
ATTACK  FORT  ANDERSON 


From  a  photograph  taken  at  The  Grove,  between  Briceville  and  Coal  Creek 

cently  used.  All  went  well  till  work  grew  slack.  Then  many 
free  miners  had  to  go  on  short  time,  though  the  convicts  still 
wrought  full  time.  August  13,  1892,  miners  attacked  Tracy 
City  and  removed  the  convicts,  of  whom  several  escaped. 
This  was  repeated  at  Inman  and  Oliver  Springs.  The  pro 
cess  was  easy,  since,  popular  sympathy  favoring  the  miners  so 
that  a  sheriff  could  not  muster  a  posse,  the  authorities  made 
little  effort  to  defend  the  contract  gangs.  At  Coal  Creek, 
however,  the  rioters  were  resisted  by  the  garrison,  consisting 
of  Colonel  Anderson  with  a  hundred  and  fifty  men.  Being 
beaten,  the  mob  raised  a  flag  of  truce,  answering  which  in 
person  Colonel  Anderson  fell  into  their  power,  and  was  com 
manded,  on  threat  of  death,  to  order  a  surrender.  He  refused. 
Meantime  the  militia,  which  had  been  called  out,  arrived  and 
briskly  attacked  the  rioters,  killing  several,  routing  the  residue 
and  rescuing  Colonel  Anderson.  Five  hundred  miners  were 
arrested  and  all  disturbance  soon  ended. 

The  Force  Bill  was  remembered  in  the  presidential  cam- 

631 


THE  UNITED  STATES  IN  OUR  OWN  TIME 

paign  of  1892,  in  many  parts  of  the  land  where,  but  for  it, 
its  authors  might  now  have  hoped  for  gains.  They  made  no 
effort  to  raise  the  corpse  to  life,  but  left  it  "  unwept,  unhon- 
ored  and  unsung"  where  it  fell  two  years  before.  Veteran 
Democrats  suspected  a  piece  of  shrewd  shamming,  and  circled 
the  remains,  crying,  "  No  Force  Bill !  No  Negro  Domina 
tion  !  "  till  sure  that  it  was  a  case  of  death.  While  not  attack 
ing  the  Dependent  Pensions  Act,  for  which  they  were  too 
shrewd,  the  Democrats  may  have  gained  somewhat  by  their 
loud  demands  for  honesty  in  administering  this.  The  other 
expenditures  of  the  Fifty-first  Congress  they  placed  under 
searching  review,  with  scant  results  as  to  details,  though  the 
aggregate  sum  impressed  the  public  unfavorably. 

The  Republicans'  centre  in  the  battle  was  McKinley 
Protection,  but  many  of  their  best  fighting  men  thought  that 
McKinley  had  led  them  too  far  to  the  front  and  wished  to  fall 
back  upon  "  reciprocity  "  as  a  stronger  position.  Thus  there 
was  wavering  in  the  ranks.  The  tin  schedule  of  the  new  tariff 
was  lauded  as  sure  to  transfer  the  tin  industry  from  Wales  to 
this  country.  "  Free  sugar  "  was  also  made  prominent.  Upon 
the  tariff  question  the  Democrats  wavered  too.  Their  Con 
vention  had  displaced  a  resolution  squinting  toward  protection, 
and  put  in  the  platform  a  plain  tariff-for-revenue  plank. 
Most  of  their  Western  speakers  took  the  stump,  crying : 
"  Republican  protection  is  a  fraud !  "  and  denouncing  the 
McKinley  Act  as  the  "  culminating  atrocity  of  class  legisla 
tion."  Republicans  charged  that  the  Democracy  stood  com 
mitted  to  "  British  Free  Trade."  There  was  some  justice  in 
the  statement,  yet  Cleveland's  letter  of  acceptance  was  not  in 
this  tone.  "  We  wage,"  said  he,  "  no  exterminating  warfare 
against  American  industries."  And  in  all  the  Eastern  centres 
Democratic  orators  and  papers  declined  to  attack  the  principle 
of  protection,  only  urging  that  manufacturing  interests  would 
be  advanced  by  "  freer  raw  materials." 

The    Populists,    heirs    of   the    Grangers    and    Farmers' 

632 


CLEVELAND  ELECTED  AGAIN 

Alliance,  scored  a  triumph  now.  In  Colorado,  Idaho,  Kansas 
and  Wyoming  the  Democrats  voted  for  Weaver,  the  Populist 
candidate.  In  North  Dakota,  Nevada,  Minnesota  and  Ore 
gon  also  there  was  a  partial  Democratic-Populist  fusion.  In 
those  States,  subtracting  Oregon  and  Minnesota,  Weaver  ob 
tained  a  majority.  In  Louisiana  and  Alabama,  on  the  contrary, 
it  was  Republicans  who  fused  with  Populists.  The  Tillman 
movement  in  South  Carolina,  nominally  Democratic,  was  akin 
to  Populism,  but  was  complicated  with  the  color  question 
and  later  with  novel  liquor  legislation.  In  its  essence  it  was 
a  revolt  of  the  ordinary  white  population  from  the  traditional 
dominance  of  the  aristocracy.  In  Alabama  a  similar  move 
ment,  led  by  Reuben  F.  Kolb,  was  defeated,  fraudulently,  as  he 
thought,  by  vicious  manipulation  of  votes  in  the  Black  Belt. 
Spite  of  these  diversions  the  election  was  a  second  tidal  wave 
in  favor  of  the  democracy.  Of  the  total  444  votes  in  the 
electoral  college  Cleveland  received  277,  Harrison  145,  and 
Weaver  22 — giving  Cleveland  a  plurality  of  132.  Cleveland 
received  5,556,000  votes,  Harrison  5,175,000  and  Weaver 
something  over  a  million.  The  Senate  held  fourty-four 
Democrats,  thirty-seven  Republicans  and  four  Populists  ;  the 
House  two  hundred  and  sixteen  Democrats,  one  hundred  and 
twenty-five  Republicans  and  eleven  Populists. 

Mr.  Cleveland's  first  prominent  appearance  before  the 
public  after  his  inauguration  was  upon  the  Opening  Day  of 
the  Columbian  Exposition,  May  i,  1893.  It  was  a  legal  hol 
iday.  In  spite  of  the  mist,  rain  and  mud  of  its  early  hours, 
patient  multitudes  waited  outside  for  the  gates  of  Jackson 
Park  to  open.  The  inevitable  procession,  dramatically  wel 
comed  by  the  uncouth  aliens  of  the  Midway  Plaisance,  stopped 
at  the  temporary  platform  in  front  of  the  Administration 
Building,  where,  among  many  others,  sat  President  Cleveland 
side  by  side  with  Columbus's  descendant,  the  Duke  of  Vera- 
gua.  Inspiriting  music  and  poetry  led  up  to  the  climax  of 
the  occasion.  After  recounting  the  steps  by  which  the  Expo- 

633 


THE  UNITED  STATES  IN  OUR  OWN  TIME 


sition  had  originated,  the  Director-General  said :  "  It  only 
remains  for  you,  Mr.  President,  if,  in  your  opinion  the  Expo 
sition  here  presented  is  commensurate  in  dignity  with  what 
the  world  should  expect  of  our  great  country,  to  direct  that  it 
shall  be  opened  to  the  public  ;  and  when  you  touch  this  magic 
key  the  ponderous  machinery  will  start  in  its  revolutions  and 
the  activity  of  the  Exposition  will  begin." 

"  I  am  here,"  responded  Mr.  Cleveland,  "  to  join  my  fel 
low-citizens  in  the  congratulations  which  bent  the  occasion. 
Surrounded  by  the  stupendous  results  of  American  enterprise 
and  activity,  and  in  view  of  the  magnificent  evidences  of 
American  skill  and  intelligence,  we  need  not  fear  that  these 
congratulations  will  be  exaggerated.  We  stand  to-day  in  the 
presence  of  the  oldest  nations  of  the  world,  and  point  to  the 
great  achievements  we  here  exhibit,  asking  no  allowance  on  the 
score  of  youth.  It  is  an  exalted  mission  in  which  we  and  our 
guests  from  other  lands  are  engaged  as  we  co-operate  in  the 

inauguration  of  an 
enterprise  devoted 
to  human  enlighten 
ment  ;  and  in  the 
undertaking  we  here 
enter  upon  we  exem 
plify  in  the  noblest 
sense  the  brother 
hood  of  nations.  Let 
us  hold  fast  to  the 
meaning  that  under 
lies  this  ceremony, 
and  let  us  not  lose 
the  impressiveness  of 
this  moment.  As  by 
a  touch  the  machin 
ery  that  gives  life  to 
this  vast  exposition 

634 


OPENING  OF  THE  EXPOSITION 


V^UH  •«*?•-.  PH^~.~;          ^%£?sra 


THE   ENTRANCE   TO  THE   GERMAN  BUILDING* 

is  now  set  in  motion,  so  at  the  same  instant  let  our  hopes  and 
aspirations  awaken  forces  which  in  all  times  to  come  shall  in 
fluence  the  welfare,  the  dignity  and  the  freedom  of  mankind." 
"  As  the  President  touched  the  button  there  arose  from 
all  sides  a  wild  outburst  of  sound,  the  people  and  orchestra 
uniting  in  the  triumphant  strains  of  Handel's  c  Hallelujah 
Chorus/  while  the  wheels  of  the  great  Allis  engine  in  the 
Machinery  Hall  began  to  revolve  and  the  electric  fountains 
in  the  lagoons  to  play.  Torrents  of  water  gushed  from  the 
great  MacMonnies  fountain,  the  artillery  thundered  salutes 
and  the  chimes  of  the  Factories  Hall  and  German  Building 
rang  merry  peals,  while  conspicuous  in  the  Court  of  Honor 

*The  World's  Fair  views  in  this  chapter  are,  with  two  exceptions,  from  photographs  by 
T.  S.  Johnson. 

635 


THE  UNITED  STATES  IN  OUR  OWN  TIME 

the  golden  beauty  of  the  *  Republic '  stood  discovered.  At 
the  same  moment  the  flags  in  front  of  the  platform  parted, 
revealing  the  gilded  models  of  the  Columbian  caravels.  The 
flags  of  all  nations  were  simultaneously  unfurled  on  all  the 
buildings  of  the  Exhibition.  The  roof  of  the  Factories 
Building  became  gorgeous  with  red  gonfalons,  while  the  Agri 
cultural  Building  was  dressed  in  ensigns  of  orange  and  white. 
It  was  a  magnificent  transformation  scene.  Amid  all,  the  can 
non  continued  to  boom  and  the  people  to  cheer,  while  the 
band  played  the  national  anthem.'' 

At  the  Woman's  Building  the  opening  exercises  included 
addresses  by  Mrs.  Potter  Palmer,  the  Duchess  of  Veragua  for 
Spain,  the  Countess  di  Brazza  for  Italy,  Mrs.  Bedford  Fen- 
wick  for  England,  the  Duchess  of  Aberdeen  for  Scotland- 
Ireland,  and  the  Princess  SchechofFsky  for  Russia.  Mrs. 
Potter  Palmer  drove  home  the  nail  which  completed  the 
Woman's  Building.  It  was  of  gold,  silver  and  copper,  with 
a  Montana  sapphire  set  in  the  shield  attached  to  the  nail  near 
the  head. 

Many  of  the  festal  days  which  followed  were  chosen  by 
States  and  nations  for  their  own  in  particular.  Every  State 
had  its  day,  which  it  brightened  with  music  and  pageantry, 
not  omitting  the  eloquence  and  hospitality  suited  to  such  oc 
casions.  On  her  day  California  dispensed  freely  to  all  comers 
of  her  abundant  fruit.  New  York  did  not  sulk  over  her  loss 
of  the  opportunity  to  entertain  the  Fair,  but  vigorously  and 
with  splendid  success  celebrated  the  day  set  apart  for  her. 
"  The  great  day  of  the  feast "  was  "  Chicago  Day,"  October 
9th,  the  twenty-second  anniversary  of  the  awful  fire.  All  the 
night  before  houseless  thousands  had  sheltered  themselves  in 
doorways  and  under  the  elevated  railroad,  while  1 5,000  awaited 
at  the  gates  the  opening  of  the  grounds.  During  the  day 
716,881  persons  paid  their  way  into  the  grounds,  the  largest 
number  for  any  one  day,  exceeding  the  maximum  at  Phila 
delphia — 217,526,  and  that  at  Paris  in  1889 — 397,150.  Orig- 

636 


it .. ....  -,as4i 

f   US!;" 


CHICAGO'S  ORIGINAL  NAMERS  PRESENT 


inal  and  interesting  exercises  marked  the  hours.     Two  aged 
Pottawottomi  chiefs,  pathetic  types  of  the  vanished  red  man, 
who   stood  side  by  side    near   the   Columbian    Bell,  received 
much   homage.     One  was  in  white  man's  attire,  the  other  in 
feathered  head-dress  and  breeching  and  moccasins  of  beaded 
buckskin,  all   supplemented  by  a   liberal   paint  coat  of  many 
colors.     The  white   man's  proselyte   was   Simon   Po-ka-gon, 
whose  father,  Leopold,  once  owned  the  site  of  Chicago  ;  the 
unconventionalized  warrior  was  Chief  John  Young,  son  of  a 
chief  of  the  same  name.     Leopold  gave  the  inland  metropolis 
a  local  habitation,  John  Young,  Sr.,  gave  her  a  name,  "  Chi 
cago  " — meaning  "  thunder,"  according  to  some  ;  "  onion,"  in 
the  belief  of  others,  and  "  skunk's  home,"  as  maintained  by  a 
third  school  of  interpreters.      Fireworks,  the  finest  ever  seen, 
lighted   up   the  evening.     Some   of  the   designs   were,  "  Old 
Fort   Dearborn,"   "  Chicago   Welcoming   the   World,"  "  Old 
Glory "  and  "  Niagara  Falls."      Four   scenes,  each   covering 
14,000  square  feet,  illustrated     r—===================-, 

the  burning  of  the  city  in 
1871.  Conspicuous  among 
the  representations  was  Mrs. 
O'Leary's  incendiary  cow, 
said  to  have  started  the  fire 
by  kicking  over  a  lamp. 

In  magnitude  and  splen 
dor  the  grounds  and  buildings 
constituting  the  White  City 
far  surpassed  any  ever  before 
laid  out  for  Exposition  pur 
poses.  The  original  sketch 
of  the  grounds  was  drawn 
with  pencil  on  brown  paper 
by  the  late  Mr.  John  W. 
Root.  It  projected  an  effect 
ive  contrast  of  land  and  water 


RICHARD  M.   HUNT 

Architect  of  Administration  Building 


639 


THE  UNITED  STATES  IN  OUR  OWN  TIME 


VIEW        OF 

as  well  as  of  art  and  nature, 
which  subsequent  elaboration, 
mainly  under  the  invaluable 
advice  and  guidance  of  the  late 
Richard  M.  Hunt,  nobly  filled 
out.  The  North  Pond  com 
municated  with  the  lake  by  the  North  Inlet  and  with  the 
Grand  Basin  by  the  North  Canal,  opposite  which  was  the 
South  Canal.  South  of  the  Basin  was  South  Inlet,  leading 
from  Lake  Michigan  into  South  Pond.  In  one  corner  was 
the  isolated  Northwest  Pond.  Approaching  the  park  by 
water  one  landed  at  a  long  pier,  on  which  was  the  moving 
sidewalk — the  Power  House,  where  alone  steam-power  was 
allowed,  standing  to  the  south.  At  another  pier  was  moored 
the  facsimile  battleship  Illinois.  Almost  at  the  lips  of  her  can 
non  the  nations  of  the  world  had  tabernacled,  England  nearest. 
Beyond  these,  at  the  north  was  the  neighborhood  of  States, 

640 


STATE  BUILDINGS  AND    WOODED  ISLAND 


THE      WORLD'S        FAIR        GROUNDS 

each  represented  by  a  house.  Some  of  the  houses  were  castles, 
some  were  cottages.  Some  provided  only  comforts,  others 
held  displays.  Not  one  but  offered  points  of  great  interest. 
Iowa,  Washington,  California  and  Illinois  advertised  their 
prospects  ;  Florida,  Virginia,  Pennsylvania,  New  York  and 
Massachusetts  their  history.  Mutual  visits  among  these  fam 
ilies  and  mutual  admiration  were  the  order  of  each  day. 

Upon  the  Wooded  Island,  under  the  protectorate  of 
Horticultural  Hall,  consummate  art  had  made  a  refuge  for 
wild  nature.  Stunted  trees  were  masked  by  shrubbery  and 
the  water  planted  with  aquatic  vegetation.  Nearly  every 
variety  of  American  tree  and  shrub  was  represented  upon 
these  acres.  Here  as  well  as  elsewhere  landscape  gardeners 
had  created  effective  backgrounds  of  willows  and  of  flowers, 
and  stretches  of  lawn  set  off  by  statuary  and  fountains.  Dis 
tances  were  too  great  to  be  traversed  always  on  foot,  but  other 
modes  of  locomotion  were  ample.  A  good  if  somewhat  noisy 

641 


THE  UNITED  STATES  IN  OUR  OWN  TIME 


servant  was  the  Intramu 
ral  Railway,  which  con 
ducted  one  by  the  rear 
of  the  grounds,  the  back 
way,  as  it  were,  from  one 
end  of  the  enclosure  to 
the  other.  But  the 
beauty  of  the  place  more 
impressed  you  if  you 
boarded  a  gondola  or  an 
electric  launch,  sweeping 
under  arches,  around 
islands,  and  past  balus 
trades,  terraces  and  flow 
ered  lawns.  Easy  transit 
through  the  larger  build 
ings,  or  from  one  to 

another,  was  furnished  by  wheeled  chairs. 

Notwithstanding    the    charge    of  materialism     so     often 

brought  against  America,  and  against   Chicago  in  particular, 

FEEDING       THE     WATER       FOWLS' 


PUBLIC  SPIRIT  MANIFESTED 


foreigners    visiting 

the  Fair  found  that 

we    had    not    pro 

vided    mere    utili 

tarian  housings  for 

the  exhibits.     We 

came    near    falling 

into  another  fault, 

that   of  vain    lav- 

ishness.    Financial 

backers  of  the  un 

dertaking   did   not 

withhold    or    stint 

their  contributions, 

while    they    calcu 

lated         dividends 

likely     to    accrue. 

Others,    executing 

the      work,     were 

equally   public-spirited.     The   architects    especially     wrought 

together  with   mutual   interest  and  affection,  free  from  selfish 


THE  UNITED  STATES  IN  OUR  OWN  TIME 


rivalry.  They  sacrificed  pecuniary  considerations  to  love  of 
art,  working  with  a  zeal  which  money  alone  could  never  have 
called  forth.  Great  as  was  the  expenditure,  it  would  have 
been  inadequate  to  the  results  had  it  not  been  possible  to  em 
ploy  a  material  at  once  cheap,  sufficiently  durable,  and  very 
ductile  in  architects'  hands.  This  was  a  mixture  of  plaster 
of  Paris  with  certain  fibres,  commonly  known  as  "  staff." 
"  It  permitted  the  architects  to  indulge  in  an  architectural 
spree."  It  made  possible  "  a  group  of  buildings  which  might 
have  been  a  vision  of  an  ancient  monarch,  but  which  no 
autocrat  and  no  government  could  have  carried  out  in  perma 
nent  form."  It  allowed  modern  masters  to  reproduce  "  the 
best  details  of  ancient  architecture — to  erect  temples,  colon 
nades,  towers  and  domes  of  surpassing  beauty  and  noble  pro 
portions — making  an  object  lesson  of  practical  educational 
value  equal  to  its  impressive  character." 

Near  the  centre  of  the  grounds  was  the  Government 
Building,  with  a  ready-made,  conventional  look,  out  of  keep 
ing  with  the  other  architecture.  Critics  declared  it  the  only 
discordant  note  in  the  symphony,  but  the  Illinois  Building, 
conspicuously  situated,  topped  by  a  dome  looking  like  a 

cartridge  upright  upon  a  box,  was 
not  exactly  pleasing,  at  least  in  com 
parison  with  edifices  near  by.  Look 
ing  away  from  it  across  the  North 
Pond,  one  saw  the  Art  Palace,  of 
j*»^  *M  pure  Ionic  style,  perfectly  propor- 

Mrr*"^'      IH  tioned,    restful    to    view,   contesting 

with  the  Administration  Building 
the  architectural  laurels  of  the  Fair. 
To  the  south  of  the  Illinois  Building 
rose  the  Woman's  Building,  and 
next  Horticultural  Hall,  with  dome 
high  enough  to  shelter  the  tallest 
palms.  So  overrun  was  this  depart- 


IV.   L.   B.   JENNET 
Architect  of  the  Horticultural  Building 


644 


THE   COURT  OF  HONOR 

ment  with  applications  that  only  the  choicest  exhibits  could  be 
accepted.  Among  these  Australia,  land  of  anomalies,  planted 
her  giant  tree-fern  and  giant  stag-horn  fern.  Here  experi 
menting  was  carried  on  in  a  cave  illuminated  only  by  electric 
ity,  for  the  purpose  of  determining  whether  plants  can  be 
made  to  thrive  under  such  light  alone.  In  connection  with 
Horticultural  Hall  may  be  mentioned  the  rustic  Forestry 
Building.  Supreme  architectural  victory  was  realized  in  the 
fact  that  even  the  Manufactures  and  Liberal  Arts  Building, 
almost  awful  in  its  proportions,  did  not  tyrannize  over  its 
neighbors.  This  structure  was  thrite  the  size  of  St.  Peter's  at 
Rome,  and  would  easily  have  roofed  the  Vendome  Column. 
It  was  severely  classical,  with  a  long  perspective  of  arches, 
broken  only  at  the  corners  and  in  the  centre  by  portals  fit  to 
immortalize  Alexander's  triumphs. 

The  name  of  the  "  Court  of  Honor "  awoke  in  one  a 
throb  of  anticipation  before  seeing  its  chaste  beauty,  which 
must  to  his  dying  day  haunt  the  memory  of  every  visitor  who 
beheld  it.  Its  majestic  unity  was  mainly  due  to  the  genius  of 
R.  M.  Hunt,  already  mentioned  for  his  masterly  agency  in 
rendering  the  Fair  so  picturesque  and  so  perfect  as  an  archi 
tectural  ensemble.  Down  the  Grand  Basin  you  looked  upon 
the  golden  statue  of  the  Republic,  with  its  noble  proportions, 
beyond  it  the  peristyle,  a  forest  of  columns  surmounted  by  the 
Columbian  quadriga.  On  the  right  hand  stood  the  Agricul 
tural  Building,  upon  whose  summit  the  "  Diana  "  of  Augus 
tus  St.  Gaudens  had  alighted.  To  the  left  stood  the  enor 
mous  Hall  of  Manufactures  just  mentioned.  Looking  from 
the  peristyle  the  eye  met  the  Administration  Building,  admired 
by  critics  and  laymen  alike.  Its  architect  was  Mr.  Hunt.  He 
was  a  devotee  of  the  French  school,  and  here  presented  to  the 
American  people  its  best  exemplification.  The  dome  resem 
bled  that  of  the  Hotel  des  Invalides  in  Paris.  In  this  Court 
originality  was  happily  sacrificed  to  harmony.  It  was  well  that 
specimens  of  the  best  architecture  should  be  set  before  the 

647 


THE  UNITED  STATES  IN  OUR  OWN  TIME 


»         FROM    ELECTRICITY^  BUILDING       K-  - 


public,  rather  than  novel  departures  from  standard  types ;  for 
the  Fair  not  only  showed  the  vast  growth  of  art  in  America 
since  1876,  but  served  as  an  educator  in  the  canons  of  taste. 
The  American  art  displayed  at  the  Fair  disappointed  Europe 
by  imitating  hers  so  well.  Yet  it  was  clear  that  we  were  not 
mere  imitators. 

One  of  the  most  unique  conceptions  presented  at  the 
Fair  was  that  of  the  Cold  Storage  Building,  just  south  of  the 
Sixty-fourth  Street  entrance,  where  a  hundred  tons  of  ice 
to  supply  the  Exposition  were  daily  made.  Its  architec 
ture  was  handsome  and  suitable  ;  the  walls  unbroken  save 
on  the  ground  floor,  where  the  large,  tunnel-like  entrance 
was  flanked  by  a  row  of  neat  windows,  and  on  the  fifth 
floor,  which  was  designed  for  an  ice  skating  rink.  Four 
corner  towers  relieved  the  steeple  effect  of  a  fifth  one  in  the 
centre,  which  resembled  the  tower  on  Madison  Square  Garden 
in  New  York  City.  This  central  pinnacle  rose  sheer  to  the 
dizzy  height  of  225  feet.  Through  it  went  the  smoke-stack. 
The  cheering  coolness  of  this  building  was  destined  not  to 

648 


BURNING   OF  COLD  STORAGE  BUILDING 


Detail  of  the  Golden  Doorway  at  the  Entrance  to  the  Transportation  Building 

last.  Early  in  the  afternoon  of  July  loth  its  occupants  were 
startled  by  the  cry  of  "  Fire  !  "  Flames  had  been  discovered 
at  the  top  of  the  central  tower,  which  had  caught  from  the 
smoke-stack,  owing,  apparently,  to  neglect  of  the  architect's 
precautions  and  of  the  fire  marshal's  repeated  warnings.  De 
laying  his  departure  till  he  had  provided  against  explosion,  the 
brave  engineer  barely  saved  his  life.  Before  his  escape,  the 
firemen  were  on  hand  and  a  band 
of  sixteen  at  once  climbed  to  the 
balcony  near  the  blazing  summit. 
At  this  juncture,  suddenly,  to  the 
horror  of  all,  fire  burst  from  the 
lower  part  of  the  tower.  The  rope 
and  hose  were  burnt  in  two,  pre 
cipitating  a  number  in  their  attempt 
to  slide  back  to  the  roof.  Others 
leaped  recklessly  from  the  colossal 
torch.  In  less  than  two  minutes, 
it  seemed,  the  whole  pyre  was 
swathed  in  flames,  and,  as  it  top- 

649 


LOUIS  H.   SULLIVAN 
Architect  of  the  Transportation  Building 


THE  UNITED  STATES  IN  OUR  OWN  TIME 


GEORGE   B.   POST 

Architect  of  Manufactures  and  Liberal 

Arts  Building 


pled,  the  last  wretched  form  was 
seen  to  poise  and  plunge  with  it  into 
the  now  blazing  abyss. 

Another  unique  fabric  stood  by 
the  waters  of  the  North  Pond.  It 
was  the  Fisheries  Building,  having  a 
curved  arcade  at  each  end,  leading 
to  a  circular  aquarium.  Visitors 
were  agreeably  startled  at  seeing  the 
pillars  twined  with  aquatic  creatures 
— frogs,  tortoises,  eels  and  star-fish. 
The  capitals,  similarly,  were  archi 
tectural  puns — here  a  fantastic  mass 
of  marine  life,  there  a  lobster-pot. 

Even  the  balustrades  were  supported  by  small  fishy  caryatids. 
The  Electricity  and  Transportation  Buildings  were  equally 
original,  each  in  its  way,  the  former  with  sky-line  broken  as 
if  traced  by  lightning,  the  latter  with  its  forcefulness  of  con 
tour  and  rich  archaic  decoration.  The  Mining  Building,  hard 
by  the  Electricity  Building,  suggested  monumental  strength, 
as  the  Transportation  Building  intimated  ruthless  force. 
Machinery  Hall,  with  its  shapely  dome,  colonnade  and  ar 
cades,  was  much  admired. 

Amid  a  muster  of  earth's  choicest  rarities,  a  multitude  of 
wonders  stupefying  in  its  vastness,  to  specify  individual  mar 
vels  as  pre-eminent  seemed  wild.  One  feature  would  specially 
impress  you,  another  your  friend.  Our  Government's  display 
deserved  and  received  incessant  attention.  The  State  Depart- 
partment  gave  to  the  light  for  the  moment  some  rich  treasures 
from  its  archives.  The  War  Office  exhibit  showed  our  supe 
riority  in  heavy  ordnance  and  ammunition,  and  at  the  same 
time  our  failure  to  rival  Europe  in  small-arms.  Among  the 
cannon  was  the  famous  Long  Tom,  formerly  aboard  the  pri 
vateer  General  Armstrong,  which  kept  at  bay  a  British  squad 
ron  till  sunk  to  avoid  capture  by  a  line-of-battle  ship.  A 

650 


TRANSPORTATION  EXHIBITS 

thrilling  Arctic  tableau  represented  Major  Greely  greeting  the 
brave  Lieutenant  Lockwood  on  his  return  from  "  farthest 
North/'  A  first-class  post-office  was  operated  on  the  grounds. 
A  combination  postal-car,  sixty  feet  in  length,  manned  by  the 
most  expert  sorters  and  operators,  interested  vast  crowds. 
Close  by  was  an  ancient  mail-coach,  once  actually  captured  by 
Indians,  with  effigies  of  the  pony  express,  formerly  so  familiar 
on  the  Western  plains,  of  a  mail-sledge  drawn  by  dogs,  and  of 
a  mail  carrier  mounted  on  a  bicycle.  Models  of  a  quaint  little 
Mississippi  mail  steamer  and  of  the  modern  steamer  Paris 
stood  side  by  side.  Weapons,  stuffed  birds,  and  bottled  rep 
tiles  from  the  dead-letter  office  were  displayed. 

A  rich  assemblage  of  jewelry  and  gems  adorned  a  section 
of  the  Fair,  one  cabinet  being  rightly  styled  "  the  million- 
dollar-case."  Self-winding  and  self-regulating  clocks  were  a 
feature.  So  were  the  transportation  exhibits.  Locomotives  of 
all  styles  and  ages  were  presented,  from  Sir  Isaac  Newton's,  of 
1680,  based  on  an  invention  of  130  B.C.,  to  the  famous  "  999." 
Some  fully  equipped  railroad  trains  were  shown.  One  had 
bath-room,  barber-shop,  writing-desk  and  library — accommo 
dations  for  railway  travel  then  novel,  though  now  familiar. 


THE     CARAVELS     IJT     FRONT         OF      THE      CASINO        BUILDING 


653 


THE  UNITED  STATES  IN  OUR  OWN  TIME 


The  apartment  sleeping-car  and  the  observation-car  were  then 
quite  new.  Another  train  was  vestibuled  the  entire  width  of 
the  cars,  and  from  the  tender  to  the  rear  lights.  Many  such 
are  now  seen,  improved,  since,  by  "burglar-proof"  doors  to 
the  cars.  The  locomotive  "  Queen  Empress,"  of  the  London 
&  Northwestern  line,  was  exhibited,  heading  a  train  of  Eng 
lish  railway  carriages  beautifully  complete  to  the  uttermost 
detail.  The  caravels  Santa  Maria,  Nina  and  Pinta  were 
reproduced  at  the  Spanish  port  where  the  original  craft  had 
been  built,  and  sent  by  water  thence,  manned  by  Spaniards, 
to  the  American  shore,  and,  without  portage,  to  the  White 
City's  waterfront. 

From  the  serious  side  of  the  Fair  one  turned  for  relaxa 
tion  to  the  Midway  Plaisance.  The  Midway  was  the  delight 
ful  Limbo  of  the  Exposition.  Here  were  realistic  bits  of 
Dahomey,  Samoa,  the  far  Orient,  the  Levant,  the  frozen 
North,  Europe,  Ireland.  The  "  natives "  felt  perfectly  at 
home,  even  to  marrying  and  giving  in  marriage,  one  infatuated 
Kabyle  going  so  far  as  to  attempt  to  steal  a  bride,  according 


. of-.-^ 

'^ 


654 


THE   MIDWAY  PLAISANCE 


CHARLES   F.   Me  KIM, 

of  McKim,   Mead    &  White, 

Architects  of  the  Agricultural  Building 


to  tribal  custom.  His  romance  ter 
minated  in  a  police  station.  The 
Plaisance  was  a  library  of  human 
documents.  Not  the  least  interest 
ing  was  "  far-away  Moses,"  immor 
talized  by  Mark  Twain.  In  spite 
of  frowning  battlements  and  formid 
able  watchmen  with  lanterns  and 
battle-axes,  hordes  besieged  and 
overran  old  Vienna.  On  this  pop 
ulous  avenue  were  the  Libby  glass 
works,  artificers  of  the  Infanta's  glass 
dress,  the  ice-railway,  the  Hagenbeck 
animal  show  of  equestrian  lions  and 
rope-walking  bears,  the  ostrich  farm,  theatres,  and  bazaars 
galore.  There  abode  all  "  fakirs,"  making  short  work  of 
your  small  change,  while  they  delighted  you  with  the  ingenu 
ity  and  despatch  of  the  operation.  Immensely  popular  was 
Cairo  Street,  travelled  by  2,250,000  visitors.  Hagenbeck 
entertained  more 
than  2,000,000. 
Between  650,000 
and  800,000  en 
tered  the  villages 
of  Java,  Ger 
many  and  Vien 
na.  Lady  Aber 
deen's  Irish  vil 
lage  admitted 
more  than  550,- 

000. 

Those  of  weak 
nerves  shunned 
the  chief  feature 
of  the  Midway, 


GERMAN"  (      ,WRC 

_       *i  ('  SGI 


.WROUGHT  IRON  GATES 
SOUTH-END  TRANSPORTATION  QlDC,. 

From  a  photograph  by  Re 


655 


THE  UNITED  STATES  IN  OUR  OWN  TIME 

the  Ferris  Wheel,  the  most 
novel  mechanism  in  exist 
ence.  It  is  said  that  at  a 
banquet,  more  than  a  year 
before  the  opening  day,  the 
director,  while  praising  the 
architects,  complained  that 
the  engineers  of  this  coun 
try  had  suggested  for  the 
Fair  nothing  original  like 
the  Eiffel  Tower  at  Paris. 
Mr.  George  W.  G.  Ferris, 
of  Pittsburg,  took  this  as  a 
reflection  on  his  calling,  and 
excogitated  his  remarkable 
invention,  literally  in  an 
hour,  over  a  mutton-chop. 
In  principle  it  resembled 
the  Eiffel  tower.  The  tower 
was,  in  effect,  a  cantilever 
bridge  set  on  end ;  the 
wheel  was  such  a  bridge 
bent  around  a  pair  of  Brob- 
dignagian  bicycle  wheels. 
These  were  geared  on  an 
axle  weighing  more  than  the 
average  locomotive,  which 
in  turn  was  supported  by 
two  skeleton  pyramids.  The 
spokes  were  of  wire,  two  and 
a  half  inches  thick.  Unpre 
pared  for  a  project  so  startlingly  original,  the  authorities  with 
held,  till  within  six  months  of  the  opening,  a  concession  for 
placing  it,  allowing  Mr.  Ferris  for  the  construction  and 
erection  of  his  monster  less  than  a  sixth  of  the  time  consumed 


.^gv.^rr.V-- '- 
•  tfe»#S^ 

-  "-''i^-''-..     ;  :  0 


Detail,  Main  Entrance  of  Horticultural  Building 


656 


TRANSPORTATION  PROBLEMS   AND   ACHIEVEMENTS 

in  building  the  Eiffel  Tower.  Yet  the  wheel  was  completed 
in  the  time  required,  and  is  said  to  have  varied  from  a  true 
circle  less  than  the  most  delicate  pivot  wheel  of  a  watch. 

Pilgrims  to  the  Chicago  spectacle,  of  course,  required 
extensive  preparations  for  their  convenience  and  safety  both 
en  route  and  after  arrival.  The  Exposition  managers  early 
appointed  a  Committee  on  Transportation.  This  chanced  to 
consist  largely  of  railroad  men  whose  lines  converged  in  Chi 
cago.  As  committeemen  these  gentlemen  were  not  supposed 
to  know  the  temper  of  the  roads.  They  therefore  wrote  ask 
ing  reduced  rates.  On  receiving,  next  morning,  their  own 
requests,  they  were  better  informed,  and  wrote  themselves 
answers  unanimously  refusing  to  reduce.  This  was  the  worse 
policy  in  that,  later,  the  roads  did  lower  rates,  thus  aggravat 
ing  the  inevitable  congestion  of  traffic  toward  the  end  of  the 
season  and  increasing  the  number  of  railroad  accidents.  Yet 
the  railway  achievements  evoked  by  the  Fair  were  admirable. 
A  New  York  Central  &  Lake  Shore  train  daily  covered  in 
twenty  hours  the  almost  1,000  miles  from  New  York  to  Chi 
cago,  a  rate  of  48.4  miles  an  hour,  including  stops.  Perma 
nent  improvements  were  made  in  some  roads,  such  as  long 


THE  UNITED  STATES  IN  OUR  OWN  TIME 


SOLON  S.  BEEMAN 
Architect  of  Mines  and  Mining  Building 


watering-troughs,  from  which  the 
locomotives  scooped  their  water,  like 
Gideon's  warriors,  as  they  bounded 
along.  For  excursions  to  the  Ex 
position  Pittsburg  seemed  to  be  the 
banner  city.  Thence,  on  October 
2  ist,  a  single  excursion  train,  in 
eight  sections,  bore  to  Chicago  3,575 
passengers.  The  Fair  increased  the 
passenger  traffic  of  the  Illinois  Cen 
tral  over  two  hundred  per  cent. 
That  road  spent  over  $ 2,000,000  in 
preparation,  raising  its  tracks  for  2^ 
miles  over  13  city  streets,  building 
300  special  cars  and  erecting  many 
new  stations. 

The  number  of  paid  admissions 
to  the  Columbian  Fair  was  21,477,- 
218,  a  daily  average  of  119,984^/2. 
The  gross  attendance  was  27,529,- 
400,  exceeding  by  nearly  a  million 
the  number  at  the  Paris  Exposition 
for  the  six  months  ending  with  Oc 
tober,  though  rather  over  half  a 
million  less  than  the  total  attendance 
at  Paris,  where  the  gates  were  open 
a  considerably  longer  time  than  at 
Chicago.  The  monthly  average  of  visitors  increased  steadily 
from  about  1,000,000  in  May  to  nearly  7,000,000  in  October. 
It  was  estimated  that  in  all  12,000,000  different  individuals  saw 
the  Fair.  Notwithstanding  the  presence  of  such  multitudes, 
the  grounds  were  always  clean  and  there  was  no  ruffianism 
— two  creditable  features  on  which  English  visitors  remarked. 
The  most  interesting  sight  was  the  sight-seers.  It  was  a  typ 
ical  American  crowd,  orderly,  good-natured,  intelligent.  At 


HENRT  IfES   COBB 

Architect  of  Fisheries  Building 


660 


THE  END  OF  THE  "WHITE  CITY 


points  where  more  than  could  do  so  wished  to  see  the  same 
sight  at  the  same  time,  no  greedy  elbowing  occurred.  A 
careful  and  constant  visitor  failed  "  to  observe  on  the  grounds 
by  day  or  night  a  single  drunken  or  disorderly  person,  or  any 
emergency  at  any  time  when  a  guard  or  policeman  was  re 
quired."  The  police,  and  particularly  the  secret  service,  were 
efficient.  Of  $3  2,9 8  8  worth  of  property  reported  stolen, 
$31,875  was  recovered  and  restored. 

Two  days  before  the  Exposition  closed  an  assassin's  bul 
let  felled  at  his  own  threshold  Carter  Harrison,  Mayor  of 
Chicago.  This  accomplished  gentleman  had  been  prominent 
in  originating  and  installing  the  Fair,  and  its  closing  ceremo 
nies  in  Festival  Hall  were  deeply  shadowed  by  his  death. 
Only  prayer,  resolutions  of  condolence,  and  a  benediction 
preceded  the  sharp  click  of  President  Higginbotham's  gavel. 
As  the  assembly  dispersed  the  organ  pealed  out  Chopin's  and 
Beethoven's  funeral  marches.  At  sunset  the  shore  battery 
fired  a  last  salute,  the  half-masted  flags  of  all  nations  dropped 
simultaneously,  and  the  mighty  parade  was  over. 

The  only  structure  intended  to  be  permanent  was  the  Art 
Building.  The  others  were  superfluous  so  soon  as  the  occa 
sion  which  called  them  into  existence  had  passed.  The  ques 
tion  of  their  disposition  was  sum 
marily  solved.  One  day  some  boys 
playing  near  the  Terminal  Station 
saw  a  sinister  leer  of  flame  inside. 
They  tried  to  stamp  it  out,  but  a 
high  wind  was  blowing,  and  soon 
Chicago's  old  discomfited  foe  rose 
with  a  roar  to  wreak  vengeance  upon 
the  deserted  and  helpless  White 
City,  Chicago's  child.  The  flames 
quickly  enveloped  the  beautiful  Ad 
ministration  Building,  and  in  a  few 
minutes  the  Mining  and  Electricity 


CARTER   H.   HARRISON 

By  permission  of  Place  &"  Coover 


66 1 


THE  UNITED  STATES  IN  OUR  OWN  TIME 

Buildings  as  well.  Meanwhile,  from  the  Terminal  Station  the 
fierce  contagion  had  spread  to  the  Machinery  and  Agricultural 
Buildings.  Next  moment  it  fastened  upon  the  Transporta 
tion  Building  and  the  lordly  Hall  of  Manufactures.  Wit 
nesses  will  never  forget  the  burning  of  this  mammoth. 
Hardly  had  it  caught  fire  when  the  roof  collapsed,  while  from 
hundreds  of  windows  shot  out  derisive  tongues  of  flame. 
The  lagoons  and  the  lake  were  lurid  with  a  glare  visible  long 
leagues  away.  The  walls  tottered,  the  vistas  fell  in  with  a 
deafening  roar,  and  at  last  the  fire  demon  subsided  among  the 
ruins,  leaving  ashes,  heaps  of  debris,  tortured  iron  work,  and 
here  and  there  an  arch  to  tell  of  his  orgy. 


The  Electricity  Building  The  Mines  and 

THE  BURNING   OF  THE  WHITE  CITY 


lining  Building 


662 


CHAPTER   XXII 

WORLD'S    EXPOSITION    HINTS    UPON  THE 

PROGRESS   OF   CIVILIZATION    IN 

THE  UNITED    STATES 

DATA  FROM  THE  ELEVENTH  CENSUS. PROGRESS  IN  BRIDGE  CON 
STRUCTION. THE  BROOKLYN  BRIDGE. — THE  CANTILEVER  MODEL. — 

ELEVATED  RAILWAYS. STEEL  STRUCTURE  IN  BUILDINGS. ADVANCE 

IN  TELEGRAPHY. THE  EARTH  TWICE  CIRCLED  IN  FIFTY  MINUTES. 

TIME   AND    THE    TELEGRAPH. THE    WEATHER    BUREAU. THE 

TELEPHONE. ELECTRIC  LIGHTING. TRANSMISSION  OF  ELECTRICAL 

POWER. ELECTRIC  RAILWAYS. EDISON. HIS  CAREER. HIS  IN 
VENTIONS. THE  PHONOGRAPH  ATA  FUNERAL. TESLA. COMPARED 

WITH  EDISON. — TESLA'S   AIM. — ASTOUNDING   PERFORMANCES  WITH 

ELECTRICITY. NIAGARA'S    POWER  TURNED    INTO    ELECTRICITY. — 

ELECTRIC  TRANSMISSION  AT  LAUFEN. AT  FOLSOM,  CAL. THE  ORIG 
INAL  BICYCLE. THE  "SAFETY." THE  BICYCLE  "CRAZE." NEW 

METHODS  FOR  THE   CULTURE   AND   THE   CAPTURE  OF  FISH. THE 

ROSE  TRAP. THE  FYKE  NET. THE  PURSE  SEINE. — STEAM  IN  MEN 
HADEN  FISHING. THE  WORLD'S  CONGRESS  AUXILIARY. PARLIA 
MENT  OF  RELIGIONS. THE  WOMAN'S  BUILDING  AT  THE  EXPOSITION. 

— WOMAN'S  INFLUENCE  IN  AMERICAN  LIFE. — THE  WOMAN'S  CHRIS 
TIAN  TEMPERANCE  UNION. THE  CRUSADE  OF  1873-74. VICTORY 

AT  WASHINGTON  COURT  HOUSE. LUDICROUS  SIDE  OF  THE  CRU 
SADE. — ITS  SPREAD. THE  TEMPERANCE  UNION  GROWS  OUT  OF  THE 

CRUSADE. WOMAN   IN  THE    SALVATION  ARMY. RISE  OF  THE  ARMY. 

IT    INVADES    AMERICA. GOOD    WORK. — THE    ARMY'S    DISCIPLINE. 

WOMEN   MADE    "CAPTAINS,"    ETC.,   THE  SAME  AS  MEN. 

WHEN  the  World's  Fair  was  conceived,  when  it  was 
born,  and  during  the  brief,  bright  period  of  its  exist 
ence,  the  returns  of  the  Eleventh  Census  were  undergoing  com 
pilation.  That  the  Exposition  and  the  census  returns  awak 
ened  public  attention  together  was  fortunate,  as  each  made 
more  impressive  the  other's  testimony  to  our  unparalleled  na 
tional  growth.  The  Census  of  1790  had  been  a  mere  count 
of  the  people,  quickly  and  easily  despatched.  Five  years  after 
the  enumeration  for  the  Eleventh  Census,  the  returns,  des- 

663 


THE  UNITED  STATES  IN  OUR  OWN  TIME 

tined  to  fill  twenty-five  volumes  and  to  cost  $>i  1,000,000,  were 
not  fully  compiled.  In  1790  the  population  of  the  United 
States  numbered  3,929,214.  In  1890  there  were  62,622,250, 
nearly  sixteen  times  the  earlier  sum.  The  relatively  small  per 
centage  of  increase  to  1890  from  1880,  when  the  count  footed 
up  but  50,155,783,  disappointed  even  conservative  estimates. 
It  was  exceeded  by  that  of  every  decade  down  to  1860,  and 
rose  above  that  of  the  war  decade  by  little  over  two  per  cent. 
Increase  in  the  proportion  of  city  population,  observable 
in  1880,  was  more  so  now.  Only  in  the  West  had  rural  devel 
opment  stood  comparison  with  urban.  In  1880  our  cities 
contained  22^/2  per  cent,  of  the  population  ;  in  1890,  29  per 
cent.  New  York  still  held  her  primacy,  containing  1,515,301 
souls.  Chicago  had  grown  to  be  the  second  city  of  the  Union, 
with  a  population  of  1,099,850.  Philadelphia,  Brooklyn  and 
St.  Louis  followed,  in  this  order.  St.  Paul,  Omaha  and  Den 
ver  had  tripled  or  quadrupled  their  size  since  1880.  Kansas 
no  longer  possessed  any  unoccupied  land.  Nebraska  owned 
scarcely  any.  Among  Western  States  Nevada  alone  lan 
guished.  The  State  of  Washington  had  nearly  quintupled 
her  citizens.  Though  only  a  few  counties  in  the  whole  coun 
try  absolutely  lost  in  population,  many  parts  of  the  East  and 
South  had  grown  little.  The  1890  census  revealed  the  centre 
of  population  twenty  miles  east  of  Columbus,  Ind.,  it  having 
since  1880  moved  nearly  fifty  miles  west  and  nine  miles  north. 
In  1890  the  country  had  163,000  miles  of  railroad,  nearly 
double  that  in  existence  ten  years  before.  Our  national  wealth 
in  1890  was  valued  at  $65,037,09 1,197,  an  increase  for  the 
decade  of  $21,395,091,197.  The  per  capita  wealth  had  mul 
tiplied  from  $870  to  $1,039,  an  increase  of  49.02  per  cent. 
The  output  of  minerals,  measured  in  dollars,  had  gone  up 
more  than  half.  Farming  alone  seemed  to  have  lagged.  The 
improved  acreage  of  the  country  had  increased  less  than 
a  third,  the  number  of  farms  a  little  over  an  eighth.  The 
proportion  of  school  enrollment  to  total  population  had 

664 


iPilJfi 

MM|'.,:, 


' 


§    I 


SUSPENSION  AND  CANTILEVER  BRIDGES 

advanced  from  twelve  per  cent,  in  1 840  to  twenty-three  per  cent, 
in  1890.  The  religious  bodies  of  the  United  States  embraced 
20,612,806  communicants,  not  far  from  a  third  of  the  popula 
tion.  About  one-tenth  of  the  population  were  Catholics. 

In  respect  to  the  nation's  scientific  progress,  what  the 
Fair  hinted  at  was  immensely  more  than  what  it  immediately 
revealed.  The  Eiffel  Tower  might  be  styled  the  badge  of  the 
Paris  Exposition;  the  Ferris  Wheel  bore  the  same  relation  to 
ours.  Tower  and  wheel  alike  uniquely  exemplified  the  fact 
that  in  thirty  years  bridge  construction  had  become  almost  an 
exact  science.  Many  remembered  the  days  of  wooden  bridges 
and  massive  wooden  trestles,  to  compose  one  of  which  a  forest 
had  to  be  felled.  Improvement  in  iron  and  steel  manufacture 
changed  this.  The  suspension  bridge  marked  the  new  era,  its 
most  noted  exemplar  being  the  East  River  Bridge  between 
New  York  and  Brooklyn.  John  A.  Roebling  designed  this, 
but  died  before  work  upon  it  was  fairly  commenced.  It  was 
continued  by  his  son,  Washington  A.  Roebling,  even  after  he 
was  stricken  with  paralysis,  his  wife  becoming  his  lieutenant. 
The  towers  rose,  then  strand  by  strand  the  sixteen-inch  cables 
were  woven.  The  length  of  the  bridge  was  nearly  six  thou 
sand  feet,  and  each  foot  weighed  more  than  a  ton.  The  rise 
and  fall  winter  and  summer  was  three  feet.  A  still  larger  sus 
pension  bridge  was  proposed  in  1896  to  cross  the  North  River. 

The  suspension  bridge  did  not  meet  the  demand  of  our 
railroad  builders  for  speed  in  construction.  Accordingly,  the 
autumn  of  1883,  the  year  when  the  Brooklyn  Bridge  was  com 
pleted,  witnessed  the  advent  of  a  pioneer  of  another  type,  the 
cantilever  bridge,  consisting  of  truss-work  beams  poised  upon 
stone  piers  and  meeting  each  other,  a  design  of  wonderful  ca 
pabilities.  The  Niagara  Suspension  Bridge,  built  by  Roebling 
in  the  fifties,  was  in  1896  about  to  be  replaced  by  a  cantilever 
structure,  to  occupy  precisely  the  place  of  the  original  bridge. 
The  change  was  to  be  consummated  without  an  hour's  inter 
ruption  of  traffic. 

667 


THE  UNITED  STATES  IN  OUR  OWN  TIME 


Extension  in  the  use  of  iron  and  steel  also  made  elevated 
railways  possible.  A  project  in  this  direction  dated  from  1868. 
Exactly  ten  years  later  two  sections  of  railway  were  open  in 

New  York.  The 
first  elevated  road 
in  Brooklyn  began 
operation  in  1885. 
These  speedways  at 
»r-:r-|v  once  became  popu- 

Ipail  F?i  J  I     lar.       In    1890    no 

5  Hn* 

Ip^i 
|C 

I  u 


iw  it ! i 

m  *  m  1 1  ^  i  I 

il!& 


HIE 


i  i 


1 
lci!|i 


!II8iil 


fewer  than  291  en 
gines  and  921  cars 
were  in  use  by  the 
New  York  lines, 
carrying  over  five 
hundred  thousand 


IE  1 11611 


I 


,,  j|.nr  i    u  Slip  »•  r.'*!  3 

Klil11!"-, 

%i?  'if >&  teh' 


liilliiia 


j^s?  8 
,M  A 

'r  -il  ! 


'xi*.'  ~- 

—  •—•-.v 

5?, 


• 

TYPICAL   HIGH  BUILDING— MON^DNOCK    BUILDING,   CHICAGO 

668 


STEEL  FRAME  HIGH  BUILDINGS 


passengers  daily, 
or  about  one 
hundred  and 
three  millions 
for  the  year. 
Chicago  follow 
ed  with  the  "Al 
ley  L  "  line,  so- 
called  from  the 
lanes  to  which  it 
was  relegated. 
Boston  prefer 
red  provision  for 
rapid  transit  by 
means  of  an  un 
derground  rail 
way  system  like 
London's.  Spite 
of  the  freest  pos 
sible  lateral  vent, 
population  and 
business  in  our 
largest  cities  ex 
erted  greater  and 
greater  vertical 
pressure.  High  buildings  resulted,  in  which,  again,  steel  played 
a  vital  part,  affording  lightness,  strength  and  fire-proof  qual 
ity  and  permitting  rapidity  of  construction.  The  walls  simply 
served  as  a  covering  and  were  not  made  to  sustain  the  floors, 
the  weight  being  all  carried  by  iron  posts  and  girders. 

In  1876  the  telegraph  constituted  almost  the  sole  practi 
cal  application  of  electricity.  Twenty  years  later  even  that 
invention  owed  its  chief  efficiency  to  improvements  made 
meantime,  while  the  new  uses  of  electricity  were  almost 
infinitely  numerous.  Edison  prophesied  that  some  day  man- 

669 


STEEL   FRAME   OF  THE   CARNEGIE  BUILDING, 
PITTS  BURG,  PA. 


THE  UNITED  STATES  IN  OUR  OWN  TIME 

kind's  sole  work  would  consist  in  "pushing  the  button."  When 
Morse's  bill  for  a  telegraph  line  between  Washington  and 
Baltimore  first  reached  Congress,  he  was  ridiculed  much  as  rain 
makers  have  since  been.  One  legislator  moved  to  amend  by 
providing  for  a  line  to  the  moon,  the  House  entertaining  the 
amendment  because  it  entertained  the  House.  Morse,  how 
ever,  got  his  appropriation.  The  first  day  of  its  public 
operation  that  telegraph,  it  is  said,  yielded  the  Government 
one  cent;  in  1890  a  single  telegraph  company  had  a  yearly 
revenue  of  nearly  $20,000,000.  Stearns  and  Edison  com 
pelled  the  single  wire  to  carry  several  messages  at  once,  and 
that  in  different  directions. 

During  the  great  electrical  exposition  in  New  York  City 
in  May,  1896,  a  message  was  transmitted  round  the  world 
and  back  in  fifty  minutes.  It  was  dictated  by  Hon.  Chauncey 
M.  Depew,  and  read  :  "  God  creates,  nature  treasures,  science 
utilizes  electrical  power  for  the  grandeur  of  nations  and  the 
peace  of  the  world." 

Starting  at  8.35,  these  words  sped  over  the  land  lines  to 
San  Francisco,  thence  back  to  Canso,  Nova  Scotia,  where 
they  plunged  under  the  sea  to  London.  A  click  of  the  key 
four  minutes  later  announced  the  completion  of  this  part  of 
the  journey.  Cannon  were  fired  in  honor  of  the  achievement, 
while  the  dense  throng  on  the  floor  of  the  exhibition  building 
cheered.  Meantime  the  General  Manager  of  the  Western 
Union  Company  had  despatched  the  same  message  over  his 
lines  to  Los  Angeles,  Galveston,  City  of  Mexico,  Valparaiso, 
Buenos  Ayres,  Pernambuco,  across  the  Atlantic  to  Lisbon, 
and  back  to  New  York  by  way  of  London,  a  journey  of  ten 
thousand  miles  in  eleven  and  a  half  minutes.  At  9.25,  just 
fifty  minutes  from  the  start,  the  receiving  instrument  clicked, 
and  Mr.  Edison,  for  the  nonce  again  a  simple  telegraph 
operator  as  of  yore,  copied  from  it  the  Depew  message.  It 
had  travelled  from  London  to  Lisbon,  thence  to  Suez,  Aden, 
Bombay,  Madras,  Singapore,  Hong  Kong,  Shanghai,  Naga- 

670 


TELEGRAPHIC  FEATS 

saki  and  Tokio,  returning  by  the  same  route  to  New  York, 
having  traversed  a  distance  of  over  27,500  miles,  and  reading 
not  a  comma  the  worse  for  the  vast  and  speedy  trip.  While 
the  messages  were  on  their  way  a  glass  arrow  over  each  of  the 
instruments  flashed  notice  of  their  direction  and  of  their  arrival 
at  important  points.  When  their  return  was  announced  can 
non  boomed  again  and  thousands  of  voices  rent  the  air  with 
applause. 

At  noon  each  day  the  Western  Union  lines  were  left 
open  for  the  transmission  over  the  country  of  the  correct  time 
from  the  national  observatory.  From  about  1884  an  arrange 
ment  prevailed,  started  by  the  railway  authorities,  dividing  the 
country  into  time-strips  running  north  and  south,  the  clocks 
over  any  given  strip  being  just  an  hour  behind  those  upon 
the  strip  next  to  the  east.  The  territory  east  of  the  meridian 
passing  Buffalo  and  Pittsburg  had  Eastern  Time.  The  Cen 
tral  Time  belt  came  next,  reaching  to  the  meridian  of  North 
Platte,  Nebraska.  Thence  to  the  line  of  Ogden,  Utah,  was 
Mountain  Time;  and  from  there  westward,  Pacific  Time.  This 
arrangement  was  a  convenience  to  the  people  as  a  whole,  but 
begot  rank  confusion  of  time  along  the  line  of  each  divisional 
meridian.  Another  invaluable  use  of  the  telegraph  was  its 
service-to  the  Weather  Bureau,  established  in  1870.  Eu 
ropean  bureaus  had  covered  each  too  small  a  territory  to 
effect  large  results.  Our  Bureau  was  able  to  command  simul 
taneous  reports  of  atmospheric  conditions  from  nearly  every 
part  of  our  country,  from  a  tract  3,000  miles  long  by  1,500 
wide.  Besides  its  prized  advice  to  farmers  and  to  land  travel 
ers,  the  American  Weather  Bureau,  aided  by  the  telegraph, 
on  more  than  one  occasion  saved,  by  its  predictions,  millions 
of  dollars  worth  of  shipping.  After  its  establishment  no  ship- 
captain  would  leave  port  without  fullest  consultation  of  official 
weather  probabilities. 

The  telephone,  the  electric  light  and  the  electric  motor 
were  the  three  great  fin  de  stick  inventions.  In  1876  Mr.  Bell 

671 


THE  UNITED  STATES  IN  OUR  OWN  TIME 

exhibited  to  the  curious  an  electric  transmitter  of  the  human 
voice,  a  contrivance  on  which,  after  years  of  experiment,  he 
had  stumbled  almost  simultaneously  with  other  men.  Testing 


The  Switchboard  of  a  Telephone  Exchange 

the  possibility  of  sending  mere  sound-waves  over  a  wire,  he 
accidentally  found  that  articulate  speech  could  be  so  carried. 
The  same  year  Edison  added  a  carbon  transmitter,  whereupon 
the  novelty  went  forth  conquering  and  to  conquer.  In  1893 
the  Bell  Telephone  Company  owned  307,748  miles  of  wire, 
an  amount  increased  by  rival  companies'  property  to  444,750. 
There  were  that  year  nearly  14,000  "  exchanges,"  10,000  em 
ployes,  250,000  subscribers,  and  2,000,000  daily  conversa 
tions.  This  device  promised  to  rival  the  telegraph,  being  able 
to  transmit  the  human  voice  1,400  miles.  New  York  and 
Chicago  were  placed  on  speaking  terms  only  three  or  four 
days  before  "  Columbus  Day."  Telephone  service  connected 
New  York,  Philadelphia,  Boston,  Chicago,  and  other  cities 
each  to  each,  and  was  soon  found  indispensable. 

672 


ELECTRICITY  IN  MAN'S   SERVICE 

Arc-lamps  shown  at  the  Philadelphia  Exposition  drew 
sightseers  as  candles  attract  moths.  They  had  originated 
shortly  before,  when  Charles  F.  Brush,  of  Cleveland,  O.,  per 
fected  his  dynamo.  Men  of  science  still  viewed  incandescent 
lighting  as  an  elusive  will-o'-the-wisp;  but  in  1878  Edison, 
after  stupendous  labor,  mastered  the  secret  and  rendered  it 
practically  available.  At  the  White  City  the  arc  light  literally 
turned  night  into  day.  Palaces  were  radiant  with  countless 
incandescent  bulbs,  while  many-colored  electric  fountains  cor 
uscated  outside. 

In  the  Centennial  year  the  thought  of  transmitting  power 
by  electricity  was  considered  chimerical.  In  the  Columbian1 
year  it  was  no  longer  even  a  novelty,  and  electricity  was  far 
and  wide  beginning  to  supplant  forms  of  power  familiar  be 
fore.  Street-car  traction  soon  passed  to  its  control,  the  few 
horses  still  for  a  time  in  this  service  coming  to  be  looked  upon 
as  curious  survivals.  Whereas  in  1889,0111  01^3,150  miles  ot 
street  railway  in  fifty-eight  of  the  leading  American  cities,  only 
260  were  operated  by  electricity,  the  proportion  in  the  inter 
vening  six  years  was  almost  reversed,  and  the  electric  car  had 
become  an  established  feature  of  our  civilization.  Where  a 
city  business  man  or  laborer  living  in  the  suburbs  formerly 
required  an  hour  to  reach  home,  the  trolley-car  now  trans 
ported  him  in  twenty  minutes.  A  vast  addition  was  thus 
made  to  the  leisure  at  men's  disposal  for  uses  which  enrich 
life.  Rapid  transit  blessedly  relieved  the  crowded  sections  of 
cities,  placing  the  country  with  its  invigorating  air  within  reach 
of  the  poor.  Electricity  was  used  to  move  trains  upon  great 
railways  and  bade  fair  to  supplant  steam  there.  The  use  ot  it 
by  a  few  roads  proved  its  perfect  availability,  and  its  full  em 
ployment  seemed  to  be  postponed  solely  by  disinclination  to 
invest  in  a  given  mode  for  its  application  when  a  cheaper  and 
better  one  might  be  invented  any  day.  Horseless  carriages 
and  pedalless  bicycles  were  clearly  in  prospect. 

Among   those   deserving   the   world's  gratitude   for   har- 


THE  UNITED  STATES  IN  OUR  OWN  TIME 

nessing  electricity  to  humanity's  uses,  Thomas  Alva  Edison, 
"  the  Wizard  of  Menlo  Park,"  was  famous — less  for  strict 
originality  than  for  dogged  patience  and  subtle  insight  ena 
bling  him  to  fructify  others'  devices.  Thrown  upon  the  world 
at  fifteen,  with  little  book  learning  but  with  a  wonderful  crav 
ing  for  knowledge,  he  placed  himself  among  the  world's  most 
famous  men.  While  a  newsboy  on  the  Grand  Trunk  Rail 
way  he  found  time  to  read  Newton's  "  Principia,"  to  edit  and 
print  a  small  weekly  paper,  and  to  conduct  experiments.  He 
became  a  telegraph  operator.  One  of  his  inventions  was  an 
automatic  device  for  answering  the  central  office  when  it 
called,  proving  himself  awake,  though  in  fact  he  was  quietly 
dozing.  He  also  contrived  an  automatic  repeater  to  transfer 
messages  'from  one  wire  to  another.  Interesting  some  capi 
talists  in  a  machine  by  which  votes  in  legislative  bodies  could 
be  automatically  recorded,  he  learned  that  expedition  in  legis 
lation  was  what  legislators,  at  least  if  in  the  minority,  did  not 
desire.  His  first  profitable  invention  was  an  improved  stock 
printer,  for  which  he  received  $40,000.  From  this  time  he 
wrought  miracles  on  notification — useful  ones,  that  have  mod 
ified  men's  life  in  important  regards.  Incandescent  lighting 
early  became  familiar  to  all ;  the  phonograph  also  to  most. 
This  instrument  was  employed  by  a  coroner  to  pronounce  a 
funeral  service.  He  had  procured  a  phonograph  for  the  pur 
pose  and  gotten  a  clergyman  to  utter  to  it  the  proper  scrip 
tures,  hymns  and  prayers.  When  occasion  arose  for  its  use 
the  friends  gathered  at  the  obsequies  were  astonished  to  hear 
the  words  "  Blessed  are  the  dead  who  die  in  the  Lord  "  sonor 
ously  rolled  forth.  Combined  with  the  kinetoscope  the  phono 
graph  formed  the  "  kineto-phonograph."  Edison  declared 
that  the  time  was  near  "  when  grand  opera  could  be  given  at 
the  Metropolitan  Opera  House  at  New  York  without  any 
material  change  from  the  original  and  with  artists  and  musi 
cians  long  dead." 

A  more  original  genius  than  Edison,  veritably  a  wizard, 

674 


EDISON  AND  TESLA 


THOMAS    A.   EDISON  IN  HIS  LABORATORY  AT  ORANGE,   N.   J. 
From  a  photograph  taken  for  this  work 

{The  photographer  found  the  great  inventor  temporarily  discomfited — "  ituck^  as 
he  himself  expressed  it.) 

was  Nikola  Tesla,  who  came  to  the  United  States  from  Servia, 
and  happened  to  find  temporary  employment  with  Edison  on 
landing.  The  men  were  wholly  unlike.  At  times  both 
seemed  to  be  somewhat  given  to  telling  the  public  through 
the  reporters  of  the  wonders  they  had  wrought ;  but  Tesla, 
at  least,  subsequently  went  to  the  other  extreme  in  this 
respect.  Before  coming  to  this  country,  Tesla  was  highly 
educated,  a  fully  equipped  scientist,  which  Edison  never  was. 

675 


THE  UNITED  STATES  IN  OUR  OWN  TIME 


The  Exterior  of  the  Power  House  at  Niagara  Falls 


Their  ambitions  or  leading  ideas  were  also  wholly  different. 
Edison  was  the  champion  of  low  tension  direct  current  appar 
atus,  bitterly  opposing  the  advent  of  high  tension  alternating 
current  distribution,  in  pushing  which  Tesla  made  himself 


•  i 


"fc-sr; 


\\.-v- 


Under  the  Switchboard  of  the  Niagara  Power  Ho 
676 


SCIENTIFIC   MAGIC 


House  at  Niagara  Falls 


famous.  This  attitude  of  Edison's  continued  for  years.  Not 
till  he  had  withdrawn  from  active  service  therewith  did  the 
Edison  Manufacturing  Company  yield  to  its  customers'  de 
mand  for  alternating  current  machinery. 

Tesla's  aim  was  to  hook  man's  machinery  directly  to 
nature's,  pressing  the  ether  waves  straight  into  our  service 
without  the  intervention  or  the  generation  of  heat,  in  which 
such  an  enormous  proportion  of  the  energy  went  to  waste. 
For  small  electric  lights  he  dispensed  with  the  filaments  inside 
the  bulbs  and  made  rarefied  air  do  their  work.  He  sent  cur 
rents  of  high  tension  through  space  without  any  visible  con 
ductor,  at  a  voltage  many  times  greater  than  that  employed  in 
electrocution.  He  received  in  his  person  currents  vibrating  a 
million  times  a  second,  of  two  hundred  times  greater  voltage 
than  needed  to  produce  death.  He  surrounded  himself  with  a 
halo  of  electric  light  and  called  purple  streams  from  the  soil. 
He  expected  that  by  his  "  rotating  magnetic  field  "  and  the 

677 


THE  UNITED  STATES  IN  OUR  OWN  TIME 

employment  of  currents  of  great  frequency  and  high  potential, 
power  could  be  economically  transmitted  to  a  much  greater 
distance  than  before. 

Tesla's  very  high  tension  and  high  frequency  experiments 
did  not  at  once  result  in  practical  applications.  His  polyphase 
motors  were,  however,  adopted  for  converting  into  electricity 
the  power  of  Niagara  Falls.  In  1873  a  canal  was  opened  there 
with  a  fall  furnishing  6,000  horse-power.  After  1890  another 
canal  was  built,  conveying  a  vast  weight  of  water  to  the  wheel- 
pit  through  ten  separate  channels.  This  mighty  volume  of 
descending  water  drove  three  turbines,  each  equipped  with  one 
of  Tesla's  2-phase  alternating  generators  of  5,000  horse 
power,  developing  about  2,000  volts  with  a  frequency  of  25 
cycles  a  second.  It  was  thought  that  the  Niagara  Falls 
Power  Company  could,  before  very  long,  furnish  Chicago 
with  energy  at  a  cost  less  than  that  of  steam  made  on  the  spot 
by  coal.  Presaging  such  a  result,  electricity  created  at  Laufen, 
Germany,  was  carried  to  Frankfort  with  a  loss  of  only  four 
per  cent.  Electricity  created  at  the  falls  of  the  American 
River  at  Folsom,  Cal.,  where  four  turbine  water-wheels  de 
veloped  over  5,000  horse-power,  was  carried  by  overhead 
copper  wires  to  Sacramento,  twenty-four  miles  away,  with  a 
loss  of  not  over  twenty  per  cent.  At  first  it  was  used  to  pro 
pel  street  cars,  but  it  was  also  to  be  employed  for  lighting 
streets  and  operating  factories. 

A  species  of  clumsy  bicycle  obtained  considerable  popu 
larity  in  the  United  States  in  1868.  The  fad  proved  tempo 
rary,  but  was  the  forerunner  of  an  abiding  national  habit.  The 
first  bicycle  proper  was  brought  to  this  country  in  1876,  being 
exhibited  at  the  Centennial.  Two  years  later  "  wheels  "  began 
to  be  manufactured  here.  Each  instrument  consisted  of  one 
large  wheel,  to  which  were  attached  cranks  and  pedals,  and 
one  small  one  connected  with  the  first  by  a  curved  "  backbone," 
this  being  surmounted  by  a  saddle.  The  danger  of  riding  the 
high  wheel  led  to  many  variations  of  its  design,  none  of  which 


UBIQUITY  OF  THE  BICYCLE 

were  successful,  and  bicycling  continued  to  be  experts'  work 
until  1889,  when  the  "safety"  became  prominent.  In  this 
machine  the  two  wheels  were  made  of  the  same  size,  the  sad 
dle  placed  above  and  between  them  upon  a  suitable  frame, 
while  the  crank  axle  was  connected  with  the  rear  or  driving 
wheel  by  means  of  a  chain  geared  upon  sprockets.  The  pop 
ularity  of  this  form  of  bicycle  was  amazingly  enhanced  by  the 
adoption  of  inflated  or  pneumatic  tires,  an  invention  half  a 
century  old  but  now  rinding  its  first  successful  application. 

Bicycle  makers  multiplied  and  prospered  despite  the 
panic  of  1893.  Sewing  machine  and  arms  companies  turned  to 
the  manufacture  of  bicycles.  Agitation  and  legislation  for  good 
roads  became  a  phenomenon  of  the  times.  Railroads  were  in 
some  States  compelled  to  take  bicycles  as  baggage.  The 
"  safety  "  pattern  was  so  modified  as  to  enable  ladies  to  ride  it 
with  little  change  in  their  attire,  and  the  exercise  was  welcomed 
bv  many.  While  makers  and  sellers  of  wheels  and  wheel 


cyclists  in  Central  Park,  New  Tori 
679 


THE  UNITED  STATES  IN  OUR  OWN  TIME 

equipments  throve,  liverymen  and  horse  dealers  did  less  busi 
ness.  Clothiers  complained  that  only  cycling  suits  could  be 
sold.  Liquor  dealers  in  some  sections  could  not  vend  their 
wares  in  intoxicating  quantities  even  among  young  men  who 
had  formerly  indulged  freely.  People  in  the  most  moderate 
circumstances  would  rigidly  economize,  in  other  directions  for 
the  sake  of  purchasing  cycles.  It  was  estimated  in  1896 
that  no  less  than  $100,000,000  had  been  spent  in  the  United 
States  upon  this  sport.  When  comfortable  and  hygienic  sad 
dles  came  into  use,  physicians  endorsed  the  exercise.  One 
prominent  New  York  practitioner  believed  that  no  other  in 
vention  for  200  years  had,  from  a  physical  point  of  view,  done 
so  much  for  the  human  family. 

People  who  had  time  and  curiosity  to  study  the  Fisher 
ies  Exhibit  at  the  World's  Columbian  Exposition  were  im 
pressed  with  the  progress  there  revealed  in  the  arts  of  fish 
culture  and  fish  capture.  Less  obtrusive  than  other  aspects  of 
the  nation's  advance,  mastery  of  the  fisherman's  craft  could  by 
no  means  be  deemed  unimportant.  In  i  870  our  Government 
created  a  Commission  whose  province  was  to  collect  statis 
tics  of  fish  and  fisheries,  to  experiment  concerning  the  best 
methods  for  the  capture,  preservation  and  propagation  of  fish, 
and  to  investigate  the  habits  and  qualities  of  the  various 
species  of  fish,  as  well  as  the  foods  suitable  to  each. 

The  business  of  catching  fish  received  attention  and  de 
velopment  in  a  way  less  scientific  but  no  less  thorough.  The 
State  of  Rhode  Island  here  held  a  unique  place  of  honor. 
Till  about  1840  the  old  barbed  hook  and  shore  seine  were  in 
use  in  that  State  as  elsewhere.  A  great  stride  forward  was  made 
by  the  invention  of  the  trap.  This  contrivance  was  in  the  form 
of  a  sugar  box  with  top  and  one  end  removed.  It  was 
anchored  in  the  water,  and  a  fence  of  twine  made  from  one 
side  of  it  to  the  shore.  The  fish  swam  to  the  fence,  then 
turned  to  swim  around  it,  thus  making  their  way  into  the  trap. 
The  original  trap  was  a  crude  affair,  for  the  fish  could  swim 

63o 


IMPROVEMENTS  IN  FISHING  METHODS 

out  as  well  as  in,  making  constant  attention  necessary  to  cap 
ture  them  before  their  exit.  In  1883  William  R.  Rose  used 
for  the  first  time  the  famous  Rose  trap,  a  marked  improve 
ment  over  the  old  instrument.  It  held  all  the  fish  that  entered 
it,  and  could  be  set  in  the  open  sea  as  well  as  near  land.  An 
other  clever  invention  for  catching  fish  was  the  fyke  net,  con 
sisting  of  a  series  of  tunnels  placed  in  line  with  each  other,  and 
held  in  position  by  stakes,  with  a  twine  fence  to  inveigle  the 
fish,  just  as  in  the  case  of  the  trap.  To  Captain  James  B. 
Church  was  due  the  credit  of  introducing  steamers  for  men 
haden  fishing,  which  soon  revolutionized  that  business.  But 
the  greatest  labor-saver  ever  invented  for  reaping  the  harvests 


The  Hatchery  Room  of  the  Fish  Commission  Building  at  Washington,  D.  C.,  showing  the 
hatchery  jars  in  operation 

of  the  sea  was  the  purse  seine,  devised  by  the  Tallmans,  of 
Portsmouth,  R.  I. 

Outwardly  composed  of  materialities,  the  Exposition  was 
a  colossal  manifestation  of  mentality,  "  an  unspoken  but  sub- 

68 1 


THE  UNITED  STATES  IN  OUR  OWN  TIME 

lime  protest  against  materialism."  To  emphasize  that  fact,  to 
bring  together  the  leaders  of  human  progress,  to  review  this, 
make  clear  statements  of  living  problems  and  ascertain  prac 
tical  means  by  which  further  advancement  might  be  effected, 
a  series  of  World's  Congresses  was  held  at  Chicago,  consti 
tuting  a  World's  Congress  Auxiliary.  Its  motto  was,  "  Not 
matter  but  mind,  not  things  but  men."  In  all  there  were  160 
congresses,  covering  the  entire  six  months  of  the  Fair.  Phil 
osophy,  Religion,  Moral  and  Social  Reform,  Woman's  Prog 
ress,  the  Press,  Commerce  and  Finance,  Music,  Literature, 
Art,  Jurisprudence,  Education,  Agriculture,  Horticulture, 
Engineering,  Medical  and  Dental  Science  were  all  learnedly 
discussed,  several  congresses  apiece  being  devoted  to  some  of 
them.  The  Evangelical  Alliance  held  its  congress,  as  did  the 
Women's  Christian  Temperance  Union.  There  were  also  a 
congress  on  Public  Health  and  a  World's  Real  Estate  con 
gress.  The  Congress  Auxiliary  employed  210  working  com 
mittees,  who  sent  out  over  1,000,000  circulars.  Its  member 
ship  exceeded  15,000,  its  attendance  exceeded  700,000.  There 
were  1,245  sessions,  addressed  by  5,974  speakers.  Most  in 
teresting  was  the  World's  Parliament  of  Religions,  which  held 
three  sessions  a  day  for  seventeen  days,  each  session  being 
thronged.  Representatives  of  the  leading  Christian  sects  and 
of  the  world's  leading  religions  presented  their  views.  The 
Parliament  was  an  index  of  the  tolerance  of  the  time  and  na 
tion,  and  had  an  effect  not  unlike  that  of  the  crusades  in 
broadening  and  strengthening  men's  sympathies. 

The  Chicago  Exposition  proved  that  the  ideals  of  the 
Republic,  if  far  from  being  attained,  had  not  been  surrendered. 
The  building  just  north  of  Horticultural  Hall,  tastefully  de 
signed  by  Miss  Sophia  Hayden,  of  Boston,  was  not  only  the  first 
of  the  World's  Fair  edifices  to  be  completed,  but  the  first  build 
ing  of  its  kind  to  be  anywhere  reared.  It  typified  that  note  of 
our  life  most  striking  to  foreigners,  the  high  position  of  woman, 
which  Professor  Bryce  declared  "  If  not  a  complete  test,  one 

682 


A  GREAT  TEiMPERANCE  CRUSADE 

of  the  best  tests  of  the  progress  a  nation  has  made  in  civiliza 
tion."  For  the  excellence  of  its  contents  the  Woman's  Build 
ing  was  finally  made  an  "  exhibit"  building,  occupying  a  cred 
itable  place.  Other  departments  of  the  Exposition  gathered 
obvious  refinement  from  feminine  influence.  This  was  espe 
cially  true  of  the  art  set  forth  at  the  Fair,  which  ought,  per 
haps,  to  be  pronounced  strictly  "  American "  in  hardly  any 
other  particular  but  this.  The  principal  thoroughly  national 
painting  presented,  "  Breaking  Home  Ties,"  sensibly  betrayed 
the  motive  here  referred  to.  Raised  to  practical  equality  with 
her  brothers,  the  American  woman's  influence  had  shown  to 
excellent  advantage.  Universities  and  colleges  one  after  another 
opened  their  doors  to  her.  Occupations  of  honor  and  profit 
more  and  more  as  the  years  passed  welcomed  her,  and  she 
did  well  in  whichever  she  chose.  In  fields  of  philanthropy 
and  moral  reform,  woman's  talent  for  organization  and  her 
persistence  in  work  for  good  ends  were  conspicuous. 

There  have  been  few  more  remarkable  examples  of  effi 
cient  organization  on  a  large  scale  than  was  presented  by  the 
Women's  Christian  Temperance  Union.  It  had  origin  in  the 
Women's  Temperance  Crusade  of  1873-74,  which  at  the  time 
attracted  wide  attention.  The  crusade  was  due  primarily  to 
Dr.  Dio  Lewis,  the  lecturer.  On  December  14,  1873,  nearly 
one  hundred  women  at  Fredonia,  N.  Y.,  stirred  by  Dr.  Lewis's 
words,  set  forth  upon  a  mission  among  the  saloons.  At  James 
town,  N.Y.,  and  Hillsboro,O.,Mr.  Lewis  formed  similar  bands. 
December  24,  1873,  he  lectured  at  Washington  Court  House 
with  powerful  effect.  Forty-seven  women  straightway  organ 
ized  themselves  into  a  "  visitation  committee,"  invading  every 
one  of  the  fourteen  places  in  town  where  liquor  was  sold,  to 
sing  and  pray,  and  to  plead  with  the  proprietors  to  close. 
When  doors  were  locked  against  them,  the  gentle  crusaders 
knelt  in  the  snow  on  the  pavement  and  prayed  for  those  within. 
On  the  third  day  one  liquor  dealer  gave  up,  permitting  the 
women  to  stave  in  his  kegs  and  casks  with  axes.  On  the 

683 


THE  UNITED  STATES  IN  OUR  OWN  TIME 


MRS.  ANNA  WlTTENMEYER 
From  a  photograph  by  Gutekunst 


eighth  day  the  strain  became  too  great  and  the  last  saloon  in 
the  place  surrendered  unconditionally.  Soon  cries  for  help 
came  from  neighboring  towns,  and  many  were  visited  by  dele 
gations  from  Washington  Court  House. 

Returning  from  one  of  these  apos 
tolic    tours    the     Washington     Court 
House  ladies  found  that  a  new  man 
had  opened  a  saloon.     A  cargo  of  liq- 
iiiEfe  tt^  uor  being  unloaded   there    next    day, 

about  forty  women  appeared  and  fol 
lowed  the  liquor  in,  remaining  all  day 
and  until  eleven  o'clock  at  night.  On 
the  morrow  they  returned  and  were 
for  a  time  locked  in.  Next  day  locked 
out,  they  built  fires  in  the  street,  and 
had  a  little  plank  tabernacle  put  up  to 
shelter  them  from  the  cold.  This 
liquor-dealer  also  "  surrendered."  He 
had  been  a  milkman,  but  changed  his  trade  when  promised 
$5,000  "  if  he  would  hold  out  against  the  women." 

Crusading  was  not  without  its  ludicrous  side.  One  of  the 
Washington  Court  House  liquor  establishments  was  a  German 
beer-garden  just  outside  the  corporation.  Expecting  a  siege, 
the  proprietor  locked  the  doors  and  kept  anxiously  running 
from  window  to  window.  "  I  dells  you,"  he  wailed,  while  a 
motley  group  of  customers,  absorbed  in  absorbing  beer  and  pigs' 
feet,  applauded,  "  I  dells  you,  dem  vimins  is  shoost  awful.  By 
shinks,  dey  pild  a  house  right  in  de  street,  and  stay  mit  a 
man  all  day  a  singin'  and  oder  foolishness.  But  dey  don't 
get  in  here  once  agin  already."  Seeing  no  signs  of  the  enemy 
"  mein  host  "  gradually  became  calm.  He  too  soon  flattered 
himself  upon  his  immunity.  Two  ladies,  the  van-guard,  were 
seen  driving  from  the  village,  and  recognized  as  crusaders. 
Next  moment  the  host  was  making  all  speed  toward  town. 
"  Ach,  mein  Gott,"  he  shouted,  "  dey  gooms  ;  dey  gooms.  I 

684 


THE  WOMEN'S  CHRISTIAN  TEMPERANCE  UNION 


MISS  FRANCES  E.  WILLARD 


tole  you  dey  gooms  agin  to-day  already.  I  shoost  go  and  see 
my  gounsel,  to  see  veil  I  no  got  a  right  to  rny  own  property." 
The  crusaders  were  warned  from  the  premises,  but  took  posi 
tion  upon  friendly  territory  adjacent,  where  their  tabernacle 
was  erected  with  strong  reflectors  fo- 
cussed  upon  those  paths  of  the  wicked 
which  led  to  any  of  the  saloon  doors. 
This  species  of  illegal  annoyance  was 
stopped  by  injunction,  but  soon  the 
proprietor  found  himself  defendant  in 
embarrassing  suits  under  the  liquor 
law.  So  unanimous  and  extreme  was 
public  opinion  that  all  of  both  sexes 
who  had  not  been  enjoined  formed  in 
column  and  marched  upon  the  re 
doubtable  German,  who  cried  in  con 
sternation  :  "  Mein  Gott !  vat  is  dat  ? 
So  many  peebles !  So  many  peebles ! ! " 

After  a  little  parley  with  the  leaders,  he  took  off  his  hat  and 
announced  to  the  multitude  : 

"  Shentlemens,  I  quits." 

The  crusade  spread  through  all  southern  Ohio  and  gained 
much  attention  and  interest  outside.  February  24,  1874,  a 
convention  in  Columbus  of  all  those  interested  in  the  "  Wash 
ington  Court  House  Movement  "  formed  a  State  Temperance 
Association.  Larger  conventions  at  Cincinnati  and  Spring 
field  evolved  the  "  Ohio  Women's  Christian  Temperance 
Union."  This  grew  into  the  National  Women's  Christian 
Temperance  Union  when,  on  November  i8th  and  i9th  of 
the  same  year,  a  convention  of  those  interested  gathered  from 
all  the  States  at  Cleveland.  Mrs.  Anna  Wittenmeyer,  of 
Philadelphia,  was  elected  the  first  president,  and  Miss  Frances 
E.  Willard,  of  Chicago,  the  corresponding  secretary. 

Another     movement,    world-famous,    in    which    women 
evinced   unsuspected   powers   of  organization,   administration 

685 


THE  UNITED  STATES  IN  OUR  OWN  TIME 


WILLIAM  BOOTH 


and  leadership,  was  the  campaign  of 
the  Salvation  Army.  In  1861  William 
Booth,  an  English  Methodist  preacher, 
resigned  his  charge  and  began  ear 
nest  and  direct  efforts  for  the  poor, 
speaking  in  the  open  country,  in 
market-places,  in  the  slums,  in  stables, 
beer-houses,  low  theatres  and  penny- 
gaffs,  some  of  them  places  of  grossest 
immorality.  The  East  End  of  Lon 
don  became  Mr.  Booth's  favorite  field. 
His  wife  and  all  his  children  added 
their  voices  to  his  in  the  preaching, 
which,  spite  of  persecution  or  partly  because  of  it,  became 
wonderfully  effective.  As  the  converts  could  not  be  induced 
to  join  or  even  to  attend  churches,  where  they  believed  them 
selves  "  not  wanted,"  it  became  necessary  to  set  up,  what  was 
not  at  first  contemplated,  a  separate  organization.  In  1878 
this  assumed  the  title  of  the  Salvation  Army,  and  ere  long  it 
had  its  legions,  its  camps,  and  its  trophies  as  well,  in  nearly 
every  land  under  the  sun.  In  1879  tne  Army  invaded  Amer 
ica,  landing  at  Philadelphia.  The  City  of  Homes  and  of 
Brotherly  Love  revealed  low  humanity  grovelling  in  wretch 
edness  and  squalor  to  an  appalling  extent.  In  New  York 
were  found  cases  of  want  and  sin  as  pitiable,  and  as  large  a 
proportion  of  pitiable  cases,  as  in  East  London  itself. 

The  Salvation  Army  had  phenomenal  success  and  growth. 
In  1 894  there  were  in  the  United  States  539  corps  and  1,953 
officers,  and  in  the  whole  world  3,200  corps  and  10,788  offi 
cers.  The  painful  schism  which  in  1896  rent  the  American 
ranks  did  little,  if  any,  visible  mischief.  Not  only  was  the 
Army  able  to  lift  hordes  of  the  fallen,  but,  as  no  other  agency 
had  ever  succeeded  in  doing,  it  drew  downward  to  the  lowliest 
the  attention,  sympathy  and  help  of  the  middle  classes  and 
even  of  the  rich.  Proposing  no  programme  of  political  or 

686 


SALVATION  ARMY  DISCIPLINE  AND  WORK 

social  amendment  or  experiment,  ministering,  out  of  its  slen 
der  stores,  to  men's  bodily  as  well  as  to  their  spiritual  needs, 
above  the  suspicion  either  of  sentimentalism — for  the  soldiers 
were  mostly  from  the  lower  classes — or  of  selfishness,  the 
army  disarmed  antagonism  and  compelled  kind  feelings  from 
all.  A  Cleveland  police  officer  declared  that  Salvationists 
could  go  where  he  dared  not  go,  for  "  they  never  squealed." 
Yet  at  the  penitent  benches  darkest  crimes,  even  murder, 
were  confessed,  the  converts  voluntarily  surrendering  to  the 
authorities. 

Army  discipline  pervaded  the  organization  and  was  firmly 
maintained.  The  soldiers  were  sworn  to  wear  the  uniform,  to 
obey  their  officers,  to  abstain  from  drink,  tobacco  and  worldly 
amusements,  to  live  in  simplicity  and  economy,  to  earn  their 
living,  and  of  their  earnings  always  to  give  a  little  something 
to  advance  the  Kingdom  of  God.  The  officers  could  not  marry 
or  become  engaged  without  the  consent  of  the  Army  authori 
ties,  for  their  spouses  must  be  capable  of  co-operating  with 
them.  They  could  not  receive  presents  for  themselves,  not 
even  food,  except  in  cases  of  necessity.  To  be  made  an 
officer  a  Salvationist  must  have  received  "  full  salvation,"  and 
must  profess  to  be  living  free  from  every  known  sin.  Of 
ficers'  pay  varied  with  the  country  in  which  they  served,  also 
somewhat  according  to  sex,  estate,  a  married  or  single,  and 
number  of  children.  Compensation  for  Army  Service  was 
not  guaranteed.  Except  as  to  pay,  the  Army  placed  women 
on  an  absolute  equality  with  men,  a  policy  which  greatly  fur 
thered  its  usefulness. 


689 


CHAPTER    XXIII 
THE     DEMOCRACY    SUPREME 

PANIC  OF  1893. EXTRA  SESSION  OF  CONGRESS. DEMOCRACY  CON 
TROLS  ALL  BRANCHES  OF  THE  GOVERNMENT.  —  RESULT. CLEVE 
LAND'S  SECOND  ADMINISTRATION. HIS  CIVIL  SERVICE  RECORD. — 

REPEAL    OF     THE    SILVER     PURCHASE      ACT. GOLD     OUTFLOW. THE 

TARIFF  TO  BE  REVISED. THE  WILSON  BILL.  —  DEMOCRATIC  PRO 
TECTIONISTS. THE  SUGAR  SCHEDULE. SENATE  AMENDMENTS. — 

"PARTY     PERFIDY." THE      BILL     IN      CONFERENCE. SENATE    WILL 

NOT     RECEDE.  —THE     BILL       PASSED. CLEVELAND'S     DILEMMA. NO 

ONE    SATISFIED. OPPOSITION    TO    THE    INCOME     TAX     PROVISION. — 

DECLARED   UNCONSTITUTIONAL. UNCLE    SAM     FORCED  TO  BORROW. 

—TREASURY  METHODS   CRITICISED. TRUSTS. ANTI-LOTTERY  BILL 

PASSED.— A    TAME     FOREIGN     POLICY. HAWAII. THE     MISSIONARY 

PARTY. LILIUOKALANl'S  COUP  D'ETAT. U.  S.  TROOPS  IN  HONO 
LULU. A  REVOLUTIONARY  GOVERNMENT. DESIRES  ANNEXATION. 

TO  U.  S. TREATY  OF  ANNEXATION    SENT  TO   SENATE. CLEVELAND'S 

REACTIONARY      POLICY. "PARAMOUNT"        BLOUNT.— STARS      AND 

STRIPES  HAULED  DOWN. EFFORT  TO  RESTORE  THE  QUEEN. UN 
POPULARITY  OF  THIS. — THE  DOLE  GOVERNMENT  SAFE.  —  OLNEY 
SUCCEEDS  GRESHAM  IN  THE  DEPARTMENT  OF  STATE.  —  FIRM  STAND 

AGAINST      GREAT      BRITAIN       IN      VENEZUELA       MATTER. STARTLING 

MESSAGE  OF  DECEMBER,  1895. THE  VENEZUELA  BOUNDARY  COM 
MISSION. PANIC  IN  WALL  STREET. SAVAGE  ATTACKS  ON  THE  PRES 
IDENT. THE  LEXOW  INVESTIGATION.  —  CHARLES  H.  PARKHURST. 

— THE    PUBLIC    AND    THE     "FORCE." — INVESTIGATING    COMMITTEE. 

JOHN     W.      GOFF. FACTS       ELICITED. "REFORM"       VICTORIOUS 

IN    THE    MUNICIPAL     ELECTION. THE      "A.      P.     A." ITS     ORIGIN. 

IT'S  R4ISONS  D'ETRE. CIRCUMSTANCES  OCCASIONING  THE  MOVE 
MENT. MEMBERS  AND  INFLUENCE. UNPOPULARITY. THE  SECRET 

OATH. "PERJUROR    AND    TRAITOR." 

THE  success  of  the  Columbian  Exposition  was  the  more 
remarkable  in  view  of  the  terrible  commercial  panic 
occurring  the  same  summer.  On  June  26,  1893,  the  Govern 
ment  of  British  India  suspended  the  free  coinage  of  silver  in 
that  vast  dominion.  The  decree  seemed  somehow  to  take 
effect  on  our  side  of  the  globe.  A  monetary  panic  ensued, 
in  some  respects  the  most  distressing  on  record,  closing  mines^ 


THE  UNITED  STATES  IN  OUR  OWN  TIME 

depriving  laborers  of  work,  breaking  banks,  and  convulsing 
trade.  Vast  sums  of  gold  were  hoarded  ;  much  left  the  coun 
try.  The  Treasury  reserve  fell  far  below  the  traditional  $100,- 
000,000.  Banks  called  in  outstanding  credits  and  refused  new 
ones.  Values  shrank  phenomenally,  and  innumerable  failures 
took  place.  Deeming  the  disorders  due  to  Treasury  purchases 
of  silver  under  a  clause  of  the  Sherman  law,  to  secure,  if  possi 
ble,  the  repeal  of  that  clause,  President  Cleveland  convoked 
the  Fifty-third  Congress  in  special  session.  This  began  on 
August  7th.  Both  Houses  being  Democratic,  the  whole  legis 
lative,  as  well  as  the  executive  authority  of  the  government, 
was  now  in  Democratic  hands.  It  was  an  epoch  in  our  his 
tory.  At  no  time  before,  since  March,  1859,  m  Buchanan's 
time,  when  the  Thirty-fifth  Congress  ended  its  labors,  had  the 
Democracy  been  thus  exalted.  The  country  eagerly  watched 
to  see  what  action  it  would  take  on  the  various  important 
measures  awaiting  legislation.  The  outcome  was  not  what 
patriots  hoped.  In  its  responsible  situation  the  Democratic 
Party  showed  little  leadership,  cohesion  or  wisdom.  Rapidly, 
and  at  last  almost  entirely,  it  lost  public  confidence,  preparing 
the  Republican  tidal  wave  of  1894.  President  Cleveland  suf 
fered  as  well  as  his  political  associates  ;  his  friends  and  his 
enemies — and  he  had  many  of  both — agreeing  that  his  second 
administration  was  far  less  successful  than  his  first. 

In  one  particular  this  was  untrue.  Mr.  Cleveland's  civil 
service  record  during  his  second  term  was  in  the  highest  degree 
commendable,  excelling  that  of  any  of  his  predecessors,  and 
doing  much  to  redeem  the  promises  in  this  respect  with  which 
he  took  office  at  first.  While  public  thought  was  turned  to 
other  matters,  he  silently  and  persistently  extended  the  range 
of  the  merit  system  in  appointments  to  office.  The  first  day 
of  1896  found  approximately  55,736  Government  employes 
in  the  classified  service,  12,807  more  than  on  March  4,  1893. 
A  still  greater  gain  than  this  occurred  during  the  same  period, 
in  the  transfer  to  the  competitive  list  of  2,955  officer  previ- 

692 


SILVER  PURCHASE  LAW  REPEALED 

•ously  excepted  therefrom.  These  exceptions  had  covered 
the  highest  and  most  important  positions  in  the  classified  ser 
vice.  The  theory  was  that  the  places  were  excepted  in  order 
that  they  might  be  filled  by  persons  of  qualifications  too  high 
to  be  gauged  by  the  ordinary  tests  ;  but  they  had  in  fact  nearly 
always  been  filled  for  political  reasons.  Numerous  exceptions 
in  any  branch  of  the  classified  service  had  the  most  evil  effect, 
going  far  to  nullify  the  beneficial  influence  of  examinations. 
The  reduction  in  the  number  of  such  exceptions  was  therefore 
a  noteworthy  step  in  advance.  Progress  was  not  confined  to 
the  classified  service.  For  the  first  time  in  our  history  exam 
inations — non-competitive  indeed — were  now  made  prerequi 
site  to  the  appointment  of  consuls. 

After  a  long  fight,  especially  acrimonious  in  the  Senate, 
the  silver  purchase  law  was  repealed  on  November  ist.  The 
result  did  not  fulfill  expectations.  The  gold  flow  from  the 
Treasury  was  not  stanched.  February  i,  1894,  the  reserve 
stood  at  $65,438,377.  Though  it  was  replenished  meantime 
by  the  sale  of  $50,000,000  in  bonds,  June  saw  it  again  down 
to  $64,873,025,  $42,000,000  going  out  in  five  months.  No 
vember  24,  1894,  the  reserve  was  $57,669,701  ;  February  i, 
1895,  $41,340,181.  Following  precedent,  the  Secretary  of 
the  Treasury  paid  in  gold  every  Treasury  note  that  was  pre 
sented.  Whenever,  therefore,  in  the  struggle  for  gold,  ex 
changers  wished  to  send  gold  abroad,  the  government  hoard 
was  at  their  mercy.  By  collecting  greenbacks  and  Sherman 
notes  from  banks  and  Trust  Companies  and  presenting  these 
at  the  Sub-Treasury,  the  gold  they  wished  for,  however  great 
the  sum,  was  paid  into  their  hands.  None  could  tell  when  it 
would  all  be  gone  and  the  country  forced  to  a  silver  basis.  In 
consequence,  whatever  revival  of  business  occurred  after  the 
repeal  was  slight,  gradual,  hardly  perceptible. 

This  unsatisfactory  result  most  Democrats  ascribed  to 
the  continuing  exactions  of  the  McKinley  tariff;  most  Re 
publicans  to  the  fear  of  freer  trade.  It  was  a  fear  rather  than 

693 


THE  UNITED  STATES  IN  OUR  OWN  TIME 


a  certainty,  since  none  knew  whether  the  President  would 
have  the  temerity  to  urge  a  revision  of  the  tariff  when  the 
country's  business  was  already  so  unsettled.  Should  he  insist 
on  doing  so,  many  Democrats  were  likely  not  to  act  with  him. 
But  Mr.  Cleveland  did  not  flinch  ;  the  tariff  must  be  revised 
at  whatever  cost.  The  controversy  did  not  begin  till  the 
regular  session,  but  then  it  came  in  earnest,  with  shocks  open 
ing  wide  seams  in  the  party.  On  December  I9th  Chairman 
Wilson,  of  the  Ways  and  Means  Committee,  reported  to  the 
House  "  An  Act  to  reduce  taxation,  to  provide  revenue  for 
the  government,  and  for  other  purposes."  Besides  cutting 
down  duties  on  many  articles,  the  bill  placed  sugar,  wool,  coal,, 
lumber  and  iron  ore  on  the  free  list.  A  vote  of  182  to  48 
carried  an  amendment  providing  for  a  tax  upon  incomes  ex 
ceeding  $4,000.  The  whole  was 
then  passed,  204  to  41.  In  the 
House  the  chief  theme  of  discussion 
on  the  bill  was  its  purpose  "  to  re 
duce  taxation."  In  the  Senate,  to 
which  body  it  was  reported  with 
amendments  from  the  Finance  Com 
mittee,  March  20,  1894,  other  phases 
of  it  were  considered,  and  all  per 
ceived  that  it  could  not  become  law 
without  large  modifications.  Its 
ability  "  to  provide  revenue  for  the 
government  "  was  denied.  "  Protec- 

tion  "  was  contended  for  not  by  Re- 

L.  WILSON  publicans    alone.       It   was    publicly 

charged  and  widely  believed  that  corrupt  influences  to  preserve 
extortionate  duties  were  at  work  upon  Democrats.  Hottest 
conflict  raged  over  the  sugar  schedule.  Consistency  with  the 
nature  of  the  legislation  required  a  heavy  duty  on  raw  sugar,  a 
light  one  on  refined  ;  while  the  sugar  refiners  sought,  at  last 
successfully,  to  have  the  heavier  tariff  laid  on  refined  sugar. 

694 


BITTER  CONTROVERSY  OVER  THE  TARIFF 


Prospects  of  their  triumph  in  this  changed  from  day  to  day, 
and  therewith  the  value  of  Sugar  Trust  certificates.  It  being 
alleged  that  Senators  were  speculating  in  these,  one  admitted 
that  he  was  doing  so,  but  boldly  defended  his  course.  The 
Sugar  Trust  was  accused  of  bribing  the  Democracy  by  large 
contributions  to  its  campaign  funds.  The  allegations  touch 
ing  Senatorial  corruption  were  investigated,  but  little  pertinent 
evidence  was  elicited. 

When,  in  July,  the  Senate  amendments  came  up  in  the 
House,  Chairman  Wilson  moved  not  to  concur  in  them. 
His  reasons  were  that  except  in  the  case  of  wool  and  lumber 
the  principle  of  free  raw  materials  had  been  abandoned,  that 
many  specific  duties  had  been  substituted  for  ad  valorem 
ones,  and  that  most  of  the  Senate  changes  were  in  the  direc 
tion  of  higher  taxes.  In  a  letter 
read  before  the  House,  President 
Cleveland  upbraided  the  Senate 
Democrats  who  had  abandoned  the 
principle  of  free  raw  materials  as 
guilty  of  "  party  perfidy  and  party 
dishonor."  He  pronounced  sugar 
a  legitimate  subject  for  taxation,  in 
spite  of  the  "  fear,  quite  likely  ex 
aggerated,"  that  carrying  out  this 
principle  might  "  indirectly  and  in 
ordinately  encourage  a  combination 
of  sugar  refining  interests."  The 
motion  against  concurrence  passed 
the  House. 

In  conference  the  chief  controversy  was  upon  sugar,  coal, 
wool,  iron  ore,  pig  and  structural  iron,  and  steel  rails.  The 
Senate  proposed  a  forty  per  cent,  duty  on  all  grades  of  sugar, 
with  a  differential  of  one-eighth  of  a  cent  per  pound  in  favor 
of  refined  sugar,  adding  one-tenth  of  a  cent  more  if  it  came 
from  countries  paying  an  exorbitant  bounty.  The  Republicans 

6Q5 


A.   P.   GORMAN 


THE  UNITED  STATES  IX  OUR  OWN  TIME 

contended  that  free  coal  and  iron  ore  would  mean  a  gift  of 
$10,000,000  to  a  Nova  Scotia  corporation  and  its  Boston 
promoters.  Mr.  Gorman  indignantly  flung  back  the  asper 
sions  of  the  President's  letter  read  in  the  House,  showing,  by 
the  testimony  of  three  Senators,  that  when  consulted  about 
the  compromise  the  President  had  declared  himself  "willing 
to  do  or  say  anything  that  would  pass  the  bill."  Voting 
upon  iron  ore  and  coal,  the  Senate  emphatically  refused  to 
recede  from  its  wish  as  uttered  in  the  bill.  That  indicated  its 
attitude  touching  the  other  disputed  rates.  In  this  conflict 
the  Senate  had  great  advantage  over  the  House.  Acquaint 
ance  among  members,  general  and  often  close,  was  supple 
mented  "  by  senatorial  courtesy "  in  reference  to  executive 
appointments,  so  that  an  affront  to  one  was  the  concern  of  all. 
The  Senate's  self-esteem  had  been  incurably  wounded,  while 
the  stock  of  effective  White  House  influence  had  been 
depleted  during  the  silver  debate.  Instead,  therefore,  of 
crushing  the  senatorial  will,  presidential  hammering  rendered 
it  solid  as  a  drop  forging.  When  this  became  clear  panic 
seized  the  House  leaders,  and  they  hastened  to  enact  the  Senate 
draft,  covering  their  retreat  as  best  they  could  with  "  pop-gun 
bills  "  for  free  coal,  iron  ore,  barbed  wire  and  sugar.  Rarely 
has  an  executive  been  in  so  merciless  a  dilemma  as  now  tor 
mented  the  Chief  Magistrate.  By  signing  the  bill  he  would 
give  his  official  approval  to  a  measure  which  he  had  denounced 
in  the  severest  language  at  his  command.  His  veto,  on  the 
other  hand,  leaving  the  McKinley  act  in  force,  would  be  a  con 
fession  of  Democratic  hypocrisy  and  incompetency.  Mr. 
Cleveland,  therefore,  neither  signed  nor  vetoed  the  bill,  but 
let  it  become  a  law  without  bearing  his  name. 

Like  the   tariff  of  abominations   in    1828,  this  new  law,] 
agitation  over  which  had  so  long  impeded  business,  was  an/ 
economic  monstrosity.      It  pleased  nobody.      It  violated  the 
Democrats'  plighted  word,  and  it  did  this  to  enhance  the  prof 
its  of  great  corporations  and  by  votes  believed  to  have  bee"n 

696 


INCOME  TAX  UNCONSTITUTIONAL 


DAVID   B.   HILL 


purchased.  Its  best  friends  could 
only  say  that,  as  its  rates  averaged 
perhaps  a  quarter  lower,  it  was  on 
the  whole  preferable  to  the  McKinley 
act.  When  it  was  under  debate  in 
the  Senate,  Senator  Hill  had  declared 
the  proposed  income-tax  unconsti 
tutional,  unnecessary  and  populistic. 
It  was  a  direct  tax,  he  said,  and 
could  therefore  be  constitutionally 
levied  only  State  by  State  and  ac 
cording  to  population.  He  decried 
it  as  sectional,  and  also  odious,  being  a  war  tax.  He  complained 
that  its  high  under-limit  of  $4,000  made  it  an  offensive  species 
of  class  legislation,  that  it  discriminated  against  small  invest 
ments  in  favor  of  government  bonds,  was  retroactive  upon 
incomes  realized  after  Jamrary  i,  1894,  inquisitorial  in  its  ad 
ministrative  provisions,  a  step  toward  socialism,  and  unwise 
in  every  point  of  political  expediency.  Nevertheless,  as  in 
the  House  so  in  the  Senate,  the  income-tax  amendment 
proved  stronger  than  the  main  bill. 

When  the  Supreme  Court  decided  its  income-tax  provi 
sions  unconstitutional,  disgust  at  the  legislation  became  gen 
eral  and  complete.  It  was  now  clear  that  the  law  must  fail  as 
a  revenue  measure, 'necessitating  either  additional  enactments 
or  the  issue  of  more  bonds  to  eke  out  current  expenses.  The 
latter  alternative  was  adopted.  Between  February  i,  1894, 
and  the  beginning  of  1896,  the  Treasury  sold  $162,315,400 
in  bonds  for  about  $182,000,000  in  gold.  On  January  6, 
1895,  a  new  bond  issue  of  $100,000,000  was  offered.  Apol 
ogists  for  the  tariff  sought  to  make  it  appear  that  the  necessity 
for  these  bond  issues  lay  not  in  deficient  revenue,  but  solely  in 
the  existence  of  the  greenback  debt,  but  it  gradually  became 
evident  that  this  was  an  error.  During  the  twenty-three 
months  between  the  two  bond  sales  named,  the  Government's 


697 


THE  UNITED  STATES  IN  OUR  OWN  TIME 

receipts  fell  short  of  its  expenditures  by  some  $90,000,000. 
To  this  extent  at  least  borrowing  would  have  been  necessary 
had  no  greenbacks  existed.  As  for  the  remainder,  men  urged, 
it  should  not  have  been  borrowed  at  all.  Had  an  insignifi 
cant  percentage  of  a  payment  made  in  redemption  of  Treas 
ury  notes  occasionally  been  in  silver,  according  to  the  French 
policy,  exporters  would  have  drawn  their  gold  from  banks, 
leaving  the  Treasury  gold  piles  and  the  government  credit  in 
tact.  Many  insisted  that  borrowing  gold  abroad  largely  de 
feated  its  own  end.  It  inflated  prices  here,  stimulating  im 
ports  and  checking  exports,  thus  increasing  the  demand  for 
gold  for  export,  necessitating  fresh  drafts  from  the  Treasury 
stock,  and  so  on  in  ceaseless  round.  The  manner  of  effecting 
the  loan  of  1895,  as  well  as  the  loan  itself,  was  severely  criti 
cised.  Instead  of  borrowing  from  any  and  all  who  might 
wish  to  lend,  the  bonds  were  placed  with  a  syndicate  of  bank 
ers,  partly  foreign,  at  a  rate,  it  was  charged,  much  under  what 
they  might  have  brought.  The  inordinate  gain  was  declared 
necessary  to  remunerate  the  syndicate  for  its  good  offices  in 
preventing  for  some  months  serious  exportations  of  gold. 
This  was  a  confession  that,  under  this  policy,  the  Treasury 
was  at  the  mercy  of  gold-mongers.  If  they  could  keep  gold 
here  for  a  given  consideration,  for  a  higher  reward  they  could 
presently  send  it  abroad  and  place  us  on  a  silver  basis. 

The  last  five  sections  of  the  tariff  act  declared  combina 
tions  in  restraint  of  competition  illegal  and  void,  property  be 
longing  to  them  liable  to  forfeiture,  and  persons  injured  by 
them  entitled  to  threefold  damages  plus  cost  and  attorney 
fees.  These  provisions  did  not  render  the  legislation  any  more 
popular.  They  enraged  monopolists,  yet  were  too  tame,  too 
obviously  ineffectual  to  please  others.  Such  anti-trust  utter 
ances  were,  however,  of  interest,  as  calling  special  attention  to 
that  peculiar  growth  of  modern  industry,  the  "  combine." 
Officers  of  the  American  Sugar  Refining  Company  admitted 
before  the  Senate  Investigating  Committee  that  this  Trust, 

698 


DOWNFALL  OF  THE  LOUISIANA  LOTTERY 

when  formed,  raised  the  price  of  sugar  to  consumers,  and 
that  it  was  constantly  making  efforts  to  control  legislation. 
Though  conspicuous,  the  Sugar  Trust  was  no  unique  phe 
nomenon  in  the  United  States,  nor  was  this  country  the  sole 
field  where  the  institution  flourished.  Though  these  "  com 
bines"  were  a  normal  product  of  modern  industry,  they 
needed  keen  legislative  attention.  The  crimes  to  which 
some  of  them  resorted  to  crush  out  competition  were  un 
worthy  of  civilization,  making  it  not  strange  that  legislation 
against  them  should  be  constantly  urged  and  attempted. 
Laws  passed  for  this  purpose  were,  however,  usually  of  little 
avail. 

President  Cleveland  displayed  commendable  independ 
ence  of  a  great  moneyed  interest  in  unhesitatingly  signing 
the  Anti-Lottery  Bill,  which  the  indomitable  energy  and 
persistence  of  Professor  S.  H.  Woodbridge,  of  the  Massa 
chusetts  Institute  of  Technology,  had  carried  through  Con 
gress  in  spite  of  perhaps  the  most  powerful  and  enterprising 
lobby  influence  ever  organized.  When  it  was  learned  that 
the  lottery  company  was  operating  from  Honduras  through 
out  the  United  States  by  means  of  the  express  companies,  a 
bill  was  introduced  in  Congress  making  this  illegal.  It  soon 
got  through  the  Senate,  but  the  House  passed  it  only  two 
days  before  the  dissolution  of  the  Fifty-third  Congress.  Hav 
ing  been  slightly  amended,  it  returned  to  the  Senate,  where  it 
barely  escaped  strangulation.  The  amendments  were  concurred 
in,  but  a  motion  was  at  once  entered  to  reconsider  the  vote  to 
concur.  This  stopped  the  bill  from  going  to  the  engrossing 
clerk  to  be  prepared  for  the  official  signatures.  Many  thought 
further  effort  useless,  but  it  proved  otherwise.  A  motion  to 
take  up  the  motion  to  reconsider  was  met  by  a  threat  that, 
owing  to  the  brevity  of  Congress's  remaining  life,  the  appro 
priation  bills  would  completely  fail  if  any  other  matter  were 
brought  before  the  Senate.  The  motion  to  take  up  recon 
sideration  was  lost.  It  was  now  eleven  o'clock,  night.  But 

699 


THE  UNITED  STATES  IN  OUR  OWN  TIME 

thirteen  hours  remained  for  action.  At  three  in  the  morning 
the  lost  motion  was  made  again,  followed  instantly  by  one  to 
table  the  motion  to  reconsider.  This  could  not  be  debated 
and  was  at  once  carried.  The  Anti-Lottery  Bill  had  passed, 
and  it  was  speedily  enrolled.  The  question  now  was  how  to 
secure  the  signatures  which  should  make  it  law.  The  Vice- 
President  signed  at  10.50  in  the  forenoon,  but  it  took  some 
time  yet  for  the  document  to  reach  the  Executive  Mansion. 
The  Chief  Magistrate's  signature  was  affixed  to  it  barely  five 
minutes  before  twelve,  the  moment  when  that  Congress  ex 
pired. 

With  his  party  and  the  people  at  large  Mr.  Cleveland's  for 
eign  policy  was  for  a  long  time  even  less  popular  than  his  pro 
cedure  touching  tariff  and  finance.  His  ratification  of  an  ex 
tradition  treaty  with  Russia  was  violently  criticised,  as  also  his 
refusal  to  press  Turkey  for  the  humane  treatment  of  Christ 
ians  in  that  empire.  When,  wholly  without  warrant,  a  Span 
ish  gunboat  fired  on  the  Allian^a^  a  United  States  passenger 
steamer,  off  Cuba,  many  thought  our  Government  indecently 
dilatory  in  demanding  reparation.  When  Great  Britain  occu 
pied  Corinto,  in  Nicaragua,  to  compel  the  payment  of  $75,000 
in  reparation  for  Nicaragua's  expulsion  of  Consul  Hatch,  an 
influential  paper  bitterly  assailed  the  President  for  permitting 
this  affront  to  the  Monroe  Doctrine.  Not  a  few  felt  that  we 
meanly  deferred  to  Great  Britain  and  even  to  Nicaragua  in 
dealing  with  the  Bluefields  incident  in  1894.  Republican  in 
surgents  in  Cuba  might  control  half  the  island  for  a  year ;  no 
hint  of  recognizing  their  belligerency  emanated  from  our  Ex 
ecutive.  These  complaints  were  not  wholly  partisan  ;  Demo 
crats  joined  Republicans  in  viewing  Mr.  Cleveland's  foreign 
policy,  at  least  till  the  middle  of  1895,  as  spiritless  and  "  un- 
American."  The  severest  reprobation  met  his  dealings  with 
Hawaii. 

Hawaii  consists  of  twelve  islands  situated  in  the  Pacific, 
southwest  of  California.  The  influence  there  of  European 

700 


HAWAII  AND  THE  MISSIONARIES 


^K^;.^;^^'^.  ^;      L_V  ;,^;.; :. 

QUEEN'S  BUNGALO  AT  HONOLULU 
Drawn  by  Otto  H.  Backer  from  a  f  holograph 

navigators  made  the  way  easy  for  missionaries,  who  landed 
upon  the  islands  in  1820.  Through  the  unselfish  labors  of 
these  men  civilization  expanded  rapidly.  "  The  missionary  in 
such  a  land  is  something  besides  a  minister  of  religion.  He 
represents  civilization.  He  is  condemned  to  be  an  organ  of 
reform.  He  could  scarce  evade,  even  if  he  desired,  a  certain 
influence  in  political  affairs."  The  sons  of  the  missionaries, 
more  selfish  than  their  sires,  but  at  first  equally  influential, 
roughened  Hawaii's  upward  path  by  taking  the  chief  offices 
of  state  and  a  rich  portion  of  the  land.  In  1875  a  reciproc 
ity  treaty  with  the  United  States  enormously  increased  sugar 
planting,  when  practically  all  the  sugar  land  went  to  foreign 
ers.  The  new  proprietors  imported  Asiatic  and  Portuguese 
labor  on  the  contract  system,  largely  superseding  the  Kanakas. 
Seeing  wealth  spring  from  the  islands  as  by  magic,  while  his 
native  subjects  were  excluded  from  even  a  driblet  of  it,  filled 
the  King  of  Hawaii  with  hatred  of  foreigners.  The  native 
majority  in  the  legislature  raised  the  cry  of  "  Hawaii  for  the 
Hawaiians,"  and  rallied  to  the  king,  who  found  himself  in 
the  power  of  a  reactionary  clique  as  unprincipled  as  any  of  the 
''  missionary  party." 


THE  UNITED  STATES  IN  OUR  OWN  TIME 

In  1 8 87, after  secret  preparations,  the  progressists  marched 
to  the  palace  under  arms  and  extorted  a  new  constitution, 
which  reduced  royal  authority  to  a  mere  shadow.  It  made  the 
ministry  responsible  to  the  legislature,  the  House  of  Nobles 
elective  under  a  high  property  qualification  ;  and  it  gave  for 
eign  whites  the  right  to  vote.  The  state's  relations  with  the 
United  States  were  made  more  intimate  by  a  renewed  reciproc 
ity  treaty  along  with  the  concession  of  Pearl  Harbor  in  the 
Island  of  Oahu,  one  of  the  finest  naval  stations  in  the  Pacific. 

Figuratively  as  well  as  literally,  the  islands  were  now  vol 
canic.  The  thin  political  crust  above  the  molten  native  ele 
ment  was  ruptured  when  Liliuokalani  succeeded  her  brother 
Kalakaua  as  shadow-monarch.  Biding  her  time,  this  shrewd 
and  unscrupulous  woman  took  advantage  of  a  split  in  the 
dominant  party  to  effect  a  coup  d'etat.  Having  on  January 
14,  1893,  prorogued  the  Legislature,  she  proposed  a  new  con 
stitution,  disfranchising  non-naturalized  whites,  and  retransfer- 
ring  to  the  crown  the  power  of  making  nobles.  Under  per 
suasion  she  modified  her  purpose,  giving  out  a  proclamation 
that  "  any  changes  in  the  fundamental  law  would  be  sought 
only  by  methods  provided  in  the  (old)  Constitution."  Much 
excitement  attended  these  events  and  none  knew  what  might 
happen  next.  American  residents  appointed  a  Committee  of 
Safety,  which,  on  consultation  with  Minister  Stevens,  peti 
tioned  the  United  States  man-of-war  Boston^  lying  at  Hono 
lulu,  for  protection.  The  troops  landed  sooner  than  most  of 
the  committee  expected  or  desired,  giving  some  color  to  the  alle 
gation  that  this  act  really  caused  the  revolution.  The  Queen's 
Minister  of  Foreign  Affairs  and  the  Governor  of  the  island  pro 
tested,  solemnly  assuring  all  that  the  old  Constitution  would 
be  upheld  and  no  changes  made  save  by  the  method  therein 
provided.  Later  the  same  day  the  Cabinet  called  upon  the 
American  Minister  for  the  aid  of  the  United  States  in  sup 
pressing  the  revolt.  On  the  afternoon  of  January  iyth  the 
"citizens  and  residents  of  the  Hawaiian  Islands  organized  and 


U.  S.  PROTECTORATE   DISAVOWED 


acting  for  the  public  safety  and  common  good,"  declared  the 
monarchy  abrogated  and  a  provisional  government  established, 
"until  terms  of  union  with  the  United  States  of  America  have 
been  negotiated  and  agreed  upon."  The  Committee  organ 
ized  as  a  Provisional  Government,  which  the  United  States 
Minister  at  once  recognized  as  the  de  facto  government  of  the 
country.  Sanford  B.  Dole,  the  new  President,  requested  the 
immediate  support  of  United  States  forces  in  preserving  order. 
The  Queen,  assured  by  members  of  the  Provisional  Govern 
ment  that  her  case  would  be  strengthened  by  peaceful  sub 
mission,  though  under 
protest,  surrendered  "  to 
the  superior  forces  of  the 
United  States  of  Amer 
ica." 

Opposed  by  certain  of 
the  white  inhabitants, 
also,  naturally,  by  the 
bulk  of  the  natives,  the 
Government,  on  Febru 
ary  ist,  formally  placed 
itself  under  the  protector 
ate  of  the  United  States. 
Early  in  the  morning  a 
force  of  our  marines  was 
drawn  up  before  the 
Government  building, 
and  the  Stars  and  Stripes 
were  hoisted.  Minister 
Stevens  sent  home  a  des 
patch,  saying:  "The 
Hawaiian  pear  is  now  fully  ripe,  and  this  is  the  golden 
hour  for  the  United  States  to  pluck  it."  On  February 
iith  President  Harrison  disavowed  the  protectorate,  though 
authorizing  the  presence  on  land  of  such  marine  force  as 

703 


PRINCESS  (AFTERWARDS  QUEEN) 
LILIUOKALANI 

From  a  photograph  made  at  Honolulu;  in  the  possession  cf 
Mrs,  Isabel  Strong 


THE  UNITED  STATES  IN  OUR  OWN  TIME 


THE   GOVERNMENT  BUILDING  AT  HONOLULU 
Drawn  by  Om  //.  Backer  from  a  photograph 

might  be  necessary  to  secure  the  lives  and  property  of 
American  citizens.  The  flag,  nevertheless,  still  floated,  and 
the  American  garrison  was  maintained  until  after  the  Demo 
cratic  Administration  came  into  power,  March  4th,  the  marines 
of  the  Boston  parading  through  the  Honolulu  streets  thrice  each 
day.  A  steamer  was  hastily  chartered  to  carry  commissioners 
to  negotiate  annexation.  A  treaty  was  soon  concluded.  It  pro 
vided  for  the  continuance  of  the  existing  government  and  laws 
of  Hawaii,  subject  to  the  paramount  authority  of  the  United 
States,  to  be  vested  in  the  person  of  a  commissioner,  with 
power  to  veto  any  acts  of  the  local  government.  The  United 
States  was  to  take  over  the  public  debt  of  $2,250,000,  pay  ing" 
an  annual  allowance  of  $20,000  to  Liliuokalani  and  a  lump 
sum  of  $150,000  to  her  daughter.  In  his  message  submitting- 
the  treaty  President  Harrison  declared  that  the  United  States 
had  in  no  way  promoted  the  overthrow  of  the  monarchy,  that 
it  was  evidently  effete  and  should  not  be  restored  even  if  it 
could  be.  He  declared  it  "  essential  that  none  of  the  other 
great  powers  should  secure  the  islands." 

On  succeeding  Harrison,  Cleveland  entirely  changed  this 

704 


VAIN  EFFORTS  TO  RESTORE  LILIUOKALANI 


policy.  Withdrawing  the  treaty  from  the  Senate,  he  sent  to 
Hawaii  Hon.  James  H.  Blount,  of  Georgia,  as  Special  Com 
missioner  bearing  paramount  authority,  to  make  investigations 
touching  all  our  relations  with  the  Hawaiian  Government. 
On  April  ist,  by  Blount' s  direction,  the  protectorate  was  for 
mally  terminated,  the  American  flag  hauled  down,  and  the 
garrison  of  marines  withdrawn.  In  May,  Mr.  Blount  was 
appointed  Minister  Plenipotentiary,  Stevens  being  recalled. 
But  during  its  days  under  the  American  aegis  the  Provisional 
Government  had  much  strengthened  its  hands.  It  had  mus 
tered  a  force  of  1,200  soldiers,  acquired  control  of  all  arms  and 
explosives  in  the  islands,  enacted  alien  and  sedition  laws,  sup 
pressed  disloyal  newspapers,  and  decreed  that  anyone  speaking 
against  the  Provisional  Government  should  be  liable  to  a  fine 
of  $100  and  to  imprisonment  for  thirty  days. 

Complete  as  was  the  Dole  government's  de  facto  status, 
Mr.  Cleveland,  viewing  the  revolution  as  due  to  improper 
United  States  influence,  sent  Albert  S.  Willis  as  Minister  to 
the  Islands,  with  instructions  looking  to  a  restoration  of 
the  Queen.  But  for  her  stubbornness  this  would  probably 
have  occurred.  Quite  long  enough  to  show  her  spirit,  she 
refused  her  consent  to  amnesty,  insist 
ing  on  the  execution  of  the  chief  con 
spirators  and  the  banishment  of  their 
families.  Moreover,  the  Provisional 
Government  declined  Willis's  request 
that  they  "  relinquish  to  the  Queen 
her  constitutional  authority."  Pres 
ident  Dole  denied  that  the  Queen 
owed  her  downfall  to  the  interference 
of  American  forces.  "  The  revolu 
tion,"  he  said,  "  was  carried  through 
by  the  representatives,  now  largely 
reinforced,  of  the  same  public  sen 
timent  which  forced  the  monarchv  to  JAMES  H.  BLOUNT 


705 


THE  UNITED  STATES  IN  OUR  OWN  TIME 


ALBERT  S.   WILLIS 


its  knees  in  1887,  which  suppressed 
the  insurrection  of  1889,  an^  which 
for  twenty  years  had  been  battling  for 
representative  government  in  this 
country."  Without  the  sanction  of 
Congress  Mr.  Cleveland  could  not 
use  force,  and  such  sanction  he  could 
not  obtain.  On  the  contrary,  that 
body,  like  the  country  at  large,  bitterly 
opposed  the  Administration's  Hawaiian 
policy.  The  progressive  element  in 
Hawaii  was  therefore  safe.  An  insur 
rection  was  attempted,  resulting  in  loss 
of  life,  but  it  proved  abortive,  almost  farcical.  Being  arrested, 
the  ex-Queen,  for  herself  and  her  heirs,  forever  renounced 
the  throne,  gave  allegiance  to  the  republic,  counselled  her 
former  subjects  to  do  likewise,  and  besought  clemency  for 
her  co-conspirators.  Of  these  the  chief  were  sentenced  to 
death,  but  their  sentence  was  commuted  to  a  fine  of  $10,- 
ooo  each  with  thirty-five  years  imprisonment.  On  De 
cember  27,  1893,  Prince  Kunniakea  wrote  to  the  Hawaiian 
Star :  "  Permit  me  as  the  last  representative  of  the  Kame- 
hameha  line  to  say  that  I  am  with  you  heart  and  soul  for 
annexation.  My  name  will  be  added  to  the  roll  of  the 
Annexation  Club  at  once,  and  in  case  of  trouble  I  will  join 
your  forces  with  a  rifle."  The  numerous  Portuguese  in  Hono 
lulu  were  a  unit  in  favor  of  the  republic  and  of  annexation. 
Minister  Willis  himself  declared  "an  analysis  of  the  list  of  the 
Queen's  special  advisers  not  encouraging  to  the  friends  of  good 
government  or  American  interests."  "  The  Americans,"  he 
said,  "  were  ignored,  and  other  nationalities,  English  espe 
cially,  placed  in  charge."  He  further  remarked  that  the  Pro 
visional  Government  and  its  supporters  consisted  of  men  of 
"high  character"  and  "large  commercial  interests." 

A  firmer  spirit  pervaded  the  State  Department  after  Sec- 

706 


THE  VENEZUELA  MESSAGE 


retary  Gresham's  death,  in  May,  1895,  and  the  promotion  of 
Attorney-General  Richard  Olney  to  his  portfolio.  The  vigor 
shown  by  Mr.  Olney  when  Attorney-General,  in  enforcing 
law  and  order  during  the  Chicago  strike,  he  now  displayed  in 
conducting  foreign  affairs.  With  a  boldness  going  to  the  ex 
treme  limit  of  diplomacy  he  insisted,  on  the  ground  of  the 
Monroe  Doctrine  and  of  our  essential  sovereignty  upon  this 
continent,  that  Great  Britain  should  submit  to  arbitration  a 
long-standing  boundary  dispute  with  Venezuela.  This  being 
refused,  Mr.  Cleveland  on  December  17,  1895,  sent  to  Con 
gress  a  startlingly  bold  message  on  the  subject,  which  rent  the 
air  like  a  thunderbolt.  A  declaration  of  war  could  hardly 
have  produced  more  commotion.  After  recommending  the 
creation  of  a  commission  to  determine  and  report  upon  "  the 
true  divisional  line  between  Venezuela  and  British  Guiana," 
he  said  :  "  When  such  report  is  made  and  accepted,  it  will,  in 
my  opinion,  be  the  duty  of  the  United  States  to  resist,  by 
every  means  in  its  power,  as  a  willful  aggression  upon  its  rights 
and  interest,  the  appropriation  by  Great  Britain  of  any  lands, 
or  the  exercise  of  governmental  jurisdiction  over  any  territory 
which,  after  investigation,  we  have  determined  of  right  belong 
to  Venezuela." 

The  two  branches  of  Congress 
vied  with  each  other  in  rallying  to  the 
President's  support.  The  Commis 
sion  was  provided  for  at  once,  by 
an  act  unanimously  passed  in  both 
houses,  neither  pausing  to  refer  it  to 
a  committee.  Wall  street,  however, 
took  the  other  side.  It  was  estimated 
that  American  securities  fell  in  value 
from  $300,000,000  to  $500,000,000, 
in  consequence  of  the  message.  The 
Treasury's  gold  reserve  lessened  omi 
nously.  In  three  days  the  war  message 


RICHARD   OLNET 


THE  UNITED  STATES  IN  OUR  OWN  TIME 


had  to  be  followed  by  another  begging  for  legislation  to 
preserve  the  national  credit.  While  the  President's  belliger 
ency  met' with  immense  popular  applause,  it  was  fiercely  criti 
cised  in  influential  quarters.  Papers  and  persons  hitherto  al 
ways  friendly  to  the  President  now  denounced  him.  Some 
thought  his  act  a  bid  for  a  third  term  in  the  presidency;  others 
said  he  was  aping  President  Jackson  and  seeking  to  atone  for 
his  record  in  the  Hawaii  affair.  Not  a  few,  wishing  "  peace  at 
any  price,"  argued  in  effect  that  such  a  message  would  be  a 

crime  no  matter  what  Great  Britain 
might  do.  Sober  persons  in  great 
numbers  believed  that,  while  the  time 
and  the  tone  of  the  message  might 
perhaps  leave  something  to  be  desired, 
its  deliverance  would  be  found,  when 
all  the  facts  and  diplomacy  concerning 
the  case  became  known,  to  have  been 
patriotic  and  wise. 

The  reader  has  by  this  time  no 
difficulty  in  accounting  for  the  vast 
political  changes  which  rendered  the 
Fifty-fourth  Congress  overwhelmingly 
Republican.  Yet  the  account  would 
be  defective  were  we  to  omit  the  revelations  made  through  the 
famous  Lexow  Committee  in  1894,  showing  that  New- York 
City,  under  Tammany  Hall,  was  ruled  by  "  a  compact  of  free 
booters."  The  New  York  City  Society  for  the  Prevention 
of  Crime  was  organized  in  October,  1878,  to  remove  "the 
causes  and  sources  of  crime  by  enforcement  of  the  laws 
and  arousing  public  opinion,  especially  in  regard  to  the  ex 
cise  laws,  gambling  and  public  nuisances."  Dr.  Howard 
Crosby  and  the  venerable  Peter  Cooper  were  among  the  in- 
corporators.  In  1892,  six  months  after  joining  the  Society, 
Rev.  Charles  H.  Parkhurst,  D.D.,  became  its  second  presi 
dent.  Co-operating  with  the  New  York  Police  Department, 

708 


CHARLES  H.   PARKHURST 

Copyright  by  C.  C.  Langill 


Lexow  Goff  Creeden  Reppenhage 

Parkhurst 

THE   LEXOW  INVESTIGATION 

Scene  in  the  Court  Room  after  Creeden  s  Confession,  December  jj,  iSQ4 

tain  Creeden  left  the  witness  stand,  after  making  a  full  confession  of  the  corrupt  practices  in  vogue  among  the  police,  all  the 
spectators  crowded  forward  to  shake  his  hand  and  congratulate  htm.) 
Drawn  h\  It'.  R  Leigh  from  photographs 


PARKHURST  AND  THE  LEXOW  COMMITTEE 

the  society  had  hitherto  failed  of  flattering  achievements.  Be 
fore  accepting  the  office  the  new  leader  insisted  that  his  asso 
ciates  should  deal  with  the  Force  "  as  its  arch-antagonist.'* 
The  New  York  press  had  long  teemed  with  charges  against 
the  department,  but  the  community,  half  credulous,  indiffer 
ent,  or  resigned  and  hopeless,  only  stirred  uneasily.  It  was 
the  crisis  of  a  grave  disease.  Nearly  a  year  later  Dr.  Park- 
hurst  delivered  from  his  pulpit  an  unsparing  philippic  against 
the  administration  of  the  city  police  force.  Others  at  once 
took  up  the  criticism.  People  awoke  to  hear  the  city  officials, 
particularly  those  of  the  Police  Department,  fiercely  attacked 
as  "  a  damnable  set  of  administrative  bloodhounds."  News 
papers  dilated  upon  the  startling  prevalence  of  gambling  and 
prostitution.  As  usual,  the  police  called  for  "  proof."  This 
Dr.  Parkhurst  and  agents  of  his  society  supplied  in  abundance 
by  personal  visits  to  dives  and  dens  in  various  precincts.  Such 
a  bold  course  at  first  brought  upon  Parkhurst  the  bitterest 
denunciation.  Some  of  his  detectives  suffered  personal  vio 
lence.  But  the  opposition  soon  combined  with  the  exposures 
to  bring  the  brave  clergyman  the  resistless  support  of  public 
opinion  and  of  a  nearly  unanimous  press.  On  January  25, 
1894,  the  New  York  City  Chamber  of  Commerce,  concerning 
itself  with  municipal  politics  for  the  first  time  in  its  history, 
asked  for  the  appointment  of  a  legislative  committee  to  inves 
tigate  the  government  of  New  York  City..  On  January  joth 
the  Senate  unanimously  appointed  the  Lexow  Committee.  The 
Committee  sat  most  of  the  time  from  February  till  December. 

The  metropolis  inclined  to  scout  the  competency  of 
"  hayseed  legislators  "  to  deal  with  her  problems,  while  the  up- 
country  looked  across  the  Harlem  with  more  sorrow  and 
jealousy  than  pride,  longing  to  redeem  the  imperium  in  imperio 
from  its  wickedness  and  its  Democracy — both,  to  the  prevail 
ing  mind,  embodied  in  the  Tammany  tiger.  Though  there 
was  an  exodus  of  criminals  from  the  city,  and  though  many 
of  those  remaining  were  intimidated  and  cajoled  to  prevent 

711 


THE  UNITED  STATES  IN  OUR  OWN  TIME 


their  testifying,  the  Committee  obtained  ample  evidence  of 
deplorable  misgovernment.  Their  success  was  largely  due  to 
the  skill  and  boldness  of  their  counsel,  John  W.  Goff.  Like 
Charles  O'Conor,  who  did  so  much  to  crush  the  Tweed  ring, 
Mr.  Goff  was  an  Irish  Catholic.  Once,  as  a  green  immigrant, 
he  had  handled  packing-boxes  in  the  day  time,  while  studying 
law  at  Cooper  Union  in  the  evening.  As  Assistant  District 
Attorney  he  had  thoroughly  learned  how  to  trace  the  devious 
ways  of  criminals.  He  threw  himself  into  the  Committee's 
work  with  heart  and  soul,  devoting  to  it  each  day  and  much 
of  each  night,  and  showed  wonderful  astuteness  and  pertinacity 
in  marshalling  and  presenting  his  evidence. 

It  was  but  natural  that  Mr.  Goff  should  at  times  be  un 
fair  in  his  treatment  of  witnesses.  Many  no  doubt  suffered 
in  consequence.  In  some  cases  ignorant  and  vicious  wit 
nesses,  impelled  by  love  of  publicity,  gave  testimony  to  suit 
the  demand,  having  scant  regard  for  facts.  Some  people 
thought  that  this  vitiated  the  entire  inquest.  They  were  mis 
taken,  however,  as  was  shown  by  the  obvious  reluctance  with 
which  the  majority  of  the  witnesses  testified.  The  worst  facts 

elicited  came  out  in  spite  of  mani 
fest  effort  at  concealment,  forced  by 
relentless  cross-examination.  Un 
der  Goff's  artful  coercion,  creatures 
curious,  ugly,  pitiable,  were  drawn 
squirming  from  the  depths  of  their 
abandonment  to  unwonted  daylight, 
and  compelled  to  relate  what  they 
had  seen  and  done  in  darkness.  Not 
a  few  high  officials  were  compro 
mised.  In  all  sixty-seven  men  were 
accused  of  crime,  on  evidence  suf 
ficient  in  most  cases  to  warrant  in 
dictments.  Of  these,  two  were 
JOHN  W.  GOFF  Commissioners,  two  ex-Commis- 


STARTLING  CORRUPTION  EXPOSED 

^loners,  three  inspectors,  one  an  ex-inspector,  twenty  cap 
tains,  two  ex-captains,  seven  sergeants,  six  detective-sergeants 
and  detectives,  twelve  ward  men  and  ex-ward  men,  and  twelve 
patrolmen. 

Bohemian  saloon-keepers  had  organized  a  special  society 
for  the  business  of  collecting  and  paying  to  the  police  on  be 
half  of  the  members,  bribes  for  protection,  perhaps  at  whole 
sale  rates.  It  appeared  that  some  six  hundred  policy  shops 
were  running  in  the  city  without  police  interference.  One 
keeper  of  a  disorderly  house  had  paid  the  police  $25,000  to 
be  let  alone.  Liquor-saloon  and  opium-joint  keepers,  harlots, 
green-goods  men,  bunco-steerers,  thieves  and  abortionists, 
regularly  paid  the  police  to  overlook  their  offences.  While 
criminals  were  sedulously  protected,  honest  business  people 
had  to  pay  roundly  to  secure  any  police  service  at  all.  One 
steamship  line  had  paid  thousands  of  dollars  extortion  money. 
Merchants  must  either  give  blackmail  or  be  persecuted  out  of 
business.  Restaurant  keepers,  fruit  venders,  newspaper  ped 
dlers — none  were  too  humble  to  have  to  surfer  in  the  same 
way.  Between  virtue  and  vice,  riches  and  poverty,  the  police 
force  was  as  impartial  as  death  itself.  Police  brutality  was 
exposed  by  trembling  victims.  A  poor  Russian  woman  who 
had  opened  a  cigar  store  was  pounced  upon  for  $100  of  "  pro 
tection  money,"  under  the  pretext  that  she  meant  to  open  a 
disorderly  house.  She  gave  her  persecutors  all  the  money  she 
had,  but  it  was  not  enough,  and  she  was  locked  up.  When 
discharged  she  sought  in  vain  for  her  babes,  who  had  been 
torn  from  her.  A  fortnight  later  three  bright-looking  children 
were  brought  before  the  committee.  Being  led  forward  to  see 
if  she  recognized  them,  the  agonized  mother  caught  them  in 
her  arms  and  smothered  them  with  kisses,  alternately  laugh 
ing,  weeping  and  making  vain  efforts  to  express  her  gratitude. 
Many  policemen  confessed  that  they  had  been  forced  to  pay 
for  promotion,  and  were  regularly  taxed  for  the  satrapies 
farmed  out  to  them.  It  was  shown  how  this  wealth  mounted 


THE  UNITED  STATES  IN  OUR  OWN  TIME 


higher  and  still  higher,  till  it  disappeared  in  the  clouds,  above 
which  the  "  Grand  Pantata  "  was  suppose  to  dwell. 

Such  revelations,  astonishing  in  themselves  and  brought 
out  with  dramatic  and  telling  force  by  the  skillful  cross- exam 
iner,  aroused  indignation  the  like  of  which  New  York  had 
never  seen  before,  even  in  Tweed's  days.  Innumerable  din 
ners  and  receptions  were  given  in  Dr.  Parkhurst's  honor.  The 
Union  League  Club  elected  him  to  its  circle.  A  large  fund 
was  raised  fora  suitable  memorial  of  his  fidelity  to  reform.  For 
the  autumn  municipal  election  of  1894,  a  Committee  of  Sev 
enty  citizens  nominated  an  able  reform  ticket.  Supported  by 
the  Republican  Party,  the  State  Democracy,  the  Independent 
County  Organization,  the  Anti-Tammany  Democracy,  the 
German-American  Reform  Union,  and  the  confederated  Good 
Government  Clubs,  this  ticket  swept  the  city  electing  William 
L.  Strong  to  the  mayoralty. 

The  politics  of  the  year  considered  in  this  chapter  were 
in  many  parts  of  the  country  influenced,  in  some  quarters 
determined  by  an  organization  which  reminded  mature  persons 
of  old  Knownothing  days,  particularly  of  the  ancient  cry, 
"  Put  none  but  Americans  on  guard." 

A  letter  from  one  Foster  to  J.  G.  Elaine  in  1875 
published,  declaring  that  a  "  potent 
faction "  in  the  next  Republican 
convention  would  be  the  "  secret 
anti-Catholic  order,"  the  United 
American  Mechanics,  which  Elaine 
ought  to  join,  as  "  Grant  was  a 
member "  and  "  no  doubt  relied 
upon  it  to  promote  his  aims." 
Whether  this  order  had  aught  to  do 
with  the  rise  of  that  about  to  be 
named  is  not  apparent.  In  1887, 
at  Clinton,  Iowa,  was  born  a  secret 
society  commonly  known  as  the 


was 


STRONG 


RISE  OF  THE  A.  P.  A. 

"  A.  P.  A.,"  its  full  name  being  "  The  American  Protective 
Association."  The  reasons  which  its  supporters  as  signed 
for  its  origination  were  : 

"  i.  That  the  spirit  of  the  Constitution  was  being  vio 
lated  in  various  ways  by  certain  persons  and  bodies  in  the 
United  States. 

"  2.  That  certain  members  and  sections  of  the  national 
Government  were  in  connivance  with  the  said  violators. 

"3.  That  the  conditions  governing  our  national  immi 
gration  were  such  as  to  weaken  our  Democratic  institutions 
and  form  of  government  and  to  substitute  therefor  a  system 
of  government  not  in  harmony  therewith. 

"  4.  That  the  immigrant  vote,  under  the  direction  of 
certain  ecclesiastical  institutions,  had  become  so  dominant  a 
factor  in  politics  as  virtually  to  control  it. 

"  5.  That  this  domination  had  resulted  in  political  pros 
titution,  corruption  and  favoritism  of  the  worst  kind. 

"  6.  That  the  great  majority  of  the  American  people, 
while  painfully  cognizant  of  the  sinister  and  debasing  results 
of  these  conditions  and  desirous  of  mending  them,  were  either 
ignorant  of  any  efficient  means  of  counter-organization,  or 
fearful  of  injury  to  their  personal  interests  at  the  hands  of 
their  powerful  and  organized  opponents." 

In  their  public  declarations  they  said  :  "  We  attack  no 
man's  religion  so  long  as  he  does  not  attempt  to  make  his  re 
ligion  an  element  of  political  power.  We  are  in  favor  of  pre 
serving  constitutional  liberty  and  maintaining  the  government 
of  the  United  States.  We  regard  all  religio-political  organi 
zations  as  the  enemies  of  civil  and  religious  liberty." 

The  order  drew  inspiration  from  the  inveterate  hostility  of 
many  Protestants  to  the  Roman  Catholic  Church,  based  partly 
on  pure  bigotry,  partly  upon  facts,  more  or  less  imperfectly 
understood,  in  the  history  of  that  Church.  The  belief  that 
the  Roman  policy  never  underwent  change  led  many  to  sup 
pose  that  the  enormities  of  barbarous  ages  would  be  re-enacted 

715 


THE  UNITED  STATES  IN  OUR  OWN  TIME 


here  surely  as  Catholicism  obtained  power.  There -was  no 
doubt  that  the  Catholic  clergy  as  a  body  disliked  the  Amer- 
can  common  school  system.  Many  of  their  number  had  said 
the  most  bitter  things  against  it.  Romanists  who  could  not 
in  conscience  avail  themselves  of  the  public  schools  com 
plained  of  their  share  of  school  taxes.  In  places  efforts  were 
made  to  support  Catholic  parochial  schools  out  of  the  public 
treasury.  Elsewhere  Catholics  demanded  a  division  of  school 
funds  between  Catholics  and  Protestants,  such  as  prevailed  in 

provinces  of  Canada.  The  autocratic 
and  foreign  control  of  the  Church 
was  disliked  as  un-American  and  anti- 
American.  The  appointment  of  Car 
dinal  Satolli  as  papal  delegate  hither,, 
with  headquarters  at  Washington,  im 
pressed  many  as  an  effort  to  constitute 
the  United  States  a  papal  satrapy. 
Some  minds  were  distressed  that  the 
State  of  New  York  should  be  made 
a  District  in  Catholic  geography. 

Causes  apart  from  the  Church  and 
its  doing  were  also  active  in  recruiting 
the  Association.  Most  American  Ca 
tholics  were  Irish,  a  race  naturally  prone  to  politics,  often  clan 
nish  and  bumptious,  sometimes  belligerent,  evoking  strong  ill- 
will.  It  was  remembered  how,  until  Mayor  Hewitt's  time,  the 
Irish  flag  floated  from  New  York  City  Hall  on  St.  Patrick's 
Day,  and  how  Mayor  A.  Oakey  Hall  in  a  green  coat  on  that 
day  reviewed  a  Hibernian  parade.  Many  undesirable  immi 
grants  of  various  nationalities  were  Catholics,  and  the  aversion 
felt  toward  them  was  not  unnaturally  transferred  to  the  account 
of  their  Church.  Again,  most  Catholics  were  Democrats,  though 
by  no  means  all,  whence  uncompromising  Republicans  hated 
the  Church  as  the  ally  of  a  political  foe.  Catholics  alleged 
that  railroad  managers  encouraged  the  A.  P.  A.  movement  as, 


CARDINAL   S4TOLLI 


OPPOSITION  TO  ANTI-CATHOLICISM 

a  means  of  dividing  the  forces  of  labor.  Severe  treatment  here 
and  there,  as  always  happens  in  such  cases,  greatly  assisted  to 
advance  the  cause.  It  was  said  that  newsboys  hawking  A.  P. 
A.  papers  in  Chicago  were  beaten  by  thugs  from  the  saloons 
and  for  a  long  time  were  not  protected  by  the  police.  At 
length,  however,  aroused  public  sentiment  forced  the  rounds 
men  to  see  justice  done.  Subterranean  methods,  so  distaste 
ful  to  most,  drew  to  the  A.  P.  A.  politicians  and  other 
supporters  of  a  certain  class. 

In  1894,  seven  years  from  its  foundation,  the  American 
Protective  Association  pretended  to  control  2,000,000  votes, 
though  no  data  were  given  by  which  the  assumption  could  be 
tested.  The  Association's  power  in  many  western  cities  was 
as  undoubted  as  Catholic  domination  in  many  eastern  cities. 
The  actual  membership  was  acknowledged  to  be  small.  While, 
it  was  said,  hundreds  of  thousands  sympathized  with  its  aim, 
according  it  their  passive  or,  where  they  could,  their  active  sup 
port,  only  a  small  percentage  dared  brave  the  storm  of  disaster 
that,  owing  to  opposition  by  the  Catholics,  inevitably  followed 
actual  membership. 

Catholic  abuse,  however,  could  not  have  been  the  sole 
cause  for  the  slenderness  of  the  Association's  avowed  support. 
A.  P.  A.  methods  deserved  severe  reprobation  ;  and  they  re 
ceived  this  even  from  many  who  certainly  had  little  enough 
love  for  the  Catholics.  The  allegations  made  by  A.  P.  A. 
lecturers  were  usually  immoderate,  sometimes  scandalously 
false.  Their  references  to  history  were  often  sorrily  garbled. 
A.  P.  A.  newspapers,  or  newspapers  in  that  interest — for  the 
Order  denied  having  any  organs — were  sedulous  in  disseminat 
ing  forgeries  and  falsehoods  about  the  Catholics,  so  clumsy 
and  transparent  that  it  was  surprising  they  gained  credence  any 
where.  The  secret  oath  of  the  Order,  which  soon  transpired, 
also  set  people  in  a  hostile  frame  of  mind.  It  consisted  of  a 
promise  (i)  never  to  favor  or  aid  the  nomination,  election  or 
appointment  of  a  Roman  Catholic  to  any  political  office,  and 


THE  UNITED  STATES  IN  OUR  OWN  TIME 


(2)  never  to  employ  a  Roman  Catho 
lic  in  any  capacity  if  the  services  of 
a  Protestant  could  be  obtained. 
The  Order  was  thus  founded  upon 
proscription  and  the  boycott.  It 
sounded  strange  when  its  President, 
as  a  reason  for  the  secrecy  of  the 
Association,  pleaded  that,  owing  to 
Catholic  boycotting,  "  nearly  every 
member  who  made  himself  pro 
minent  in  the  movement  retired 
absolutely  ruined  in  politics  and 
purse."  Soon  as  the  A.  P.  A.  ac 
quired  power  in  any  locality,  or 
bade  fair  to  acquire  it,  a  class  of  po 
liticians  sought  to  convert  it  into  a 
machine  auxiliary  to  the  Repub 
lican  party.  Such  efforts  uniformly 
brought  the  cause  additional  dis 
credit.  An  endeavor  being  made 
to  have  a  statue  of  Pere  Marquette, 
the  Jesuit  explorer,  placed  in  Sta 
tuary  Hall  in  the  Capitol  at  Wash 
ington,  the  A.  P.  A.  was  mean  enough  to  use  its  influence 
against  the  granting  of  permission.  Fortunately  its  effort 
was  unsuccessful.  The  Mayor  of  Denver  having,  it  was  said, 
sworn  the  A.  P.  A.  oath  under  a  misapprehension,  afterward 
appointed  a  Roman  Catholic  chief  of  police.  For  that  act 
his  photograph,  draped  in  black  and  labeled  "  Perjurer  and 
Traitor,"  was  hung  in  the  A.  P.  A.  council  chamber.  It 
was  furthermore  resolved,  "That  wherever  his  carcass  rerjose 
in  the  arms  of  mother  earth,  in  whatsoever  land,  an  unknown 
committee,  duly  appointed,  shall  perform  its  last  rite  in  the 
name  of  this  council  by  marking  the  place,  that  all  may  know, 
1  Here  Lies  a  Traitor.' ' 

718 


Statue  of  Marquette  in  Statuary  Hall, 
Washington,  D.  C. 


CHAPTER   XXIV 

THE  CHICAGO  STRIKE— THE  CALIFORNIA 

"OCTOPUS"— INDIANS'  LAND   IN 

SEVERALTY 

CLEVELAND     NO     POPULIST. ''INDUSTRIALS1'      AND      "  GENERAL" 

COXEY. THEIR  MARCH. ARRIVAL   IN  WASHINGTON. ARRESTS  AND 

PROSECUTIONS. THE  REMNANT  DISBAND. THE  TOWN  OF  PULL 
MAN. THE  PULLMAN  COMPANY. WEALTH  AND  BUSINESS. THE 

AMERICAN  RAILWAY  UNION. THE  GENERAL  MANAGERS'  ASSOCIA 
TION. A.  R.  U.  FIGHT  WITH  THE  GREAT  NORTHERN  RAILWAY. — 

THE    PULLMAN     STRIKE. "  NOTHING    TO    ARBITRATE." PULLMAN 

CARS    BOYCOTTED. EUGENE    V.     DEBS. STRIKERS    AND    HOODLUMS. 

PROPERTY  LOOTED. WORKMEN  "PERSUADED"  NOT  TO  RE 
PLACE  STRIKERS. BLOOD  DRAWN  AT  HAMMOND. PARTIAL  SYM 
PATHETIC  STRIKE  OF  THE  KNIGHTS  OF  LABOR. DEBS  AND  OTHER 

OFFICERS    ARRESTED. COLLAPSE      OF    THE    STRIKE. THE    COSTS. — 

ALTGELD  VS.  CLEVELAND  ON  THE  PRESENCE  OF  FEDERAL  SOLDIERS 
IN  CHICAGO. A  SNUB  TO  THE  NATIONAL  GUARD. THIS  A  POWER 
FUL  FORCE. IMPROVEMENTS  IN  IT  AFTER  1877. NEW  AND  DAN 
GEROUS  APPLICATIONS  OF  COURT  INJUNCTIONS. COULD  THERE  BE 

A  LEGAL  STRIKE  ? THE  STRIKE  COMMISSION. FINDINGS  AND  RECOM 
MENDATIONS. STRIKE  OF  1894  IN  CALIFORNIA. RAILWAY  MO 
NOPOLY. CONSEQVJENCES. ARGUMENTS  IN  EXTENUATION. PER 

CONTRA. THE  REILLY  BILL. EFFORTS  FOR  RELIEF. THE  PRO 
JECTED  SAN  JOAQIJIN  VALLEY  ROAD. INDIANS'  LANDS  IN  SEVER 
ALTY. BREAKING  UP  THE  TRIBAL  SYSTEM. HISTORY  OF  THE  RISE 

AND    MARCH  OF  THE  SEVERALTY  IDEA  IN  THE  UNITED    STATES    FROM 

THE     EARLIEST    TIMES. COMMISSIONERS    E.    P.     SMITH,  J.    O^  SMITH, 

E.   A.    HAYT. THE  ENACTMENT  OF    1887. AMENDED  IN    1891. 

IF  the  income  tax  and    anti-trust    enactments  of  1894  be 
trayed    a   Democratic    leaning    toward   populism,  events 
occurring   the   same  year   proved   that   the  President,  for  his 
part,  still  stood  quite  erect. 

Discontent  had  prevailed  in  the  labor  world  since  early 
in  the  season.  In  March,  bands  of  "  Commonwealers  "  or 
"  Industrials,"  as  they  were  called,  were  formed  in  various 
Western  States,  with  the  purpose  of  marching  to  Washington 

719 


THE  UNITED  STATES  IN  OUR  OWN  TIME 


Kelly  Addressing  the  Men  at  the  Transfer.      (Eugene  V.   Debs  had 
just  entered  the  car  to  welcome  Kelly.) 


to  show  Congress  and 
the  President  the  des- 
perateness  of  the  labor 
situation  and  to  de 
mand  relief.  From 
first  to  last  fourteen 
States  and  two  Ter 
ritories  were  in  more 
or  less  commotion 
from  this  movement. 
"General"  Coxey  led 
the  advance;  "Gene 
ral"  Kelly  followed 
with  a  larger  force. 
At  Des  Moines  Kelly 

had    1,250  in   his   train.      At    St.  Louis    many   deserted  him; 

the   rest  took  boats  for  Cairo,   where  they  disembarked   and 

resumed    their   pilgrimage   on    foot.       Though    most    of   the 

tramps   meant   well,' 

their  mission  was  so 

novel  and  their  des 

titution  so  complete 

that  they  spread  ter 

ror    all    along    their 

line  of  march.     For 

food  they  depended 

on  the  country  trav 

ersed.       Many     fed 

them    from   sympa 

thy,     others      from 

fear.      At  best  they 

suffered  much  from 

hunger      and     from 


»->/-»<- 


The  Head  of  the  Column  Crossing  the  Northwestern  Railway 
Tracks  on  their  way  to  Camp  Chautauqua 

THE    KELLY  "  JRMY"    AT: 


THE  COMMONWEALERS 


Company  If— Men  who  Joined  at  the  Bluffs  on  the  March 

supplied  with  gifts,  they  stole,  and  arrests  for  theft  much 
thinned  their  ranks  as  they  advanced.-  At  points  they  were 
violent,  and  the  militia  had  to  be  called  out  to  deal  with 
them.  In  California  a  Commonweal  general  was  killed  by  a 
town  marshal.  In  a  fight  with  Commonwealers  at  Fappenish, 
State  of  Washington,  where  the  Commonwealers  were  very 
lawless,  Deputy  Marshals  Jolly  and  Chidister  were  shot, 
though  not  fatally.  Most  of  the  Washington  Commonwealers 
were  tramping  simply  to  get  back  to  their  eastern  homes,  hav 
ing  been  drawn  to  Puget  Sound  by  extensive  railway  building 
and  been  thrown  out  of  work.  Here  and  there  they  captured 
freight  trains  and  forced  them  into  their  service.  Having 
suffered  much  from  desertion  in  Ohio,  Coxey's  band  reached 
Pittsburg  April  2d,  and  Homestead  April  5th,  only  500 
strong.  On  the  I5th,  with  still  dwindling  numbers,  it  was  at 
Cumberland,  Md.;  on  the  28th  at  Washington,  where  it  went 
into  camp.  On  May  ist,  in  the  presence  of  wondering  multi- 


COUNCIL    BLUFFS,  IOWA 


"21 


THE  UNITED  STATES  IN  OUR  OWN  TIME 


THE  TOWN  OF  PULLMAN 

Looking  East  from  the  Depot  along  the  Boulevard 
From  a  fhotograph  by  J.  W.  Taylor 


tudes,  the  Industrials  attempted  their  meditated  demonstration 
on  the  grounds  and  steps  of  the  Capitol.  The  instant  they 
set  foot  upon  the  Capitol  grounds,  the  leaders,  Coxey,  Browne 
and  Jones,  after  being  somewhat  roughly  handled,  were  arrested 
and  jailed  under  local  laws  which  forbade  treading  on  the  grass 
or  displaying  banners  within  the  Capitol  precincts.  Coxey 
was  released  on  June  loth,  having  meantime  been  nominated 
for  Congress  in  Ohio.  His  followers  early  began  to  desert, 

J  O 

yet  a  camp  of  them  remained  in  Washington  till  July  ijth, 
when  the  remnant  was  shipped  West. 

Meanwhile  disturbances  far  more  formidable  and  unex 
pected  were  brewing  in  the  West.  Chicago,  the  city  of  the 
World's  Fair,  was  destined  soon  to  become  the  scene  of  the 
greatest  strike  in  history.  The  very  soldier  who  marshalled 
the  civic  parade  in  1893,  next  year,  in  the  same  locality,  was 
to  array  the  military  against  angry  citizens.  The  trouble 
originated  at  Pullman,  111.,  the  town  whose  miniature  was  so 
much  admired  at  the  Fair.  Pullman  had  been  founded  in 
1880,  14  miles  from  the  heart  of  Chicago,  but  by  1894  it  was  in 
cluded  within  the  elastic  limits  of  that  city.  Its  real  estate 
was  owned  by  the  Pullman  Palace  Car  Company.  Economy, 


PULLMAN  AND   THE   PULLMANITES 


beauty,  cleanliness  and  symmetry  marked  the  buildings,  which 
were  pleasantly  set  off  by  lakelets,  parks  and  wide  streets. 
The  sale  of  liquor  was  not  permitted  in  the  town,  except  to 
guests  at  the  hotel,  but  there  seem  to  have  been  no  other 
municipal  regulations.  Nevertheless,  careful  observers  early 
noted  in  the  population  a  sense  of  restraint,  leading  to  frequent 
removals,  also  a  disposition  to  speak  of  the  company  in  an 
undertone,  as  a  Russian  might  mention  the  Czar.  "  It  is  like 
living  in  a  hotel,  is  it  not  ?"  was  asked  a  Pullmanite  once. 
"  We  call  it  camping  out,"  he  answered.  Residents  believed 
that  they  were  watched  by  the  company's  "  spotters."  One 
visitor  denominated  the  system  a  "  benevolent  feudalism." 
Such  paternalism  offended  the  American  spirit  of  indepen 
dence,  and  herein  was  a  potent  cause  of  the  troubles. 

Wholly  aside  from  its  landlordship  of  the  town  of  Pull 
man,  the  company's  business  was  immense.  Its  paid-up  cap 
ital  stock  had  increased  from  $1,000,000  to  $36,000,000, 
whereon,  for  the  year  ending  with  June,  1893,  the  dividends 
had  amounted  to  $2,520,000.  In  addition,  it  had  accumu 
lated  of  undivided  surplus  profits  $25,000,000.  It  ran  cars 
over  125,000  miles  of  railroad,  or  about  three-fourths  the  total 
mileage  of  the  country.  It  manufactured  and  repaired  its 
own  cars,  besides  building  cars  for 
the  general  market.  Strikes  had  been 
few,  small  and  short  till  June,  1893, 
when  hard  times  had  set  in  and  the 
brisk  demand  for  cars  in  preparation 
for  travel  to  and  from  the  World's 
Fair  had  ceased. 

The  Palace  Car  Company  there 
fore  at  first  laid  off  most  of  its  work 
men  for  a  time,  then  cut  their  wages 
from  twenty  to  twenty-five  per  cent, 
and  employed  them  less  than  full 
time.  Other  circumstances  aggra- 


)RGE   M.   PULLMAN 


THE  UNITED  STATES  IN  OUR  OWN  TIME 

vated  the  discontent  thus  occasioned.  There  were  petty 
shop  tyrannies,  rents  were  not  reduced,  though  leniency  was 
shown  such  as  were  in  debt  for  rent,  the  salaries  of  officers 
continued  as  before,  and  Pullman  stock  was  still  quoted  far 
above  par.  In  the  months  of  March  and  April,  1894,  great 
numbers  of  the  employes  took  refuge  in  the  American  Rail 
way  Union,  better  known  by  its  initials  as  the  "A.  R.  U." 

This  body,  claiming  100,000  members,  aimed  to  include 
all  the  850,000  workers  in  any  way  connected  with  railroads  in 
the  United  States,  Canada  and  Mexico.  It  had  been  formed  in 
1893,  indirectly  consequent  upon  railway  consolidation,  where 
by  forty-two  corporations  controlled  nearly  100,000  miles,  and 
more  directly  answering  to  a  combination  among  railway  em 
ployers  known  as  the  General  Managers'  Association.  This 
association  originated  in  1886,  and  embraced  the  twenty-four 
railroads  entering  Chicago.  These  had  an  aggregate  mileage 
of  40,933,  a  capitalization  of  considerably  over  $2,000,000,- 
ooo,  and  employed  220,000  or  more  men.  Though  this  vol 
untary  unincorporated  body  "  had  no  more  standing  in  law 
than  the  old  Trunk  Line  Pool — but  was  a  usurpation  of 
power,"  it  determined  the  policy  of  the  roads  toward  their 
workmen  and  the  public.  A  comparative  table  of  wages  en 
abled  the  associated  roads  to  equalize  wages,  and  cuts  here  and 
there  showed  a  tendency  to  do  this.  All  the  time  that  Pullman 
employes  were  enlisting  in  its  ranks  the  union  was  engaged 
in  a  struggle  with  the  Great  Northern  Railway.  No  attempt 
was  made  to  supply  strikers'  places  and  no  violence  was 
wrought.  Arbitration  was  proposed,  but,  sanguine  of  success, 
union  leaders,  until  persuaded  by  St.  Paul  and  Minneapolis 
business  men,  "had  nothing  to  arbitrate."  A  settlement  was 
arrived  at,  which  gave  the  union  nearly  all  it  demanded,  and 
it  was  elated  with  the  triumph. 

Upon  May  jth  and  9th  a  committee  of  forty-six  em 
ployes  called  upon  Messrs.  Pullman  and  Wickes,  urging  that 
the  wages  schedule  of  June,  1893,  be  restored.  This  was 

724 


"NOTHING   TO  ARBITRATE" 


HAZEN  S.  PINGREE 


refused,  but  those  gentlemen  promised 
to  investigate  the  shop  abuses  com 
plained  of,  and  declared  that  no  one 
should  be  prejudiced  with  the  company 
for  serving  on  the  committee.  The 
next  day,  however,  three  members  of 
the  committee  were  laid  off,  and  five- 
sixths  of  the  Pullman  employes,  ap 
parently  against  the  counsel  of  A.  R. 
LJ.  leaders,  determined  upon  a  strike. 
The  company  then  laid  off  the  remain 
der  of  the  workmen.  The  Pullman 
management  would  entertain  no  com 
munication  from  the  union.  Mr. 

Wickes,  the  second  vice-president,  testified  later :  "  If  we 
were  to  receive  these  men  as  representatives  of  the  union 
they  could  probably  force  us  to  pay  any  wages  which  they 
saw  fit,  and  get  the  Pullman  company  in  the  same  shape 
that  some  of  the  railroads  are,  by  making  concessions  which 
ought  not  to  be  made."  "  The  best  of  our  men  don't  give  us 
any  trouble  with  unions  or  anything  else.  It  is  only  the  inferior 
men — that  is,  the  least  competent — that  give  us  the  trouble, 
as  a  general  thing."  A  committee  of  employes,  the  Civic  Fed 
eration  of  Chicago,  Mayor  Pingree,  of  Detroit,  endorsed  by 
the  mayors  of  over  fifty  cities,  urged  the  company  to  submit 
the  dispute  to  arbitration.  The  steadfast  answer  was,  "  The 
company  has  nothing  to  arbitrate."  Nor  would  it  debate  this 
proposition  before  arbitrators.  At  the  bar  of  public  opinion 
the  company  did  appear,  seeking  to  justify  itself  by  alleging  the 
unprofitableness  of  its  manufacturing  business.  The  union, 
too,  was  resolute.  The  young  giant,  flushed  with  recent  vic 
tory,  eager  to  redress  new  wrongs,  used  to  magnanimous  deal 
ing,  deemed  arbitration  certain  to  be  granted  when  due  pressure 
was  brought  to  bear.  A  national  convention  of  the  union 
unanimously  voted  that  unless  the  Pullman  Company  sooner 


THE  UNITED  STATES  IN  OUR  OWN  TIME 


JAMES  R.  SOl'EREIGN 


consented  to  arbitration  members  of 
the  union  should,  on  June  26th, 
everywhere  cease  handling  Pullman 
cars.  This  boycott  was  sympathetic 
in  origin,  while  yet  it  could  be  traced 
to  wages  reductions,  blacklisting,  and 
the  ominous  growth  and  attitude  of 
the  Managers'  Association.  Once 
begun,  it  assumed  portentous  dimen 
sions,  far  beyond  the  expectations 
or  control  of  its  leaders,  paralyz 
ing  nearly  every  railway  west  of 
Ohio. 

On  June  29th,  Eugene  V.  Debs, 
the  president  of  the  union,  addressed 
the  railroad  employes  of  the  country. 
"  The  struggle,"  he  wrote,  "with  the 
Pullman  Company  has  developed 
into  a  contest  between  the  produc 
ing  classes  and  the  money  power  of 
the  country.  .  .  .  The  contest  is 
now  on  between  the  railway  corpo 
rations  united  solidly  upon  the  one 
hand,  and  the  labor  forces  upon  the 
other.  ...  I  appeal  to  the  strik 
ers  everywhere  to  refrain  from  any 
act  of  violence.  ...  A  man  who 
will  destroy  property  or  violate  law 
is  an  enemy  and  not  a  friend  to  the  cause  of  labor." 

From  June  26th  to  July  jd,  the  date  when  troops  arrived, 
there  was,  indeed,  no  uncontrolled  violence  in  the  city.  Tur 
bulent  scenes  followed  an  injunction  issued  July  2d,  to  prevent 
Railway  Union  men  from  "  inducing "  employes  to  strike. 
Spite  of  Federal  and  State  troops,  deputy  marshals  and  city 
police,  thousands  of  angry  men  and  women  now  fell  to  burning^ 

726 


EUGENE    V.   DEBS 


VIOLENCE  AT  CHICAGO 

and  looting  property.  Over  two  thousand  cars  were  demol 
ished  or  robbed  and  miles  of  track  torn  up.  Workmen  re 
placing  strikers  continued  to  be  "persuaded  "  by  fair  means  and 
foul.  Interlocking  systems  of  track,  also  switches  and  engines 
were  deftly  rendered  useless.  The  Managers'  Association  was 
widely  believed  to  be  hiring  men  to  do  these  things  in  order 
to  pervert  public  opinion. 

Organized  labor  was  at  fault  in  not  having  done  its  utmost 
to  purge  its  ranks  of  those  who  in  a  strike  resorted  to  violent 
measures.  Nor  were  the  wealthy  and  respectable  blameless,  as 
they  had  brought  contempt  upon  law  and  government  by  cor 
ruptly  promoting  or  defeating  legislation,  and  evading  or 
violating  law  with  impunity,  through  bribery  and  otherwise.  It 
was  wholly  labor's  misfortune  that  its  blows  must  be  struck  in 
presence  of  an  irresponsible  and  highly  explosive  element,  usu 
ally  quite  distinct  from  the  strikers  themselves,  which  social 
conditions  have  developed  in  our  cities.  In  1*894  the  tide  eb 
bing  after  the  World's  Fair  had  left  stranded  in  Chicago  many 
representatives  of  this  semi-criminal  class. 


FREIGHT  CARS   OVERTURNED  BY  THE  STRIKERS 
From  a  fhotograpk  by  R.  D.  Cleveland 


'27 


THE  UNITED  STATES  IN  OUR  OWN  TIME 


CAMP  OF  THE   U.  S.   TROOPS   ON  THE  LAKE   FRONT,  CHICAGO 

(From  the  roof  of  the  Auditorium  Hotel) 
From  a  photograph  by  R.  D.  Cleveland 

On  July  yth  the  soldiers  received  orders,  in  case  of  any 
act  like  firing  upon  railroad  trains,  or  assaulting  trainmen, 
marshals  or  soldiers,  to  repel  these  assaults  by  the  use  of  fire 
arms.  Next  day  a  bloody  conflict  occurred  at  Hammond, 
Ind.,  one  employe  being  killed  by  the  mob  and  four  wounded. 
At  the  Monon  depot  thirty-five  regulars,  amid  ugly  hoots 
and  hisses,  long  kept  a  vast  crowd  at  bay.  Several  passenger 
trains  were  successfully  pulled  out,  which  frenzied  the  mob. 
Sticks  and  stones  flew.  The  hoodlums  charged,  were  forced 
back  by  bayonets,  then  rallied  and  made  another  rush,  when 
twelve  or  fifteen  of  them  were  shot  down. 

On  July  loth,  Sovereign,  their  General  Master  Work 
man,  bade  the  Knights  of  Labor  "  lay  down  the  implements 
of  toil  for  a  short  season  and  under  the  banner  of  peace,  and 
with  a  patriotic  desire  to  promote  the  public  welfare,  use  the 
powers  of  their  aggregate  numbers,  through  peaceable  assem 
blages,  to  create  a  healthy  public  sentiment  in  favor  of  an 
amicable  settlement  of  the  issues  growing  out  of  the  strike." 
In  the  East  the  Knights  ignored  this  order,  but  it  was  obeyed 


COLLAPSE  OF  THE  STRIKE 


BURNED   CARS   IN  THE   C.   B.    &  ^  YARDS  AT  HAWTHORNE,   CHICAGO 
From  a  photograph  by  R.  D.  Cleveland 

in  Chicago,  where  industry  was  half  paralyzed  already,  and 
also  farther  west.  By  the  iith  the  strike  had  extended  to 
North  Dakota,  Montana,  Idaho,  Washington,  Wyoming  and 
New  Mexico,  when  President  Cleveland  issued  a  proclama 
tion  calculated  to  prevent  riotous  assemblages.  On  July 
1 7th,  Debs,  Howard  and  Keliher,  head  officers  of  the 
Railway  Union,  were  arrested  and  lodged  in  jail  for  contempt 
in  disobeying  injunctions  of  court.  On  the  I9th  indictments 
were  found  against  them  and  thirty-nine  others.  The  worst 
was  now  over.  The  excesses  of  lawless  men  had  so  effectu 
ally  alienated  public  sympathy  from  Debs  and  his  cause  that 
as  soon  as  these  leaders  were  in  durance  the  strike  collapsed. 

The  number  of  men  involved  in  this  strike,  the  miles  of 
road  it  tied  up,  and  the  size  of  the  mobs  it  mustered  was 
greater  than  in  the  strike  of  1877,  but  the  loss  of  life 
was  probably  less.  The  property  destroyed  was  also  less. 
"  The  cost  to  the  State  and  national  government  of  the  Pull 
man  and  railroad  strike  was  at  least  $1,000,000  for  troops. 
The  100,000  employes  on  the  twenty-four  roads  centering 
in  Chicago  lost  in  wages  $1,389,143,  according  to  the  testi 
mony  before  the  Commission,  while  the  Pullman  employes 


THE  UNITED  STATES  IN  OUR  OWN  TIME 

lost  $350,000  in  wages.  The  railroads  lost  in  property  de 
stroyed,  pay  of  United  States  Marshals  and  other  incidental 
expenses,  $685,308  and  $4,673,000  in  earnings,  while  the  large 
loss  to  shippers  and  the  traveling  public,  all  over  the  vast 
strike  district  of  2,500  miles  length  from  east  to  west  and 
1,500  from  north  to  south,  it  is  impossible  to  estimate. "*  That 
life  and  capital  suffered  no  more  was  in  great  measure  due  to 
prompt  and  decisive  though  widely  unpopular  action  by  the 
authorities  at  Washington,  exhibiting,  in  a  manner  which 
astonished  many,  the  strength  which  the  central  power  in  our 
government  had  gradually  acquired.  When  the  federal  sol 
diers  appeared  in  Chicago,  Governor  Altgeld  protested  against 
their  presence,  declaring  his  official  ignorance  of  disorder  war 
ranting  federal  intervention,  denying  the  federal  authority  to 
send  troops  thither  except  upon  his  request,  and  asking  their 
withdrawal.  Mr.  Cleveland  answered  :  "  Federal  troops  were 
sent  to  Chicago  in  strict  accordance  with  the  Constitution  and 
laws  of  the  United  States,  upon  the  demand  of  the  Post-office 
Department  that  obstruction  of  the  mails  should  be  removed, 
and  upon  the  representation  of  the  judicial  officers  of  the 
United  States  that  process  of  the  federal  courts  could  not 
be  executed  through  the  ordinary  means,  and  upon  abundant 
proof  that  conspiracies  existed  against  commerce  between  the 
States.  To  meet  these  conditions,  which  are  clearly  within 
the  province  of  federal  authority,  the  presence  of  federal 
troops  in  the  city  of  Chicago  was  deemed  not  only  proper  but 
necessary." 

Others  besides  Governor  Altgeld  disrelished  the  presence 
of  regulars  in  Chicago.  One  reason  was  that  at  this  time  the 
militia,  snubbed  when  the  Federal  troops  marched  in,  had  be 
come,  in  Illinois  as  elsewhere,  an  object  of  reliance  and  State 
pride.  The  strike  of  1 877,  approximating  an  insurrection, 
was  followed  by  preparations  to  meet  future  similar  disturb 
ances  with  a  more  efficient  arm  than  the  militia  had  in  that 

*  Revue  d' Economic  Politique. 
75° 


RISE  OF  THE  NATIONAL  GUARD 

crisis  proved  to  be.  The  Atlantic  States  first,  and  ultimately 
all  the  States,  revised  all  their  militia  laws,  reorganizing,  re- 
uniforming  and  disciplining  anew  the  citizen  soldiery  after 
the  pattern  of  the  regular  army.  Congress  mightily  encour 
aged  this  movement  by  making  for  the  militia  federal  pro 
vision  of  arms,  ordnance  and  quartermaster  stores  and  camp 
equipage.*  After  1887  four  hundred  thousand  dollars  was 
yearly  appropriated  for  this  purpose,  the  sums  varying  with 
the  size  of  State  delegations — Senators  and  Representatives — 
in  Congress.  All  stores  obtained  by  this  fund  had  to  be  of 
the  regular  army  standard,  and  they  remained  the  property  of 
the  United  States,  to  be  duly  accounted  for  by  State  gov 
ernors  each  year.  Officers  of  the  regular  army  could  also 
be  detailed  as  militia  inspectors  when  States  desired  them,  as 
most  did. 

In  1 895  over  thirty  States  held  weekly  drills,  while  twenty- 
six  States  held  militia  encampments  for  drill  and  inspection. 
In  the  percentage  attending  encampment,  Vermont,  with  96 
per  cent.,  was  the  banner  State.  Army  officers  were  on  duty 
in  thirty-three  States,  inspecting,  advising  and  giving  instruc 
tion.  The  time  required  for  mobilization  varied  from  three 
hours  in  the  District  of  Columbia  to  three  days  in  Oregon, 
while  the  proportion  of  the  commands  which  would  probably 
respond  to  an  emergency  ranged  from  50  per  cent,  in  Minne 
sota,  Mississippi,  Oregon  and  South  Dakota,  to  95  per  cent, 
in  New  York  and  Pennsylvania.  New  York,  however,  sup 
plemented  the  United  States  appropriation  by  a  large  one  of 
its  own,  amounting  for  many  years  to  $430,000.  In  nearly 
half  the  States  the  equipment  was  very  good,  or  at  leasi:  good. 
Artillery  was  nearly  everywhere  inferior.  The  total  strength 
of  the  organized  militia,  officers  and  men,  amounted  in  1895 
to  112,879.  The  term  "National  Guard"  grew  in  favor  as  an 
appellation  for  the  militia,  and  in  that  year  thirty-six  States 
-employed  it.  Some  States  introduced  a  "  Naval  Reserve," 

*  United  States  Revised  Statutes,  Section  1661,  amended  February  11,   1887. 


THE  UNITED  STATES  IN  OUR  OWN  TIME 

which  promised  well  as  corresponding  on  sea  to  the  militia  on 
land.  In  addition  to  this  active,  organized  volunteer  force,  the 
mass  of  able-bodied  citizens,  liable  on  emergency  to  military 
duty,  was  rated  as  a  division  of  the  militia.  The  whole  num 
ber  of  men  in  the  country  available  for  military  duty  was,  in 
1895,  over  10,000,000.  The  improvement  in  the  militia  force 
due  to  these  sweeping  changes  was  incalculable.  Arms  were 
still  to  some  extent  antiquated  and  diverse,  and  the  proportions 
of  cavalry  and  of  artillery  too  small ;  yet  the  new  National 


THE  TOWN  OF  HJNCKLET  BEFORE  THE   FIRE* 

Guard  was  a  formidable  army,  if  not  comparable  with  the 
regulars,  almost  as  little  comparable  with  the  old  militia 
which  it  had  displaced. 

The  timorous  indeed  saw  a  menace  in  the  new  National 
Guard  and  went  so  far,  some  of  them,  as  to  dub  our  costly 
new  armories  "  Plutocracy's  Bastiles."  But  far  more  alarm 
was  felt,  especially  among  wage-workers  at  the  peculiar  uses 

*  In  the  early  days  of  September,  1894,  destructive  fires  swept  through  the  pine  forests  of  cen 
tral  and  eastern  Minnesota.  Not  far  from  four  hundred  square  miles  were  burned  over.  Hinck- 
ley  and  seven  other  hamlets  were  destroyed  ;  some  four  hundred  lives  lost,  two  thousand  people 
left  destitute,  and  about  one  million  dollars  worth  of  property  destroyed.  ( The  pictures  are  from., 
photographs  by  W.  G.  Hopps. ) 


NOVEL  USE  OF  INJUNCTIONS 

to  which,  after  1887,  federal  tribunals  applied  injunctions  and 
process  for  contempt  of  court.  The  judges  first  construed  the 
Inter-State  Commerce  Law  as  authorizing  them  to  enjoin 
engineers  from  abandoning  trains.  Such  an  injunction  being 
disobeyed,  offending  workmen  and  any  officers  under  whose  or 
ders  they  acted  were  forthwith  imprisoned  for  contempt,  no  jury 
trial  being  had.  Early  in  1894  a  United  States  Circuit  Court 
injunction  forbade  Northern  Pacific  employes  to  strike  in  a 


HINCKLF.r  AFTER   THE   FIRE 


body,  assuming  that  the  purpose  of  such  an  act  must  be  to 
cripple  the  road.  For  contempt  of  his  injunctions  issued  dur 
ing  the  Pullman  strike,  in  December  of  the  same  year,  Judge 
Woods  sentenced  Debs  to  six  months'  imprisonment,  and  the 
other  leaders  to  three  months  each,  under  the  so-called  "Anti- 
Trust  Law."  These  novelties  aroused  indignation  among 
the  radicals,  and  clothed  with  scowls  faces  wont  to  smile  upon 
all  measures  for  disciplining  wage-workers.  Even  the  New 
York  Evening  Post  uttered  warning  against  it.  Said  the  Spring 
field  (Mass.)  Republican,  after  Debs  had  been  sentenced: 
"  This  action  of  the  judicial  power  cannot  be  allowed  to  go 


THE  UNITED  STATES  IN  OUR  OWN  TIME 


NICHOLAS   E.  IfORTHINGTON 


without  rebuke.  It  makes  for  the 
subversion  of  the  most  fundamental 
rights  of  American  citizens.  If  Debs 
has  been  violating  law  let  him  be  in 
dicted,  tried  by  a  jury  and  punished; 
let  him  not  be  made  the  victim  of  an 
untenable  court  order  and  deprived  of 
his  liberty  entirely  within  the  discre 
tion  of  a  judge.  The  right  of  trial  by 
jury  for  criminal  offences  lies  at  the 
bed-rock  of  free  institutions.  It  can 
not  be  denied  without  placing  the 
liberty  of  every  citizen  in  jeopardy. 
If  the  precedent  now  established  is  to  stand,  there  is  no  limit  to 
the  power  which  the  judiciary  may  establish  over  the  citizen." 
In  one  point,  indeed,  laborers'  rights  were  maintained.  The 
United  States  Court  of  Appeals  held  that  in  the  absence 
of  an  express  contract  a  workman  without  the  right  to  strike 
at  will  "  is  in  a  condition  of  involuntary  servitude — a  condi 
tion  which  the  supreme  law  of  the  land  declares  shall  not 
exist  within  the  United  States."  This  judgment  the  Supreme 
Court  did  not  reverse,  leaving  it  to  be  understood  that  railroad 
employes  might  combine  to  quit  work  in  a  body  yet  commit 
no  illegal  act.  But  the  higher  court  emphatically  affirmed  the 
legitimacy  of  enjoining  violent  interference  with  railroads  and 
of  enforcing  the  injunction  by  punishing  contempt.  To  be 
within  the  law,  a  strike  must  be  absolutely  peaceable. 

Late  in  July,  1894,  the  President  appointed  John  D.  Ker- 
nan,  of  New  York,  and  Nicholas  E.  Worthington,  of  Illinois, 
to  serve  with  Carroll  D.  Wright,  Commissioner  of  Labor,  as  a 
commission  to  investigate  the  nature  and  causes  of  the  Pullman 
strike.  The  Commission  spoke  of  the  Managers'  Association 
as  "  an  illustration  of  the  persistent  and  shrewdly  devised  plans 
of  corporations  to  overreach  their  limitations  and  to  usurp  in 
directly  powers  and  rights  not  contemplated  in  their  charters 

734 


A  STRIKE  COMMISSION  APPOINTED 


J.  D.   KERN  AN 


and  not  obtainable  from  the  people  or 
their  legislators."  They  announced 
the  view  that,  as  combination  goes  on, 
something  approaching  governmental 
control  must  be  exercised  over  quasi- 
public  corporations.  The  report  even 
suggested,  cautiously,  that,  at  the 
proper  juncture,  government  owner 
ship  might  be  undertaken.  It  also 
noted  the  fact  that  "  until  the  rail 
roads  set  the  example,  a  general  union 
of  railroad  employes  was  never  at 
tempted."  It  recommended  a  perma 
nent  United  States  Railroad  Strike  Commission  of  three  to  in 
vestigate  railway  labor  difficulties  and  recommend  settlements 
enforceable  by  the  courts.  It  urged  that  labor  unions  should 
be  encouraged  to  incorporate,  and  be  required  to  provide  that  all 
members  guilty  of  violence,  lawlessness  or  intimidation  forfeit 
their  rights  and  privileges.  The  licensing  of  railway  employes 
was  mentioned  as  deserving  careful  attention.  The  Com 
mission  suggested  State  boards  of  conciliation  and  arbi 
tration  like  that  of  Massachusetts,  with  larger  powers, 
and  proposed  that  contracts  requiring  men,  as  conditions 
of  employment,  not  to  join  labor  organizations,  or,  if 
members,  to  leave  them,  be  made  illegal.  Federal  Judge 
Ricks,  of  Cleveland,  has  for  the  present  (1896)  shut  the  door 
against  this  last  measure  by  pronouncing  such  a  law  in  Ohio 
unconstitutional  and  void.  Arbitration  bills,  however,  were 
introduced  in  several  legislatures,  and  a  board,  like  that  of 
Massachusetts,  was  provided  for  in  Illinois. 

A  California  public  opinion  nearly  unanimous  supported 
the  Pullman  strike.  In  that  State  any  movement  "  against  the 
railroad  "  was  popular,  so  that  there  Kearneyism,  treated  in  a 
previous  chapter,  was  one  scene,  and  the  strike  of  1894  an 
other,  of  the  same  drama. 

735 


THE  UNITED  STATES  IN  OUR  OWN  TIME 

Nearly  the  entire  railway  system  of  California,  together 
with  the  two  railroad  gateways  to  the  East,  was  in  the  hands 
of  the  Southern  Pacific  monopoly.  It  resulted  that,  if  water 
competition  were  also  cut  off",  an  independent  California  dealer 
could  hardly  with  profit  ship  goods  to  or  from  the  East.* 
This  fact  in  view,  the  Southern  Pacific  Company,  under  the 
alias  of  the  Pacific  Mail  Company,  contracted  with  the  Panama 
Railroad  for  exclusive  privileges.  In  consideration  of  a  sub 
sidy  varying  between  $65,000  and  $110,000  per  month,  not 
more  than  one-sixth  of  the  increased  profits  accruing  to  the 
Southern  Pacific  from  the  deal,  the  isthmus  railroad  declined  to 
receive  freight  from  independent  carriers  on  the  coast.  This 
control  of  business  with  the  East  was  enough  by  itself  to  place 
the  railroad's  hand  upon  every  Californian's  pocket,  but  that 
was  not  the  worst.  The  Southern  Pacific  seemed  bent  on 
forcing  interior  districts  to  trade  with  the  East,  or  with  Asia, 
costly  as  this  was,  to  the  detriment  of  San  Francisco.  Rates 
between  that  city  and  other  points  in  California  were  often  over 
twice  as  high  as  from  New  York.  Tea  direct  from  Tokio  cost 
inland  merchants  less  than  tea  from  San  Francisco.  However 
cheaply  goods  might  reach  the  Golden  Gate,  unless  they  were 
consigned  to  some  inland  point,  high  freights  from  San  Fran 
cisco  on  prohibited  them  from  taking  this  route.  The  effect, 
and  obviously  also  the  purpose,  of  this  discrimination  was  to 
turn  the  entire  eastern  commerce  of  the  coast  to  New  Orleans 
as  its  seaport,  whence  all  business  to  the  far  West  was  absolutely 
monopolized  by  the  Southern  Pacific.  In  most  parts  of  Cali 
fornia  the  question  whether  one  could  profitably  grow  fruit  or 
wheat,  or  engage  in  manufacturing  or  trade,  turned  entirely 
upon  freight  charges.  One  large  ranch-owner  vowed  that  until 
another  railroad  was  built  he  would  raise  nothing  that  could  not 
carry  itself  to  market  on  its  own  legs.  A  common  sight  in 
California,  perhaps  observed  nowhere  else  in  the  world,  was 
teams  of  horses,  mules  or  oxen  hauling  merchandise  in  com- 

*See  Harper's  Weekly,  for  March  2,    1895. 
736 


CALIFORNIANS  AND  THE  RAILROAD 

petition  with  railroad  trains.  It  was  true  that  rates  were  tending 
to  fall  and  that  some  schedules  seem  to  have  been  reasonable. 
It  was  urged  that  having  to  maintain  long  stretches  of  rails 
through  deserts  like  those  of  Nevada,  expensive  but  no  more 
profitable  than  so  much  bridge,  the  railroad  must  charge  all 
that  the  traffic  would  bear.  It  was  true  that  some  California!! 
manufacturers  found  high  westward  freight  rates  operating  as 
a  protective  tariff  against  the  East  and  therefore  were  not  en 
thusiastic  for  reducing  them.  It  was  also  true  that  the  elec 
tive  State  Board  of  Equalization  and  the  elective  Railroad 
Commission  had  final  authority  respectively  to  assess  railroad 
property  and  to  fix  railroad  rates.  But  these  Kearneyite- 
Granger  devices  had  only  driven  the  railroad  more  deeply 
into  State  politics.  "  All  parties  have  shared  in  controlling 
the  Railroad  Commission,  the  railroad  seems  to  have  con 
trolled  all  parties."  *  An  apologist  for  the  railroad  writes  ac 
follows  :  "  They  were  forced  in  self-defense  to  exert  their  in 
fluence  in  nominating  conventions  or  at  the  polls,  in  doing 
which,  it  is  not  to  be  presumed  that  their  course  differed  from 
that  of  other  participants  in  politics  who  have  large  interests 
affected  by  the  administration  of  the  government.  .  .  .  As  in 
Dean  Richmond's  time  in  Albany,  the  corporation  has  gone 
forth  without  the  lamp  of  Diogenes  in  search  of  an  honest  man 
who  would  stay  bought.  That  he  has  successfully  dodged  it 
no  one  believes.  That  the  moral  effect  is  bad  no  one  denies. 
But  the  resident  observer  is  impressed  by  the  number  who  fear 
they  will  be  missed  in  the  dark  and  therefore  cry  out  against 
the  c  octopus  '  to  show  where  they  stand."  "f 

But  people  had  no  mind  to  starve  for  the  sake  of 
corporations  which  had  enriched  their  promoters  with  mil 
lions.  The  Reilly  bill,  introduced  in  Congress  in  1894,  to 
refund  at  two  per  cent,  for  fifty  years  the  Southern  Pacific's 
Central  Pacific  debt  of  some  $60,000,000,  incensed  all  Cali- 

*  See  Annah  of  the  American  Academy,  Vol.  vi.,  109. 
fSee  Overland  Monthly  for  June,   1895. 

737 


THE  UNITED  STATES  IN  OUR  OWN  TIME 


some  of  them  tried. 


fornia.  A  petition  against  it,  circu 
lated  by  the  San  Francisco  Examiner, 
received  over  200,000  signatures,  a 
number  nearly  equal  to  that  of  all 
California's  voters.  Each  mail  brought 
Congressmen  envelopes  bearing  red- 
letter  legends  such  as  "  The  Grip  of 
the  Octopus !  "  or  "  How  Congress 
men  are  Bribed''  Circulars  were  inside, 
many  of  which,  for  spirit  and  bitter 
ness,  rivaled  Junius. 

Numerous  schemes  for  attaining 
freedom  had  been  considered,  and 
A  merchant  had  to  make  an  enormous 
shipment  East.  He  was  informed  that  the  company  "  had 
him  in  the  door  and  was  going  to  squeeze  him."  He  hired 
a  steamship  and  sent  his  goods  around  the  Horn.  His  rates 
were  subsequently  halved.  In  1892  the  Merchants'  Traffic 
Association  of  San  Francisco  put  a  line  of  vessels  on  the 
Cape  Horn  route.  The  monopoly  at  once  deserted  its  small 
partner  in  Panama.  The  Panama  line  was  taken  up  by  the 
San  Franciscans,  who  raised  a  fund  of  $300,000  for  its  main 
tenance  and  connected  both  its  ends  with  speedy  steamships. 
This  reduced  transcontinental  tariffs  forty  per  cent.,  saving 
California  $500,000  a  month  ;  but  when  the  contract  expired, 
in  the  spring  of  1894,  the  merchants  found  that  their  work 
had  been  philanthropic  rather  than  profitable,  and  they  with 
drew  exhausted.  In  January,  1895,  a  meeting  of  delegates  dis 
cussed  bonding  the  central  counties  of  California  to  construct 
railways  within  their  limits.  Next  day  leading  men  of  wealth 
in  San  Francisco  called  for  $350,000  for  a  road  through  the 
rich  San  Joaquin  Valley,  ultimately  to  connect  San  Francisco 
with  Southern  California  and  with  the  Santa  Fe  railway  sys 
tem.  Capitalists  and  financiers,  notably  Claus  Spreckles  and 
his  sons,  also  James  D.  Phelan  and  James  Flood,  supported  the 


INDIAN  LAND  IN  SEVERALTY 

enterprise,  which  bade  fair  to  consume  millions  of  dollars  instead 
of  thousands.  The  managing  committee  announced  that  "  the 
good,  the  advancement,  the  future,  the  prosperity  of  the  State 
of  California  demanded  a  people's  railroad,  to  be  owned  by  the 
people,  and  operated  in  the  interests  of  the  people."  The 
experiment  was  watched  with  deep  concern,  lest  this  young 
enterprise  should  be  smothered  by  the  "  Octopus."  Though 
a  careful  plan  was  devised  to  prevent  this,  acute  students  of 
the  movement  and  of  the  events  leading  to  it  believed  that 
nothing  short  of  a  governmental  or  State  railway  system 
would  meet  the  requirements  of  California. 

Amid  the  momentous  events  just  narrated,  the  public  for 
the  moment  lost  sight  of  a  reform  set  on  foot  in  1887  despite 
many  unforeseen  difficulties.  The  severally  system  in  Indian 
lands  already  began  to  bear  fruit  in  1893  and  1894,  and 
promised  a  radical  advance  in  the  life  of  our  national  wards. 
As  a  result  of  this  measure  many  friends  of  the  red  man  seemed 
now  to  foresee  the  day  when  the  tribal  organization,  with  its 
inevitable  repression  of  the  individual,  would  be  a  thing  of  the 
past. 

Up  to  1887  most  Indian  communities  had  no  notion  ot 
individual  land  tenure,  and  no  opportunity  under  the  law  to 
change  their  primitive  common  occupation  of  the  land. 
Moreover  it  was  impossible  for  the  aborigines  to  become  citi 
zens,  except  by  abandoning  their  own  race.  The  obvious 
mischief  of  a  government  policy  tolerating  such  results  had 
been  recognized  in  sundry  special  laws  and  treaties  which 
sought  to  amend  it  in  one  or  both  of  its  phases. 

The  earliest  known  reference  to  the  individual  ownership 
of  land  by  Indians  is  in  an  Act  of  the  General  Court  of 
Massachusetts,  passed  in  October,  1652,  as  follows  :* 

"  It  is  therefore  ordered  and  enacted  by  this  Court  and  the 

*  For  the  history  he  represented  of  the  rise  of  the  Indians'  Land  in  Severally  System  the  author 
is  indebted  to  the  politeness  of  Hon.  D.  M.  Browning,  Commissioner  of  Indian  Affairs,  and  to 
research  put  forth  in  his  office. 

739 


THE  UNITED  STATES  IN  OUR  OWN  TIME 


INDIANS  KILLING  CATTLE  AT  STANDING  ROCK,   NORTH  DAKOTA 
From  a  photograph  by  Barry 

authority  thereof,  that  what  landes  any  of  the  Indians,  within 
this  jurisdiction,  have  by  possession  or  improvement,  by  sub- 
dueing  of  the  same,  they  have  just  right  thereunto  accordinge 
to  that  Gen:  i:  28,  Chap.  9:1,  Psa  :  115,  16." 

It  was  further  provided  that  any  Indians  who  became 
civilized  might  acquire  land  by  allotment  in  the  white  settle 
ments  on  the  same  terms  as  the  English. * 

The  earliest  known  reference  to  severalty  holding  found 
in  any  United  States  treaty  with  the  Indians  is  in  Article  8  of 
the  treaty  of  July  8,  1817,  with  the  Cherokees,f  by  which  the 
United  States  agreed  to  give  a  reservation  of  640  acres  to  each 
and  every  head  of  any  Indian  family  residing  on  the  east  side 
of  the  Mississippi  River  who  might  wish  to  become  a  citizen 

*  See  Senate  Ex.  Doc. No  95,  48th  Cong.,  2d  Sess.,  p.  50. 
f  7  United  States  Statutes,   159. 

740 


EARLIEST    SEVERALTY  LEGISLATION 

of  the  United  States.      In  such  reservation  holders  were  to  have 
a  life  estate,  with  reversion  in  fee  simple  to  their  children. 

The  earliest  legislation  on  the  subject  appears  to  be  the 
Act  of  March  3,  1839,*  which  provided  that  the  reservation 
of  the  Brotherton  or  Brothertown  Indians,  might  be  parti 
tioned  and  divided  among  the  different  individuals  of  the 
tribe,  and  held  by  them  in  fee  simple.  The  act  also  provided 
for  the  issuance  of  patents,  and  for  Indian  citizenship  in  terms 
similar  to  those  of  the  "  Dawes  Act "  mentioned  later  (p.  352). 
The  act  of  1839  ma7  safely  be  considered  the  inception  of  the 
modern  system  of  allotments  in  severalty.  An  act  like  it  was 
passed  for  the  Stockbridge  Indians  March  3,  1843.")*  A  treaty 
similar  in  terms  was  concluded  with  Wyandotte  Indians,  April 
i,  18504  By  the  treaty  of  March  15,  1854,  with  the  "  Ottoe 
and  Missouria  "  Indians, §  and  also  by  the  treaty  of  March 
1 6,  1854,  with  the  Omahas,||  the  President  might  parcel  from 
the  reservation  lands  to  each  single  person  over  18  years  of 
age  one-eighth  of  a  section,  and  to  each  family  a  quantity  pro 
portioned  to  its  size.  Such  allotments  were  practically  inalien 
able.  A  number  of  subsequent  treaties  included  similar 
provisions,  some  providing  for  alienation  with  consent  of  the 
President  or  Secretary  of  the  Interior,  others  for  patents  in  fee 
simple.  Some  also  contemplated  the  naturalization  of  the 
allottees. 

Thus  far  all  provisions  for  the  allotment  of  Indians' 
lands  in  severalty  were  restricted  to  particular  tribes.  The 
first  reference  to  a  general  system  of  allotments  was  in  1873, 
when  Edward  P.  Smith,  then  Indian  Commissioner,  in  his 
Annual  Report,  mentioned  the  hindrance  to  the  progress  of 
the  Indians  "  found  in  a  want  of  individual  property-rights 
among  Indians.  A  fundamental  difference  between  barbarians 
and  a  civilized  people  is  the  difference  between  a  herd  and  an 
individual.  All  barbarous  customs  tend  to  destroy  individu- 

*Ibid.,  5,349.  flbid.,  5,645.  JIbid.,  9,987. 

\  Ibid.,  10,   1,038.  |j  Ibid.,  10.,  1,044. 


THE  UNITED  STATES  IN  OUR  OWN  TIME 

ality.  Where  everything  is  held  in  common,  thrift  and  en 
terprise  have  no  stimulus  of  reward,  and  thus  individual  pro 
gress  is  rendered  very  improbable,  if  not  impossible.  The 
starting-point  of  individualism  for  an  Indian  is  the  personal 
possession  of  his  portion  of  the  reservation.  ...  In  order  to 
this  first  step,  the  survey  and  allotment  in  severalty  of  the 
lands  belonging  to  the  Indians  must  be  provided  for  by  con 
gressional  legislation." 

The  next  year  Commissioner  Smith  recommended  pro 
viding  for  the  Indians,  first,  a  way  into  citizenship,  and  sec 
ond,  a  land-tenure  in  severalty  by  allotment  with  an  ultimate 
fee,  but  inalienable  for  a  term  of  years.  In  1876  Commis 
sioner  John  Q.  Smith  repeated  his  predecessor's  views.  "  It 
is  doubtful,"  he  said,  "  whether  any  high  degree  of  civilization 
is  possible  without  individual  ownership  of  land.  It  seems  to 
me  a  matter  of  great  moment  that  provision  should  be  made 
not  only  permitting,  but  requiring,  the  head  of  each  Indian 
family  to  accept  the  allotment  of  a  reasonable  amount  of  land, 
to  be  the  property  of  himself  and  his  lawful  heirs,  in  lieu  of 
any  interest  in  any  common  tribal  possessions.  Such  allot 
ments  should  be  inalienable  for  at  least  twenty,  perhaps  fifty 
years,  and  if  situated  in  a  permanent  Indian  reservation,  should 
be  transferrable  only  among  Indians." 

So,  too,  the  annual  report  of  Commissioner  E.  A.  Hayt, 
for  1877,  put  as  fundamental  to  Indian  civilization,  "  Endow 
ment  of  the  Indians  with  lands,  divided  into  farms  of  conven 
ient  size,  the  title  to  which  shall  be  vested  in  individuals  and 
inalienable  for  twenty  years  ;  and  the  promotion  in  every  fea 
sible  way  of  the  knowledge  of  agriculture  and  a  taste  for 
agricultural  pursuits  among  them." 

The  same  officer  a  year  later  again  urged  the  importance 
tor; the  Indians  "of  a  uniform  and  perfect  title  to  their  lands," 
and  "continued  :  "  The  constant  removals  incident  to  the  former 
land  policy  of  the  Indian  service  have  been  freighted  with  evil 
consequences  to  the  Indians.  Even  when  placed  upon  reser- 

742 


COMMISSIONER  HAYT'S  REPORT 


A  TYPICAL   INDIAN  CAMP 


vations  they  have  come  to  consider,  notwithstanding  the  most 
solemn  guarantees  from  the  United  States  that  the  same  should 
be  kept  sacred  and  remain  theirs  forever,  that  the  title  to  their 
land  is  without  permanency,  and  that  they  are  subject  to  be 
removed  whenever  the  pressure  of  white  settlers  upon  them 
may  create  a  demand  for  their  lands  either  before  Congress  or 
the  Department.  So  fixed  has  this  opinion  become  among 
the  more  civilized  tribes,  that  in  the  main  they  decline  to  make 
any  improvements  upon  their  lands,  even  after  an  allotment 
in  severalty  has  been  made,  until  they  have  received  their 
patents  for  the  same.  The  Secretary  of  the  Interior  should 
be  authorized  by  a  law  applicable  to  all  the  tribes  to  allot  the 
lands  in  such  reservations  among  the  Indians  belonging  there 
on,  and  to  issue  patents  therefor  without  the  right  to  sell,, 

743    • 


THE  UNITED  STATES  IN  OUR  OWN  TIME 

mortgage,  lease  or  otherwise  alienate  the  same  for  the  term  of 
twenty-five  years.  Such  an  act  would,  I  am  satisfied,  afford 
to  the  Indians  the  degree  of  protection  necessary  to  their  civil 
ization  and  lead  them  gradually  to  a  full  comprehension  of  the 
rights,  privileges,  duties  and  responsibilities  of  American  citi 
zenship,  which  I  shall  hope  to  see  accorded  them  whenever  in 
the  future  they  may  become  fully  competent." 

In  1879  Commissioner  Hayt  embodied  his  views  in  a 
bill  introduced  in  the  Forty-fifth  Congress.  Similar  measures 
appeared  in  each  succeeding  Congress  until  the  Forty-ninth, 
which  in  February,  1887,  enacted  the  so-called  "General 
Allotment,"  or  "  Dawes  "  Act.*  This  measure  authorized  the 
President,  through  special  agents,  to  allot  in  severalty  to  In 
dians  thereon  located  any  reservation  land  considered  fit  for 
agriculture  and  grazing.  Each  head  of  a  family  to  receive 
one-quarter  of  a  section,  each  other  adult  one-eighth  of  a  sec 
tion.  Orphan  children  and  minors  were  also  provided  for. 
The  Indians  themselves  were  to  select  the  land.  Such  In 
dians  as  lived  outside  the  limits  of  a  reservation  or  claimed  no 
tribal  relationship  might  also  receive  land  under  this  law.  To 
•each  allottee  the  United  States  was  to  issue  a  patent,  pledging 
itself  to  hold  the  land  in  trust  for  a  period  of  twenty-five  years. 
Any  conveyance  or  contract  made  during  this  period,  touch 
ing  the  allotments,  was  null  and  void.  At  the  end  of  this 
time  the  land  was  to  be  conveyed  to  the  allottee. 

The  Act  constituted  any  Indian  born  within  the  limits  of 
the  United  States  to  whom  any  allotment  of  land  was  made, 
or  who  had  adopted  the  habits  of  civilized  life,  a  citizen  of  the 
United  States.  The  rights  and  duties  of  every  allottee,  it  was 
declared,  were  to  be  regulated  by  the  civil  and  criminal  laws  of 
the  state  or  territory  in  which  he  resided.  Four  years  later, 
upon  recommendation  of  the  Indian  Office,  the  law  was  modi 
fied  so  as  to  give  each  member  of  a  tribe  an  equal  quantity  of 
land.  By  the  amended  law  one-eighth  of  a  section  was  speci- 

*  24  United  States  Statutes,  388. 
744 


METHOD  OF  ALLOTMENT 

fied  for  all  allotments,  though  if  the  extent  of  the  reservation 
was  sufficient  a  larger  allotment  might  be  made.  In  cases  ap 
proved  by  the  Secretary  of  the  Interior  allotments  might  be 
leased.  The  new  law  also  embodied  regulations  regarding  the 
descent  of  land  to  the  heirs  of  a  deceased  Indian. 


745 


CHAPTER   XXV 

THE    SOUTH    AND    THE    NEGRO    IN   THE 
LIGHT   OF   THE  ELEVENTH    CENSUS 

THE     "NEW  SOUTH." EVENTS   DENOTING    GOOD  FEELING    BETWEEN 

SOUTH  AND  NORTH. DEDICATION    OF  THE  CHICKAMAUGA  MILITARY 

PARK. THE    GEN.    LYTLE    BUTTON    INCIDENT. THE    PARADE. THE 

COTTON  STATES  AND  INTERNATIONAL  EXPOSITION. OPENING. THE 

ADDRESSES. BOOKER       T.       WASHINGTON'S      SPEECH. — PROCEEDINGS 

TELEGRAPHED  TO  PRESIDENT  CLEVELAND. HIS  REPLY. THE  MA 
CHINERY  SET  IN  MOTION  FROM  GRAY  GABLES. ATLANTA'S  EFFORT  IN 

ORIGINATING  THE  EXPOSITION. GROUNDS  AND  BUILDINGS. SUC 
CESS. THE  NEGRO  BUILDING. THE  EXPOSITION'S  REVELATIONS  OF 

SOUTHERN       PROSPERITY. BACKWARDNESS      IN       SECTIONS. — THREE 

BLACK  BELTS. ILL-SUCCESS  OF  THE  NEGRO   AS  A   FARMER. JEWS  AND 

NEGROES. PROGRESS    OF    THE  SOUTH   AT  LARGE. — COMPARED  WITH 

THE  WEST. THE  SOUTH  IN  1860,  1870,  AND  l88o. — MATERIAL  PRO 
GRESS  BETWEEN  1880  AND  1890. IN  AGRICULTURE. IN  MANUFAC 
TURES. IN  MINING. VAST  UNDEVELOPED  RESOURCES. THE  NEW 

SOUTH  CREATED  BY  SOUTHERN  MEN. CHARACTER  OF  THE  SOUTHERN 

WHITES. THEIR    RESOLUTION. THEIR     PATRIOTISM. TREATMENT 

OF  THE  DRINK  QUESTION. SOUTH  CAROLINA  DISPENSARY  SYS 
TEM. EFFECTUAL  PROHIBITION. REACTION  AGAINST  LYNCHING. — 

DREADFUL  DIFFICULTY  OF  THE  RACE  QUESTION. WHITE  SUPREM 
ACY  AT  THE  POLLS  ATTAINED. ACQUIESCENCE. CODDLING  OF 

THE  NEGRO  DEPRECATED. UNDOUBTED  BRIGHTNESS  OF  THE  AFRI 
CAN  RACE. THE  DEFECTS  OF  THAT  RACE. IMMORALITY. LACK 

OF  ORIGINALITY. LITTLE  PERSISTENCE. GOOD  WORK  UNDER  OVER 
SEERS. WHITES  MULTIPLY  MORE  RAPIDLY  THAN  BLACKS. CERTAIN 

DISTRICTS     OFFER     AN       EXCEPTION. NEGRO       MORTALITY. BLACK 

MIGRATION      FROM     THE     HIGHLANDS      TO     THE     LOWLANDS. FROM 

COUNTRY  TO  CITY. FUTURE  OF  THE  RACE. INTENSIFIED  COMPETI 
TION  FROM  WHITE  IMMIGRANTS. DYING  OFF  OF  THE  LAST  SLAVE 
HOLDER  GENERATION. SIGNIFICANCE  OF  THIS  TO  THE  BLACK  MAN. 

IN  the  midst  of  the  war,  while  Port  Royal,  South  Carolina, 
was  in  possession  of  the  Northern  forces,  a  paper  called 
The  New  South  was  established  there  by  General  Adam 
Badeau.  The  name,  thus  originated,  anticipated  by  a  dozen 
dark  years  the  happy  phenomenon  to  which  it  is  now  applied. 
Events  of  1895  strikingly  brought  before  the  people  the  sig- 

747 


THE   UNITED  STATES  IN  OUR  OWN  TIME 

nificance  of  the  New  South,  and  its  harmony  with  the  rest  of" 
the  Republic.  The  era  of  good  feeling  could  perhaps  be 
formally  dated  from  Memorial  Day,  1895,  when  a  Confederate 
monument  was  dedicated  at  Chicago.  It  was  well  signalized 
by  several  almost  simultaneous  events:  the  assembling  of  the 
Grand  Army  of  the  Republic  at  Louisville,  Ky.,  the  en 
campment  of  the  Sons  of  Confederate  Veterans  at  Knoxville, 
Term.,  the  dedication  of  the  Chickamauga  and  Chattanooga 
National  Military  Park  and  the  opening  of  the  Atlanta  Ex 
position. 

The  National  Military  Park  was  dedicated  on  September 
19,  though  the  i8th  and  the  2oth  as  well  were  filled  with 
ceremonies.  The  purchase  and  construction  of  the  Park  had 
been  authorized  by  Congress  in  1890,  the  Government  expend 
ing  therefor  three-quarters  of  a  million  dollars,  the  States  of 


THE   CHICKAMAUGA   NATIONAL   MILITARY  PARK 

Looking  East  from  the  Widow  Glenn  House 

748 


THE  CHICKAMAUGA  MILITARY  PARK 


Near  l^idow  Glenn  House,  Looking  North  Toward  Blood?  Pond 

Georgia  and  Tennessee  half  a  million  more.  The  ground 
thus  consecrated  embraced  about  ten  square  miles,  through  and 
around  which  twenty  miles  of  broad  roadway  had  been  built, 
and  as  much  again  projected.  Five  tall  observation  towers 
made  possible  an  almost  perfect  view  of  the  battlefields  of 
Chickamauga  and  Missionary  Ridge.  An  immense  speakers' 
stand  for  the  celebration  had  been  erected  on  Snodgrass  Hill, 
the  centre  of  perhaps  the  most  terrific  fighting  ever  witnessed 
on  this  continent.  Many  notables  were  present,  among  them 
Vice-President  Stevenson,  who  presided,  Secretaries  Herbert 
and  Smith,  Attorney-General  Harmon  and  Postmaster-Gen 
eral  Wilson.  Governors  Gates  of  Alabama,  Atkinson  of 
Georgia,  Altgeld  of  Illinois,  Matthews  of  Indiana,  Morrill 
of  Kansas,  Greenhalge  of  Massachusetts,  Rich  of  Michigan, 
Holcomb  of  Nebraska,  Werts  of  New  Jersey,  Morton  of 
New  York,  McKinley  of  Ohio,  Turney  of  Tennessee  and 

749 


THE  UNITED  STATES  IN  OUR  OWN  TIME 


Grouf  of  Monuments  on  Knoll  Southwest  of  Snodgrass  Hill 

Woodbury  of  Vermont  were  also  in  attendance,  as  were  Gen 
erals  Alger,  Lew  Wallace,  Schofield,  Howard,  Longstreet  and 
Gordon.  To  the  regret  of  all,  age  and  infirmity  prevented 
General  Rosecrans  from  being  present.  Speaker  Crisp,  of  the 
National  House  of  Representatives,  also  Senators  Palmer, 
Manderson,  Bate  and  Blackburn,  and  Congressmen  Wheeler, 
Grosvenor  and  Turner,  besides  a  long  list  of  other  eminent 
gentlemen,  honored  the  occasion  by  attending. 

On  the  1 8th  a  hundred  monumental  tablets  were  dedicated, 
marking  and  describing  the  successive  positions  of  troops  on 
the  field  during  the  fighting.  There  were  reunions  of  North 
ern  and  of  Southern  troops,  and  of  Northern  with  Southern. 
A  belt  line  of  railroad  built  for  the  occasion  accommodated 
the  hosts  of  old  soldiers  and  their  friends.  One  of  the  pleasing 
incidents  connected  with  the  reunion  occurred  when  General 
Gordon,  holding  up  his  hand,  said  :  "  I  have  here  a  button, 
veneered  over  with  blood,  taken  from  the  coat  of  the  poet- 
.soldier,  Brigadier-General  William  Haines  Lytle,  the  author 

750 


ATLANTA'S  EXPOSITION  IN  1895 

of  c  I  am  dying,  Egypt,  dying  !  '*  after  he  had  fallen,  Sep 
tember  20,  1863,  leading  a  charge  on  this  immortal  field." 
General  Gordon  thereupon  presented  the  precious  relic  to  At 
torney-General  Harmon,  like  General  Lytle,  a  resident  of 
Cincinnati.  Mr.  Harmon  subsequently  gave  it  to  a  nephew 
of  General  Lytle,  who  was  found  to  be  present. 

On  September  20  there  was  a  parade,  led  by  Regular 
Troops,  the  iyth  United  States  Infantry.  Next  came  the 
iith  Regiment,  Ohio  National  Guard,  Governor  McKinley 
riding  at  its  head.  The  Tennessee  forces  followed,  among 
them  a  company  from  Memphis,  dressed  in  Confederate  uni 
forms  and  bearing  old-time  muskets.  This  troop  elicited  more 
applause  than  any  other  feature  of  the  parade. 

The  Cotton  States  and  International  Exposition  was  in 
augurated  at  Atlanta,  Ga.,  on  September  18,  1895.  It  was  a 
holiday  in  the  city,  made  merry  by  streamers,  bunting  and  a 
good-humored  American  crowd,  to  which  the  negroes  in  it  im 
parted  almost  its  only  Southern  tinge.  The  opening  ceremo 
nies  at  the  auditorium  were  brilliant  and  protracted.  Victor 
Herbert's  band  convulsed  every  one  when  it  played  a  medley 
of  "  The  Red,  White  and  Blue,"  "  Dixie,"  and  "  Yankee 
Doodle."  Then  there  was  another  medley  of  rebel  yells  and 
Yankee  shouts.  On  the  platform  sat  the  directors,  President 
Collier  occupying  the  place  of  honor,  near  him  Mrs.  Joseph 
Thompson,  President  of  the  Woman's  Board.  Distinguished 
visitors  and  guests  of  the  Exposition  were  present  in  numbers, 
among  them  the  colored  educator,  Booker  T.  Washington, 
President  of  the  Tuskegee  Normal  and  Industrial  Institute. 
The  opening  prayer,  by  Bishop  Nelson,  was  followed  by  ad 
dresses  from  President  Collier  and  Mrs.  Thompson.  Judge 
Emory  Speer  delivered  a  scholarly  oration.  But  Mr.  Wash 
ington  made  the  speech  of  the  day.  When  he  arose  he  was 
greeted  with  applause,  and  each  of  his  telling  points  elicited 

*  The  poem  is  entitled  "Antony  to  Cleopatra,"  and   may  be  found  in  Vol.  viii.  of  Sted- 
man  and  Hutchinson's  Library  of  American  Literature. 

751 


THE  UNITED  STATES  IN  OUR  OWN  TIME 


BOOKER   T.   WASHINGTON 


hearty  recognition.  He  said,  referring 
to  the  negroes'  progress  shown  at  the 
Fair :  "  You  must  not  expect  over 
much.  Starting  thirty  years  ago  with 
the  ownership  here  and  there  of  a  few 
quilts,  pumpkins  and  chickens  (gath 
ered  from  miscellaneous  sources),  re 
member  that  the  path  which  has  led 
us  from  these  to  the  invention  and 
production  of  agricultural  implements, 
buggies,  steam  engines,  newspapers, 
books,  statuary,  carving,  paintings, 
and  the  management  of  drug  stores 
and  banks,  has  not  been  trodden  without  contact  with  thorns 
and  thistles.  While  from  representations  in  these  buildings 
of  the  products  of  field,  of  forest,  of  mine,  of  factory,  of  letters 
and  art,  much  good  will  come,  yet  far  above  and  beyond 
material  benefits  will  be  that  higher  good  that,  let  us  pray 
God,  will  come  in  a  blotting  out  of  sectional  differences  and 
racial  animosities  and  suspicions,  and  in  the  determination  in 
even  the  remotest  corner  to  administer  absolute  justice,  in  a 
willing  obedience  among  all  classes  to  the  mandates  of  law, 
and  a  spirit  that  will  tolerate  nothing  but  the  highest  equity 
in  the  enforcement  of  law.  This,  this,  coupled  with  our 
material  prosperity,  will  bring  to  our  beloved  South  a  new 
heaven  and  a  new  earth." 

Every  detail  of  these  introductory  proceedings  was  tele 
graphed  to  President  Cleveland  at  Gray  Gables  in  Buzzards 
Bay,  Mass.  Ex-Governor  Bullock,  Chairman  of  the  Com 
mittee  of  Arrangements,  sent  a  message  thanking  Mr.  Cleve 
land  for  his  interest,  approval  and  aid,  and  assuring  him  that 
the  mingling  of  people  about  to  occur  would  "  render  future 
ill-will  between  the  sections  impossible."  At  5.30  President 
Cleveland  telegraphed  reply  : 

"  Fully   appreciating    the   value   and   importance   of   the 


THE  EXPOSITION  INAUGURATED 

exposition  inaugurated  to-day,  I  am  especially  gratified  to  be 
related  to  its  inception  and  progress  and  to  participate  in  its 
opening  ceremonies.  I  sincerely  congratulate  those  whose 
enterprise  and  energy  have  accomplished  such  splendid  results, 
and  heartily  wish  that  the  exposition  they  have  set  on  foot 
may  be  completely  successful  in  consummating  all  the  good 
results  contemplated  by  its  promoters." 

The  President  was  seated  in  his  gun-room,  with  his 
family  and  his  private  secretary.  A  button  communicating 
with  Atlanta  rested  on  a  small  shelf  by  the  window.  It  was 
of  black  rubber  with  a  small  solid  gold  band  around  the  edge, 
and  bore  the  inscription  "Marian  Cleveland,  September  18, 
1895."  As  the  President's  young  daughter  pressed  the  but 
ton  the  gates  of  the  Exposition  at  Atlanta  swung  open,  and, 
amid  booming  cannon,  shrieking  whistles,  buzzing  machinery 
and  cheering  multitudes,  its  life  began. 

Atlanta  was  the  only  city  of  its  size  in  the  world  which 
had  ever  undertaken  so  vast  an  enterprise.  With  only  about 


NIGHT  VIEW   OF  THE  ATLANTA  EXPOSITION 

From  a  photograph  hv  Home 


THE  UNITED  STATES  IN  OUR  OWN  TIME 

100,000  inhabitants,  forty  per  cent,  of  them  negroes,  it  set  on 
foot  and  carried  to  completion,  in  dull  business  times  and  soon 
after  the  World's  Columbian  Fair,  an  Exposition  which  out 
did  the  California  Midwinter  Fair  of  1893-' 94,  the  New  Or 
leans  Exposition  of  1884,  and  even  the  Centennial,  being 
among  American  exhibitions  second  only  to  the  World's  Co 
lumbian  at  Chicago.  The  buildings  and  grounds  were  in  ad 
mirable  taste.  Chicago  had  taught  the  world  that  water  and 
green-sward  are  the  diamonds  and  emeralds  of  a  fine  land 
scape.  The  Atlanta  grounds  proved  that  this  lesson  had  been 
well  learned.  From  the  entrance  the  eye  took  in  the  whole 
group  of  buildings,  not  colossal,  but  commodious  and  beauti 
ful.  Only  seven  States — New  York,  Pennsylvania,  Massa- 


THE  WOMAN'S  BUILDING  AT  ATLANTA 

From  a  f  holograph  by  Howe 

chusetts,  Illinois,  California,  Alabama  and  Georgia — were 
represented  by  State  buildings.  The  Northern  attendance 
was  good,  Chicago  sending  one  excursion  2,500  strong,  yet  on 
the  whole  far  fewer  passed  the  gates  than  had  been  expected  ; 
only  1,200,000  in  the  fifty-four  days.  The  Atlanta  managers, 

754 


EVIDENCES  OF  A  "NEW  SOUTH" 

with  commendable  public  spirit,  repeatedly  supplied  deficiencies 
out  of  their  own  pockets.  The  negroes  were  given  every  en 
couragement  to  contribute  exhibits  in  their  department,  and 
the  "  Negro  Building  "  showed  surprising  and  universally  ob 
served  evidences  of  progress  on  the  part  of  the  colored  race. 

The  Exposition  would  have  been  worth  all  it  cost  had  it 
had  no  other  effect  than  to  assure  the  South  itself  and  the  rest 
of  the  world  touching  the  rapid  advance  of  that  section  in  the 
main  elements  of  prosperity.  What  the  Eleventh  Census  had 
put  down  in  figures  exhibits  at  Atlanta  propounded  in  im 
pressive  object  lessons,  not  to  be  forgotten. 

There  were  indeed  sections  where  nothing  as  yet  be 
spoke  a«  New  South  ;  where  unthrift  and  decay  incessantly 


THE  ART:  BUILDING 

From  a  photograph  by  Howe 


reminded,  not  exactly,  indeed,  of  the  Old  South,  but  of  some 
thing  far  worse,  of  the  darkest  days  succeeding  the  war.  These 
sections  were  the  black  belts.  One  belt  of  black  majority 
counties,  averaging  about  a  hundred  miles  wide,  ran  between, 
the  coast  and  the  highlands,  spotted  in  the  northeast  with 


THE  UNITED  STATES  IN  OUR  OWN  TIME 

white  counties,  in  South  Carolina  and  Florida  touching  the 
coast.  The  water-shed  of  the  State  of  Mississippi,  running 
north  and  south,  sundered  this  from  the  second  black  belt. 
Starting  just  above  New  Orleans,  this  extended  up  the  Mis 
sissippi,  some  one  hundred  and  twenty-five  miles  wide,  to 
Tennessee,  and  up  the  Red  River,  perhaps  forty  miles  wide, 
to  Arkansas  and  Texas.  Fifteen  counties  of  Texas,  with  82,- 
310  white  and  126,297  black  inhabitants,  formed  a  third, 
small,  black  belt. 

In  the  black  belt  plantations  things  were  as  yet  very  back 
ward.  The  deterioration  and  decline  which  war  began  had 
hardly  been  stayed.  The  old  slaves  could  not  at  once  become 
good  hirelings.  Their  minds  were  too  much  occupied  with 
political  cares.  Also  the  vision  of  "  forty  acres  and  a  govern 
ment  mule"  had  been  held  up  before  them  with  fatal  effect. 
"  Free  negro  labor  "  the  whites  soon  learned  to  look  upon  as 
a  synonym  for  unfaithfulness  and  inefficiency.  To  work  as  a 
wage-laborer  for  a  white  man  fixed  upon  a  negro  in  the  black 
territory  the  badge  of  social  inferiority  among  his  own  kith  and 
kin.  The  share  system  of  farm  labor,  following  the  wages  sys 
tem,  was  unsatisfactory  and  usually  gave  way  to  the  practice  of 
tenancy  from  year  to  year.  The  whites,  more  generally  than 
the  negroes,  abandoned  country  for  town,  which  resulted  in  a 
system  of  absentee  landlordism,  even  the  old  plantation  houses 
being  in  some  cases  rented  to  negroes.  The  most  shiftless 
and  wasteful  methods  of  farming  were  practiced,  in  sharp  com 
petition,  too,  with  skillful  white  farming,  in  Texas  and  on  the 
Gulf  Coast.  Jews  driven  from  Russia,  not  having  lost  their 
absorbent  disposition,  settled  in  the  black  belt,  and,  by  sup 
plying  the  negroes  with  drink,  baubles  and  cheap  goods  on 
trust,  slowly  got  mortgages  on  their  farms,  mules,  cows,  hogs 
and  furniture,  reducing  their  victims  to  a  state  no  better  than 
slavery.  Thus  poverty  and  even  destitution  might  be  found 
where  of  old  there  was  good  living  for  all.  The  black  belts, 
therefore,  were  not  of  the  New  South,  but  the  remains  of  the 

756 


INCREASE  IN  PROPERTY  VALUES 

Old  South.     The  case  was  analogous  to  that  of  the  decline 
in  so  many  old  New  England  farms. 

Abstracting  from  these  retrograde  communities,  the  pro 
gress  of  the  South  from  1880  to  1890  was  phenomenal.  Its 
development  was  in  some  respects  more  remarkable  and  grati 
fying  than  that  of  the  West.  The  enormous  land  grants  and 
subsidies  to  western  railroads  were  a  burden  upon  the  whole 
country,  the  South  included;  while  many  such  railroads  as 
were  built  in  the  South  after  the  war  added  to  the  direct  debt 
of  its  worn  and  wasted  commonwealths  another  debt  of  even 
greater  magnitude.  A  prominent  reconstruction  governor  at 
tributed  most  of  the  evils  of  reconstruction  times  to  railroad 
legislation,  more  heedless  than  corrupt,  in  which  the  United 
States,  which  could  better  afford  it,  had  led  the  way. 

In  1860  the  assessed  value  of  property  in  the  South 
was  $5, 200,000,000.  The  census  of  1870  showed  a  decline 
of  $ 2, 1 00,000,000,  and  that  of  1880  another  decline  of 
$300,000,000.  In  1870  Massachusetts  assessed  her  property 
at  more  than  half  the  entire  valuation  of  the  South.  New 
York  and  Pennsylvania  then  had  more  than  the  whole  South. 
"The  South  in  1880  was  burdened  with  debts,  both  State 
and  private,  its  railroads  in  bad  condition  physically  and  finan 
cially,  its  manufacturing  business  very  limited,  its  population 
largely  in  excess  of  any  demand  that  could  possibly  exist  for 
labor  under  the  conditions  prevailing,  with  but  few  banks  and 
few  strong  friends  in  the  great  financial  centres  of  the  country." 

From  1 880  to  1890  the  value  of  property  in  the  South 
at  large  increased  $3,800,000,000,  this  being  only  $100,000,- 
ooo  less  than  the  increase  of  the  New  England  and  Middle 
States  combined.  Moreover,  it  was  a  50  per  cent,  increase 
against  one  of  22  per  cent,  on  the  part  of  those  states. 
Southern  farm  assets  increased  37  per  cent,  against  an  average 
increase  in  the  other  states  and  territories  of  30  per  cent. 
Southern  farm  products  increased  16  per  cent.,  while  those  of" 
the  rest  of  the  country  increased  but  9  per  cent.  The  gross 

759 


THE  UNITED  STATES  IN  OUR  OWN  TIME 


A  GROVE   OF   ORANGES   AND   PALMEffOES   NEAR   ORMOND,   FLORIDA 

From  a  photograph  by  W\  H.  Jackson 

return  on  the  agricultural  capital  invested  in  the  South  was 
nearly  twice  as  great  as  that  from  the  same  source  in  the  other 
sections.  After  the  fall  in  the  price  of  cotton  consequent  upon 
Old  World  competition  and  the  vast  crop  of  1890,  the  South's 
grain  crop  came  to  exceed  her  cotton  crop-,  Texas  leading  in 
both  wheat  and  corn. 

Fully  fifty  varieties  of  sub-tropical  trees  which  grew  no 
where  else  in  the  Union  adorned  Florida's  keys  and  coasts. 
The  State  bade  fair  to  rival  Louisiana  in  the  production  of 
sugar,  and  South  Carolina  in  that  of  rice,  as  well  as  one  day 
to  supply  the  entire  American  demand  for  cocoanuts.  The 
mulberry  was  indigenous  to  every  part  of  this  new  Eden, 
which  may,  therefore,  at  no  late  date  become  an  immense  pro 
ducer  of  raw  silk.  Cattle  fed  and  fattened  everywhere  with- 

760 


MANUFACTURES 

out  shelter,  in  winter  as  in  summer.  Market  gardening  for 
the  North  was  profitable,  particularly  in  the  line  of  early  and 
semi-tropical  fruits.  It  was  found  that  a  zone  across  the  en 
tire  South  in  the  latitude  of  Atlanta  produced  the  finest  of 
apples  in  unlimited  quantities.  Tennessee,  Kentucky,  Missis-j 
sippi,  and  Texas  reared  innumerable  horses,  cattle  and  sheep' 
of  the  best  breeds. 

Manufactured  products  were  of  even  greater  consequence 
than  agricultural,  exceeding  them  in  value  by  $  140,000,000. 
During  the  decade  manufacturing  investments  at  the  South  in 
creased  156  per  cent,  as  against  120.76  per  cent,  for  the  coun 
try  at  large.  The  products  doubled,  while  those  of  the  whole 
land  increased  but  69.27  per  cent. 

The  following  table  shows  the  growth  of  cotton  manu 
facturing  in  the  Southern  States  between  1880  and  1894: 


1880. 

1890. 

1894. 

Capital, 

$21,976,713 

$61,124,096 

$107,900,000 

Number  of  Mills, 

.      180 

254 

425 

Number  of  Spindles,     . 

667,754 

!,  712,930 

3,023,000 

Number  of  Looms, 

14,3*3 

39»a3« 

68,000 

Value  of  Product, 

$21,038,712 

$46,971,503 

To  manufacture  the  entire  cotton  crop  would  require 
many  times  the  investment  of  1894.  However,  a  smaller  and 
smaller  proportion  of  cotton  went  away  to  be  wrought.  New 
England  capital  was  extensively  used  to  rear  cotton  factories  at 
the  South,  and  the  coarser  cotton  fabrics  from  the  South  were 
in  competition  at  Lowell  with  goods  made  at  that  place.  In 
1895  a  committee  of  the  Massachusetts  Legislature  went  South 
to  investigate  the  significance  of  these  facts. 

Cottonseed,  long  considered  a  waste  product,  having 
proved  to  yield  a  valuable  oil,  in  1895  between  250  and  300 
mills  were  at  work  in  the  South  reducing  the  seed,  and  they 
consumed  annually  more  than  a  million  tons  of  it.  This  indus 
try  developed  valuable  by-products,  among  them  oil,  meal  and 
cakes,  and  ingredients  used  in  the  manufacture  of  paper,  soap 
and  gas. 

761 


THE  UNITED  STATES  IN  OUR  OWN  TIME 

The  grist  mills  of  Richmond  were  making  from  Southern 
wheat  the  only  brand  of  flour  sure  to  cross  the  equator  without 
spoiling. 

In  1880  the  South  produced  397,301  tons  of  pig  iron;  in 
1893,  spite  of  the  business  depression,  the  section  put  out 
1,567,000  tons.  Her  coal  crop  in  the  year  last  named  was 
nearly  28,000,000,  one-sixth  of  the  whole  country's  product. 
In  1880  it  had  been  but  6,048,000  tons. 

Iron  furnaces,  pipe  works,  rolling  mills,  box-car  and  car- 
wheel  shops,  characterized  the  rich  northern  section  of  Ala 
bama.  On  one  side  of  Birmingham  rose  a  mountain  of  iron 
fifty  miles  long,  on  the  other  lay  a  vast  coal  field  ;  near  at  hand 

stood    another   mountain    of    limestone   suitable   for  fluxing. 

o 

Northern  Alabama  and  tracts  immediately  adjacent  contained 
coal  fields  sufficient,  at  the  present  rate  of  consumption,  to 
supply  the  world  for  150  years.  Alabama  was  next  to 


A  LOUISIANA  SUGAR-CANE   PLANTATION 
From  a  photograph  by  US.  H.  Jackson 

762 


A  COUNTRY  OF  UNLIMITED  RESOURCES 


A  SOUTH  CAROLINA  COTTON  FIELD 

From  a  photograph  by  W.  H.  Jackson 


Pennsylvania    in    coke    producing,    and   next    to    Ohio     and 
Pennsylvania  in  her  yield  of  pig  iron. 

The  more  the  South  produced  the  clearer  did  it  become 
that  there  were  unlimited  productive  resources  behind.  Vast 
as  were  the  forests  of  the  great  Northwest,  more  than  half  the 
country's  standing  timber  was  to  be  found  in  the  South,  much 
of  it  of  the  hard-wood  varieties.  Yellow  pine  the  section  pos 
sessed  in  exhaustless  stores.  A  tract  of  country  reaching  from 
West  Virginia  to  Northern  Alabama,  being  roughly  700  miles 
long  by  150  or  200  wide,  contained  a  greater  concentration 
of  mineral  and  timber  wealth  than  any  other  equal  area  in 
America  or  Europe.  The  conditions  for  its  profitable  develop 
ment  were  ideal.  On  one  side  of  the  tract  named  grew  cotton, 
fruit,  truck  and  yellow  pine,  ready  to  be  exchanged  for  the  coal, 
iron  and  hard-woods  of  the  upper  country.  On  the  other  side 
lay  the  rich  and  populous  prairie  States,  affording  an  almost 
unlimited  market  for  all  the  products  of  the  timber  and  mineral 
ridge. 


THE  UNITED  STATES  IN  OUR  OWN  TIME 

Tennessee,  Alabama  and  Texas  were  rich  in  marble  and 
all  building  stones.  The  best  of  asphalt  was  to  be  mined  in 
Alabama  at  a  dollar  a  ton.  South  Carolina  annually  yielded 
three  million  dollars'  worth  of  phosphate  rock,  while  similar 
deposits  lay  along  the  coast  from  North  Carolina  to  Florida, 
and  even  on  the  gulf.  Western  Virginia,  eastern  Tennessee, 
and  central  Kentucky  were  rich  in  limestones.  First-class 
gypsum  was  found  in  Virginia  in  seams  six  hundred  feet 
thick.  Salt,  petroleum,  aluminum,  mica,  topaz  and  gold 
appeared  here  and  there  in  paying  quantities.  Rain  rarely 
failed  the  farmer,  or  water-power  the  manufacturer.  Nearly 
the  whole  South,  save  the  mountains,  was  penetrated  by 
navigable  streams,  being  thus  potentially  independent  of  rail 
roads. 

If  it  was  a  Northerner  who  so  named  the  "  New  South," 
the  New  South  itself  was  essentially  the  creation  of  Southern 
men.  The  whites  of  the  South  were  a  virile  race.  Slavery 
had  kept  them  from  developing  or  revealing  their  powers. 
The  purest  Saxon-Norman  blood  in  the  world  probably  ran  in 
their  veins.  The  best  traits  of  the  English  stock  :  initiative, 
firmness,  perseverance,  patience,  pride,  thrift,  morality,  were 
theirs  in  an  eminent  degree.  Long  misunderstood  and 
distrusted  at  the  North, with  large  debt  and  little  credit,  politics 
about  them  a  boiling  maelstrom,  a  war  of  races  on  their  hands, 
difficulties  which  beset  in  like  pressure  no  other  section  of  our 
people,  they  did  not  despair  or  falter,  but  went  earnestly  to 
work  to  make  the  South  a  worthy  home  for  themselves  and 
their  posterity.  The  deathless  resolution  with  which  this 
enterprise  was  pushed  to  success  acTded  an  incalculable  enrich 
ment  to  American  history. 

With  the  rarest  exceptions,  few  of  these  being  men,  the 
Southern  people  had  become  enthusiastically  loyal.  A  German 
shopkeeper  in  a  far  Southern  city,  one  July  4th,  ran  up  in  front 
of  his  place  the  German  and  the  American  flag,  the  German 
uppermost.  An  ex-Confederate  captain  forthwith  waited  upon 

764 


SOUTHERN  PATRIOTISM  AND  CHARACTER 

the  man,  giving  him  just  five  minutes  in  which  to  place  the 
Stars  and  Stripes  on  top.  In  another  city  a  young  school 
master,  educated  at  the  North,  fearing  offense  should  he  dis 
play  the  United  States  flag  over  his  school-house  on  the 
National  Anniversary,  concluded  not  to  do  so.  What  was 
his  chagrin  when  the  morning  came  to  see  the  emblem  float 
ing  above  nearly  every  other  public  building  in  town.  Listen 
ing  suspiciously  to  the  addresses,  some  formal,  others  wholly 
impromptu,  of  Confederate  veterans  at  their  camp  fires,  a 
Northern  soldier  failed  to  mark  a  single  sentiment  to  which,, 
as  a  patriot,  he  could  take  exception. 

Nor  could  you  justly  question  the  patriotism  of  a  South 
erner  if  you  chanced  to  hear  him  praising  Jefferson  Davis. 
His  thought  would  be  that  in  1861  the  compact  theory  of  the 
Union  according  to  which  a  State  might  secede  at  its  will,  had-, 
never  been  authoritatively  declared  false.  Then,  therefore,  a 
citizen  could  secede  with  his  State  and  not  be  a  traitor,  believ 
ing  himself  to  be  acting  under  the  Constitution  and  not  con 
trary  thereto.  Only  the  stern  arbitrament  of  war,  he  would 
say,  set  aside  the  compact  theory,  making  secession  under  the 
Constitution  impossible  and  absurd. 

The  morality  of  the  Southern  people  came  out  in  their 
serious  treatment  of  the  drink  question.  The  South  Carolina 
dispensary  system  was  the  most  advanced  liquor  legislation  yet 
seen  in  any  country.  Probably  unsuited  to  a  constituency 
made  up  largely  of  cities,  for  tjie  agricultural  States  it  was  a 
model.  The  other  Southern  Commonwealths  nearly  all 
passed  local  option  laws,  under  which  the  country  counties 
steadfastly  voted  "  dry."  In  no  case  was  such  a  vote  a  dead 
letter.  A  man  undertaking  to  sell  liquor  in  a  "  dry  "  county 
was  in  the  first  instance  admonished.  This  always  sufficed, 
except  with  strangers.  If  the  adventurer  persisted  after  being 
warned,  he  was  either  run  out  or  shot.  In  consequence  of  this 
vigorous  policy  prohibition  was  sweepingly  successful.  In 
Arkansas,  in  1895,  there  were  said  to  be  not  above  six  coun- 

765 


THE  UNITED  STATES  IN  OUR  OWN  TIME 

ties — the  "  wet  "  counties — where  strong  drink  could  be  found 
on  sale.  The  situation  elsewhere  corresponded. 

Healthily  remembering  that  "the  law"  can  have  no  "sa- 
credness"  which  does  not  proceed  from  the  will  of  the  people, 
Southerners  were  long  too  prone  to  avenge  crime  by  summary 
appeals  to  the  popular  will.  Right  public  sentiment  on  this 
subject  asserted  itself,  however,  more  and  more,  at  last  rinding 
voice  in  the  South  Carolina  Constitution  of  1895.  The  sixth 
section,  Article  VI.,  of  that  instrument  provides  that,  when  a 
prisoner  lawfully  in  charge  of  any  officer,  is  taken  from  such 
officer's  hands  by  his  negligence,  permission  or  connivance, 
the  officer,  upon  true  bill  found,  shall  be  deposed  from  his 
office  pending  trial,  and  if  convicted,  shall  forfeit  his  office. 
Unless  pardoned  by  the  Governor,  he  is  forever  ineligible  to 
any  office  of  trust  or  profit  in  the  State.  The  same  section 
lays  down  that  in  all  cases  of  fatal  lynching  the  county  in 
which  it  occurs  is  liable  to  the  legal  representatives  of  the 
lynched  person  in  exemplary  damages  of  not  less  than  $2,000. 
This  was  a  novelty  in  American  law. 

Far  angriest  among  the  numerous  perplexities  confront 
ing  the  Southern  people  in  their  struggle  were  those  presented 
by  the  presence  of  the  colored  race.  Over  large  domains,  as  we 
have  seen,  and  in  some  entire  States,  these  formed  a  majority 
of  the  population.  The  means  used  to  deprive  of  political 
control  the  majorities  in  such  constituencies,  and  to  keep  them 
from  regaining  such,  have  been  repeatedly  referred  to  in  the 
course  of  this  History.  The  conflict  was  bitter  but  the  victory 
complete,  won  by  means  whose  result,  unlike  their  nature,  was 
never  doubtful.  The  supremacy  regained  was  retained  partly 
by  the  same  appliances  as  were  first  employed  in  Mississippi 
and  South  Carolina  by  the  operation  of  adroitly  framed 
'Constitutions.  Every  Southern  white,  no  matter  how  much 
he  might  in  theory  disapprove  the  methods,  insisted  that  the 
end  sought  and  attained,  the  maintenance  of  white  supremacy, 
'was  patriotic  and  righteous  in  the  extreme,  as  important  for 

766 


NEGRO  VIEWS  OF  NEGROES 

blacks  as  for  whites.  Every  white  man  in  the  South  would  die 
rather  than  submit  to  the  horrors  certain  to  attend  negro 
ascendancy. 

The  negroes  more  and  more  became  resigned  to  this 
subjection — the  ordinary  from  lack  of  spirit,  the  knowing  ones 
from  conviction.  In  his  Atlanta  Exposition  address,  Booker 
T.  Washington  said,  "  The  wisest  among  my  race  understand 
that  the  agitation  of  questions  of  social  equality  is  the  ex- 
tremest  folly,  and  that  progress  in  the  enjoyment  of  all  the 
privileges  that  will  come  to  us  must  be  the  result  of  severe 
and  constant  struggle  rather  than  of  artificial  forcing." 

The  brightest  Afro-Americans  also  deprecated  the  will 
ingness  of  their  race  to  be  coddled.  The  New  York  Age,  a 
paper  published  in  the  interest  of  the  colored  people,  said : 
"  We  have  got  to  stop  complaining  about  lack  of  opportunity 
and  make  the  most  of  such  opportunity  as  presents  itself. 
When  no  opportunity  presents  itself,  turn  to  and  turn  up  op 
portunity.  .  .  We  complain  of  lack  of  opportunity  to  make 
money  when  we  squander  millions  every  year  on  humbugs. 
Dollars  count,  but  we  do  not  hold  on  to  the  dollars  ;  hence 
we  are  constantly  passing  the  mendicant  hat  to  support  our 
own  institutions  and  receiving  a  small  check  and  a  kick  at  the 
same  time.  We  do  not  support  our  own  enterprises,  and  then 
we  complain  because  white  men  who  receive  our  patronage  re 
fuse  to  give  honorable  employment  to  our  girls  and  boys.  Let 
us  stop  howling  and  saw  more  wood." 

Rendering  the  blacks  politically  innocuous  simply  re 
lieved  the  race  problem  of  its  most  threatening  phase.  Still 
were  left  swarming  everywhere  the  enormous  caravans  of 
blacks,  indolent  and  the  fertile  source  of  defective  population, 
pauperism  and  crime,  with  no  promise  of  essential  change  for 
the  better. 

No  argument  was  required,  especially  after  the  display  of 
negroes'  work  at  Atlanta,  to  show  that  the  colored  race  was 
bright.  In  every  art,  craft,  knack,  trick,  lesson,  which  could 

767 


THE  UNITED  STATES  IN  OUR  OWN  TIME 

be  mastered  by  imitation,  plenty  of  negroes  would  be  found 
to  excel.  Among  them  were  some  equal  to  every  demand  of 
skilled  artisanship.  They  made  capital  vocalists,  actors,  pub 
lic  speakers.  In  book  learning,  too,  in  the  classics,  in  mathe 
matics,  or  in  science,  they  had  but  to  keep  the  beaten  path  to 
reach  with  firm  foot  quite  recondite  fields. 

While  all  this  was  true,  there  were  three  precious  elements 
of  character,  devotion  to  principle,  initiative,  whether  theoret 
ical  or  practical,  and  power  of  endurance,  mental  or  physical,, 
in  purpose  or  in  deed,  wherein  the  colored  race  seemed  radically 
deficient.  In  each  of  the  particulars  named  the  defect  appeared 
to  be  a  genuine  racial  idiosyncracy,  not  explicable  by  the  peo 
ple's  previous  condition  of  servitude.  Truly  grand  negro 
characters  there  were,  men  of  gold,  firm  in  every  virtue,  admir 
able,  an  honor  to  humanity  ;  yet  the  drift  of  the  race  in  refer 
ence  to  principles  of  conduct,  left  these  splendid  instances  to 
appear  sporadic  and  phenomenal.  All  over  the  South  the 
negroes  almost  to  a  man  voted  for  "  free  rum  "  often  as  the 
liquor  question  came  up.  A  "  protracted  meeting  "  of  colored 
Christians  being  in  progress  in  one  of  the  South  Carolina 
Counties,  the  weather  changed  and  fire  was  needed.  Ample 
fuel  was  at  hand  in  the  neighboring  woods,  to  be  had  free  of  cost, 
for  the  mere  effort  of  "  toting  "  it.  Declining  this  chance,  the 
brethren,  apparently  without  the  sightest  compunction,  raided  a 
white  neighbor's  fences,  laying  them  low  for  a  long  distance. 
An  observant  Northern  Doctor  of  Divinity,  fifteen  years  resi 
dent  in  one  of  the  largest  Southern  cities,  knowing  the  colored 
people  of  his  city  thoroughly,  and  cherishing  for  them  the 
kindliest  feelings,  gave  it  as  his  candid  opinion  that  not  more 
than  one  of  the  numerous  colored  clergymen  of  the  city  lived 
chastely.  In  the  class-rooms  of  colored  colleges  one  could  not 
but  sigh  over  the  fatal  ease  with  which  pupils,  even  the 
brightest,  missed  the  essential  points  of  nearly  every  discus 
sion.  In  the  Lyceum  whole  evenings  often  passed  away  amid 
loud  wrangling  over  frivolous  points  of  order,  the  question 

768 


BLACKS  IN  THE  SOUTH 


CARVING  THE  DECORATIONS  FOR   THE   NEGRO  BUILDING  AT  THE  ATLANTA 

EXPOSITION 

From  a  photograph  by  Howe 

given  out  for  debate  being  quite  forgotten.  Referring  to  the 
absence  of  originality  and  serious  purpose  in  the  negro  mind, 
one  of  the  ablest  men  in  the  South,  perfectly  conversant  with 
negro  character,  yet  wholly  free  from  Southerners'  prejudices, 
uttered  the  emphatic  judgment  that  an  isolated  community  of 
colored  people,  however  well  civilized  and  educated,  would  be 
unequal  to  the  task  of  self-government,  and  would  lapse  into 
barbarism  within  two  generations. 

Outside  the  three  colored  tracts  referred  to  above,  the  blacks 
formed,  in  1 890,  a  minority  in  every  county  of  the  South.  The 
whites  also  increased  on  the  whole  far  more  swiftly  than  the 
blacks.  In  the  great  eastern  black  belt  where  there  were 
1,800,000  whites  to  2,700,000  blacks,  the  whites  multiplied 
nearly  twice  as  rapidly  as  the  blacks.  The  Gulf  Coast  white 
belt  was  an  exception.  Both  races  there  underwent  a  heavy 
increase,  the  blacks  gaining  about  29  per  cent.,  the  whites 
about  a  third  as  much.  Also  the  Mississippi  and  Red  River 
bottoms  revealed  a  gain  on  the  part  of  the  Africans  of  over 
a  fifth,  while  the  whites'  growth  was  only  a  seventh. 

769 


THE  UNITED  STATES  IN  OUR  OWN  TIME 

Alarming  mortality  among  negroes  vastly  retarded  their 
increase.  Dr.  Gourdin  DeSaussier,  of  Charleston,  S.  C.,  in 
1895,  obtained  statistics  showing  that  in  that  city,  from  1880 
to  1887,  out  of  an  average  negro  population  of  28,730  there 
were  8,932  deaths,  or  about  31  per  cent;  and  from  1887  to 
1894,  out  of  an  average  population  of  34,691,  9,604  deaths, 
or  about  28  per  cent.  Syphilitic  and  consumptive  diseases 
were  the  most  fatal.  For  the  fourteen  years  there  were  18,536 
deaths  to  13,010  births.  Among  the  whites  for  the  first 
period,  "  with  about  the  same  population,"  the  deaths  were 
3,895,  the  births  3,854. 

The  negro  betrayed  slight  disposition  to  wander  far  from 
his  original  seat;  yet  the  decade  1880— 90  witnessed  on  his 
part  a  few  articulate  movements.  He  tended  to  drift  south 
ward  and  westward, 
and  from  the  high 
lands  to  the  lowlands. 
Spite  of  this,  however, 
1890  saw  more  blacks 
north  of  Mason  and 
Dixon's  line  than  were 
ever  there  before.  The 
proportion  then  to  to 
tal  population  was  8.79 
per  cent,  as  against 
5.46  in  1860.  Ken 
tucky,  the  western  half 
of  Virginia,  and  north 
eastern  Mississippi  suf-  DECORATIONS  FOR  THE  NEGRO 

fered  an   absolute   de-  *.**««* 

From  photographs 

crease    of  colored   in 
habitants.     So,    outside  the  principal  cities,    did    Tennessee, 
Maryland,  northern  Alabama  and  eastern  Virginia.     The  peo 
ple  of  color  resembled  the  whites  in  a  decided  penchant  for  re 
moving  from  country  to  city.  Louisville  gained  8,000,  and  three 

770 


FUTURE  OF  THE  COLORED  RACE 


smaller  cities  of  Kentucky  2,000.  Chattanooga,  Nashville  and 
Knoxville,  Tenn.,  gained  24,000 — nearly  twice  as  much  as  the 
State  at  large.  Baltimore  gained  13,000 — more  than  twice  as 
much  as  Maryland.  The  county  containing  Birmingham,  Ala., 
received  27,089  of  the  47,987  accessions  to  northern  Alabama. 
So,  in  the  first  black  belt,  the  cities  generally  outstripped  the 
country  in  number  of  negro  accessions.  One-half  the  negro 
growth  of  eastern  North  Carolina  and  of  Florida  was  in  the 
cities.  In  Georgia  little  less  than  a  third  of  the  colored  in 
crease  could  be  credited  to  the  four  principal  cities. 

The  future  of  the  colored  race  no  one  could  predict  with 
certainty.  In  1790  Africans  formed  perhaps  19.3  per  cent, 
of  the  United  States  population.  The  percentage  in  1860  was 
14.1.  The  census  of  1870  reduced  this  figure  to  12.7,  when 

many  rushed  to  the 
conclusion  that  these 
people  might,  in  no 
long  time,  vanish  from 
our  land.  The  census 
of  1880  dispelled  that 
fancy,  raising  the  per 
centage  again  to  13.1, 
while  that  of  1890 
raised  it  to  13.5.  Af 
rican  increase  from 
1880  to  1890  was 
13.11  per  cent.,  about 
half  that  attained  by 
people  of  the  other 
hue.  Even  should  de 
crease  be  resumed,  the 
colored  people  would  be  at  least  eight  or  ten  per  cent,  of  our 
total  population  in  1 900.  As  the  climatic  area  where  they 
have  any  advantages  over  whites  in  the  fight  of  life  is  less 
than  this  per  cent.,  their  success  in  this  struggle  would  of 

771 


BUILDING  AT  ATLANTA 

Head  of  Fred.  Douglass 
by  Howe 


THE  UNITED  STATES  IN  OUR  OWN  TIME 

course  depend  on  their  power  to  compete  with  the  rival  blood 
in  higher  callings  than  hand  labor.  Great  crowds  of  men  were 
pressing  in  from  the  North,  while,  more  significant,  foreigners 
had  heard  of  the  rare  possibilities  presented  for  acquiring 
homes  in  all  parts  of  the  South,  and  were  coming  in  immense 
numbers  to  put  the  reports  to  the  proof.  These  new  comers 
were  sure  more  and  more  to  disuse  sentiment  in  dealing  with 
the  negro.  No  form  of  labor  would  be  left  him  unless  he 
had  special  skill  in  it,  nor  was  his  tenure  in  all  cases  assured 
even  by  skill. 

At  the  same  time,  the  negro's  best  friends  on  earth,  the 
conscientious  men  and  women  who  had  formerly  owned  slaves, 
were  fast  dying  off.  The  genuine  love  felt  by  old  Southern 
ers  of  the  better  class  toward  their  bondmen  was  a  touching 
phenomenon,  never  appreciated  at  the  North.  Master  and 
mistress  looked  upon  their  black  people  with  a  truly  parental 
regard,  much  like  that  which  fathers  and  mothers  always  ex 
perience  toward  children  ill-endowed  mentally.  All  over  the 
South,  in  the  old  days,  had  lived  noble  men  and  women  who 
stood  in  this  tender  attitude  toward  the  colored  members  of 
their  households.  They  sincerely  and  devotedly  loved  them. 
Younger  white  men  and  women  who  never  owned  slaves  did 
not  share  this  feeling.  Friendly  enough  toward  the  negro, 
they  cherished  for  him  no  sense  of  responsibility.  The 
colored  people  knew  this  difference  well.  It  was  not  to  some 
Northern  philanthropist  that  Pompey  or  CufFy  turned  in  des 
perate  difficulty,  nor  yet  to  the  kind-hearted  young  white 
gentleman,  whom  he  might  know  to  be  friendly,  but  to  Old 
Master  and  Old  Mistress,  if  he  could  find  them.  They  were 
sure  to  advise  him  well  and  to  assist  him  if  they  could.  The 
years  that  saw  laid  in  their  graves  the  last  of  that  old  slave 
holder  generation  were  thus  a  crisis  in  the  future  of  the  colored 
people. 


CHAPTER    XXVI 

THE    BATTLE    OF    THE    STANDARDS   AND 
THE    REPUBLICAN    RESTORATION 


BOLT    FROM     REPUBLICAN    CONVENTION. THE    DEMOCRATIC    CONVEN 
TION. POPULISTS      AND     DEMOCRATS. THE      CONTROVERSY     OVER 

SILVER. — MCKINLEY'S     CABINET. — THE     CIVIL     SERVICE. — GOLD     IN 

ALASKA. THE      ALASKA       BOUNDARY. PELAGIC       SEALING. HAWAII 

ANNEXED. 


NO  party  in  power  has  ever  won  an  election  occurring 
amid  hard  times.  That  hard  times  prevailed  in  1896 
all  agreed,  but  the  agreement  did  not  extend  to  causes.  Most 
Republicans  traced  the  evil  to  the  Wilson  tariff.  A  majority 
of  the  Democrats,  all  the  Populists,  and  a  considerable  num 
ber  of  Republicans  imputed  the  trouble  to  the  Administra 
tion's  financial  policy,  which  they  deemed  vicious. 

When  the  Republican  Convention  met  at  St.  Louis,  June 
1 6,  1896,  all  saw  that  the  coming  campaign  must  turn  upon 
the  money  question.  Agitation  for  an  ampler  hard-money 
supply  had  been  going  on  ever  since  the  demonetization  of 
silver  in  1873.  The  greenback  "craze,"  which  received  its 
quietus  during  the  seventies,  gave  wray  to  a  demand  that  the 
nation  increase  its  money  volume  by  resuming  the  free  coin 
age  of  legal  tender  silver  dollars  without  limit  to  the  number 
coined  or  condition  that  other  nations  adopt  the  policy. 

The  Bland  Act  of  1878  had  assuaged  this  demand  only 
for  a  moment.  In  1892  the  Populist  Party,  proclaiming  free 
coinage  as  a  cardinal  tenet  and  denouncing  the  tariff  contro 
versy  as  a  sham  battle,  polled  a  heavy  vote.  Comparatively 

773 


THE    UNITED    STATES    IN    OUR    TIME 

little  gold  was  mined.  General  prices  continued  falling.  The 
repeal  in  1893  °f  tne  Sherman  Silver  Purchase  Clause  of 
1890,  the  difficulty  Mr.  Cleveland  experienced  in  maintaining 
gold-redemption,  the  money-stringency  and  the  commodity-glut 
during  and  after  1893  all  combiner1  at  once  to  shape  and  to 
precipitate  the  issue. 

In  demanding  free  coinage  the  Populists  were  unani 
mous.  President  Cleveland  sturdily  championed  the  gold 
standard.  As  a  party  the  Republicans  had  shown  silver  quite 
as  much  favor  as  their  rivals,  but  the  best-known  statesmen  of 
both  parties  had  "  wobbled  "  upon  the  question,  and  the  recent 
platforms  of  both  had  worked  to  the  utmost  the  art  of  cha 
meleon  hues,  that  their  money  planks  might  wear  a  yellow 
sheen  by  the  Hudson,  yet  nearer  the  Mississippi  seem  white. 
It  was  the  remoter  West,  then  the  land  of  borrowed  capital 
and  of  silver  mines,  which  most  cordially  believed  the  bimetal- 
list  doctrine.  New  York  and  New  England  led  the  gold 
cause.  The  burning  question  split  even  the  Prohibitionists 
into  a  "  narrow-gauge  "  and  a  "  broad-gauge  "  faction,  the 
latter  in  a  rump  convention  incorporating  a  free-coinage  mani 
festo  into  its  creed. 

The  Republican  platform  bespoke  an  enlarged  navy,  the 
annexation  of  Hawaii,  and  the  building,  ownership,  and  ope 
ration  of  the  Nicaragua  Canal  by  the  United  States.  It  reas 
serted  the  Monroe  Doctrine,  even  expressing  hope  for  the 
eventual  withdrawal  of  the  European  powers  from  this  hemi 
sphere  and  for  the  union  of  the  whole  English-speaking  part 
of  the  continent  by  the  free  consent  of  its  inhabitants.  The 
good  offices  of  the  United  States  were  invoked  on  behalf  of 
peace  and  independence  for  Cuba.  The  platform  lauded  pro 
tection  and  reciprocity,  specifically  demanding  encouragement 
for  growers  of  sugar,  hemp,  and  wool,  and  for  the  merchant 
marine. 

During  the  reading  of  the  money-plank  the  tension  in 
the  Convention  was  painful.  "  We  are  opposed  to  the  free 

774 


PRESIDENT    WILLIAM    McKINLET   ON    THE    PORCH    OF    HIS    HOME,  CANTON,  OHIO, 
WHERE    HE    RECEIVED    THE    DELEGATES    DURING    THE    CAMPAIGN    OF   iSqO. 


BOLT    FROM    REPUBLICAN    CONVENTION 

coinage  of  silver,"  it  said,  "  except  by  agreement  with  the 
leading  commercial  nations  of  the  world,  which  we  pledge 
ourselves  to  promote,  and  until  such  agreement  can  be  obtained 
the  existing  gold  standard  must  be  preserved."  Efforts  to 
eliminate  the  word  "  gold  "  had  been  made  in  committee,  but 
all  had  failed. 

Senator  Teller,  of  Colorado,  moved  a  substitute  for  the 
above,  favoring  "  the  free,  unrestricted,  and  independent  coin 
age  of  gold  and  silver  at  our  mints  at  the  ratio  of  16  parts 
of  silver  to  one  of  gold."  More  than  800  of  the  922 
delegates  voted  to  table  this.  There  followed  the  first 
important  bolt  from  a  Republican  National  Council  since 
1872.  Some  of  the  silver  delegates  accepted  the  gold 
plank  with  a  protest;  others  reserved  the  right  later  to 
reject  platform  and  candidates.  But  Teller,  though  he  had 
been  a  charter  member  of  the  party  and  secession  cost  him 
anguish,  could  not  compromise.  Shaking  hands  with  the 
Chairman,  he  turned  and,  with  streaming  eyes,  left  the  Con 
vention,  a  score  of  his  colleagues  following. 

On  the  first  ballot  for  presidential  nominee  William 
McKinley,  Jr.,  of  Ohio,  received  over  two-thirds  of  the  votes. 
For  this  result,  though  McKinley's  own  long  and  honorable 
career,  his  affability,  his  devotion  to  protection,  his  leaning 
toward  silver,  and  his  practical  conservatism,  all  assisted,  he 
was  largely  indebted  to  his  tireless  and  astute  second,  Marcus 
A.  Hanna,  previously  known  only  as  a  capitalist,  but  hence 
forth  a  ruling  spirit  in  his  party. 

The  name  of  Garrett  A.  Hobart,  of  New  Jersey,  com 
pleted  the  ticket. 

William  McKinley,  Jr.,  was  born  at  Niles,  O.,  January 
29,  1843,  °f  tnat  Scotch-Irish  stock  so  prolific  in  American 
presidents.  In  1860  he  entered  Allegheny  College,  Mead- 
ville,  Pa.,  leaving  next  year  on  account  of  ill-health.  He 
taught  school.  For  a  time  he  was  employed  in  a  post-office  near 
his  parents'  home.  After  the  outbreak  of  the  Civil  War  he 

777 


THE    UNITED    STATES    IN    OUR    TIME 


GARRET  A.    HOB4-RT,    ^ICE- 
PRESIDENT 

Copyright,  1899,  Pac^  Bro 


enlisted  in  the   23d  Ohio,   the  regiment  with  which  William 
S.   Rosecrans,    Rutherford   B.   Hayes,    and   Stanley   Matthews 

were  connected.  He  was  never  ab 
sent  on  sick  leave,  and  only  once  had 
a  furlough,  which  was  short.  He 
participated  in  his  regiment's  every 
engagement,  rising  from  a  private, 
by  well-earned  promotions,  until  he 
was  a  major  by  brevet. 

In  1867  Major  McKinley  be 
gan  the  practice  of  law  in  Can 
ton,  O.  From  1876  to  1891  he 
served  in  the  national  House  of 
Representatives.  As  Governor  of 
Ohio  and  as  a  public  speaker  vis 
iting  every  part  of  the  country  he 
was  known  personally  to  many,  by 

sight  to  many  more,  and  by  repute  to  all.    The  nomination  of  so 
strong  a  candidate  did  much  to  repair  the  silverite  breach. 

By  July  ist  thirty-three  of  the  fifty  State  and  territorial 
Democratic  conventions  had  spoken  for  free  coinage.  Six 
days  later  the  National  Convention  met  at  Chicago — a  tumult 
uous  assemblage,  in  sharp  contrast  with  the  business-like  body 
at  St.  Louis.  Scorning  precedent,  the  Convention  overruled 
the  National  Committee's  choice  of  David  B.  Hill  for  tem 
porary  chairman,  seating  Senator  Daniel,  of  Virginia,  instead. 
Enough  "  gold  "  delegates  were  then  supplanted  by  "  silver  " 
contestants  to  insure  the  two-thirds  majority  necessary  to  nom 
inate  for  the  presidency. 

The  platform  attacked  the  Supreme  Court  for  reversing 
precedents  in  order  to  declare  unconstitutional  the  income 
tax  which  passed  Congress  as  a  part  of  the  Wilson  Act, 
and  suggested  the  possibility  of  another  reversal  by  the  same 
court  "  as  it  might  thereafter  be  constituted."  Nearly  every 
act  or  policy  characterizing  Mr.  Cleveland's  administration  it 

778 


THE    DEMOCRATIC    CONVENTION 

denounced.  His  sending  of  troops  to  Chicago  in  1894,  his 
"surrender  to  holders  of  United  States  obligations  of  the 
government's  legal  option  of  redeeming  in  either  silver  or 
gold,"  his  "  issue  of  interest-bearing  bonds  in  time  of  peace," 
and  his  "  traffic  with  banking  syndicates  "  were  scored  as  of 
the  nature  of  crimes.  Gold  monometallism  was  indicted  as 
the  mischief  "  which  had  locked  fast  the  prosperity  of  an 
industrial  people  in  the  paralysis  of  hard  times  "  and  brought 
the  United  States  into  financial  servitude  to  London.  "  Gov 
ernment  by  injunction  "  was  assailed  as  a  highly  dangerous 
form  of  oppression.  The  Convention  opposed  "  life  tenure 
in  the  public  service,"  recommending  appointments  based  on 
merit,  fixed  terms  in  office,  and  equal  opportunities  to  all 
citizens  of  ascertained  fitness. 

National  bank  circulation  was  declared  derogatory  to  the 
Constitution,  and  rapturous  applause  hailed  the  demand  for 
"  the  free  and  unlimited  coinage  of  silver  at  the  present  legal 
ratio  of  16  to  i  without  waiting  for  the  aid  or  consent  of 
any  other  nation." 

Hill,  of  New  York,  Vilas,  of  Wisconsin,  and  ex-Governor 
Russell,  of  Massachusetts,  were  the  chief  speakers  on  the  con 
servative  side.  They  urged  that  the  mere  threat  of  free  silver 
injured  business.  William  J.  Bryan,  of  Nebraska,  was  called 
upon  to  reply.  In  a  musical  and  penetrating  voice  that  fixed 
the  attention  of  all,  he  sketched  the  growth  of  the  free-silver 
cause  and  prophesied  its  triumph.  The  gold  standard,  he  said, 
not  any  "  threat  "  of  silver,  was  what  disturbed  business.  The 
wage-worker,  the  farmer,  and  the  miner  were  as  truly  business 
men  as  "  the  few  financial  magnates  who  in  a  dark  room  cor 
nered  the  money  of  the  world."  "  We  answer  the  demand 
for  the  gold  standard  by  saying,  '  You  shall  not  press  down 
upon  the  brow  of  labor  this  crown  of  thorns.  You  shall  not 
crucify  mankind  upon  a  cross  of  gold!  ' 

Sixteen  members  of  the  Resolutions  Committee  offered 
as  a  substitute  for  the  silver  plank  a  declaration  similar  to 

779 


THE    UNITED    STATES    IN    OUR    TIME 


that  made  by  the  Republican  Convention.  A  further  plank 
was  moved,  commending  the  honesty,  economy,  courage,  and 
fidelity  of  the  Administration.  Both  motions  were  lost. 

Here  was  an  Impasse  no  less  serious  than  that  which  had 
befallen  the  Republicans.  No  Chicago  delegates  withdrew, 
but,  in  the  subsequent  proceedings,  New  York's  72  delegates, 
45  of  New  England's  77,  18  of  New  Jersey's  20,  and  19  of 
Wisconsin's  24  abstained  from  all  part  whatever.  The  silver 

Republicans  were  like  an 
amputated  limb,  the 
gold  Democrats  like  a 
palsied  one.  It  remained 
to  be  seen  which  disabil 
ity  would  the  more  com 
pletely  cripple  its  man. 

Probably  a  major 
ity  of  the  silver  delegates 
at  first  favored  Richard 
P.  Bland,  r  of  Missouri, 
father  of  the  Bland  Act, 
as  the  presidential  can 
didate,  but  upon  hear 
ing  Bryan's  speech  they 
swung  to  the  young 
man's  support.  He  was 
nominated  on  the  fifth 
ballot.  Arthur  Sewall, 
of  Maine,  was  the  nominee  for  vice-president. 

William  Jennings  Bryan,  then  barely  thirty-six,  was  the 
youngest  man  ever  nominated  for  the  presidency.  He  was 
born  in  Salem,  111.,  March  19,  1860.  His  father  served  in 
the  Illinois  Senate  and  upon  the  circuit  bench  of  that  State. 
Young  Bryan  passed  his  youth  on  his  father's  farm.  He 
graduated  at  Illinois  College,  Jacksonville,  with  oratorical 
honors,  and  studied  law  in  Chicago.  Having,  in  1887,  been 

780 


WILLIAM    JENNINGS    BRYAN    IN    HIS    LIBRARY, 

LINCOLN,    NEB. 
Copyright,  fgoo,   by    Underwood  &f  Underwood 


POPULISTS    AND    DEMOCRATS 


admitted  to  the  bar,  he  opened  a  law  office  in  Lincoln,  Neb, 
In  1890  he  was  elected  to  Congress,  where  he  served  two 
terms,  declining  a  third  nomination. 

In  Nebraska  as  in  other  Western  States  Republicans  so 
outnumbered  Democrats  that  Populists'  aid  was  indispensable 
in  any  State  or  congressional  contest.  In  1892  their  aid  had 
been  eagerly  courted  in  Cleveland's  behalf.  That  Bryan  had 
assisted  in  consummating  fusion  between  Populism  and  De 
mocracy  in  Nebraska  occasioned  the  unjust  charge  that  he  was 
no  Democrat.  The  allegation  gained  credence  when  the  Popu 
list  National  Convention  at  St.  Louis 
placed  him  at  the  head  of  its 
ticket,  rejecting  Sewall  as  vice-presi 
dential  nominee  and  choosing  instead 
a  typical  Southern  Populist,  Thomas 
Watson,  of  Georgia. 

Southern  Populists  hated  Demo 
crats  worse  than  they  hated  Republi 
cans,  while  Westerners  of  that  faith 
were  jealous  of  Sewall  as  an  Eastern 
man  and  rich.  Moreover,  the  suc 
cess  of  radical  Democracy  meant  that 
the  Populists  would  be  absorbed.  It 
wras  surmised  that  the  party  leaders 

were  planning  for  just  such  a  "  merger  "  as  this.  The  Populist 
rank  and  file  therefore  insisted  on  nominating  their  vice- 
presidency  candidate  before  naming  a  candidate  for  president. 
Bryan  was  thus  made  head  of  the  ticket  the  next  day  after 
Watson.  The  silver  Republicans,  not  needing  to  resort  to  any 
such  wiles,  acclaimed  Sewall  and  Bryan  together. 

The  Democrats  had  now  flanked  their  foe  in  a  rather 
formidable  way,  abandoning  the  Wilson  Tariff  to  its  fate, 
winning  the  whole  force  of  Populists,  playing  havoc  with  the 
Republicans'  silver  wing,  and  upon  the  money  issue  forcing 
the  enemy  to  defend  the  very  ground  occupied  by  Cleveland's 

781 


ARTHUR    SEU'ALL 


THE    UNITED    STATES    IN    OUR    TIME 

Administration.  Had  the  election  occurred  early  in  the  sea 
son  these  tactics  might  have  won,  but  September  witnessed 
an  anti-Bryanite  ccup  which  nearly  redressed  the  balance.  On 
the  2d  and  3d  of  that  month  a  group  of  ardent  gold  Demo 
crats  gathered  at  Indianapolis. 

Like  the  silver  Republicans,  but  with  a  wholly  different 
thought,  this  convention  proclaimed  protection  the  ally  of  free 
coinage.  It  anathematized  both.  It  lauded  the  gold  standard 
and  a  non-governmental  currency  as  historic  Democratic  doc 
trines,  indorsed  the  Administration,  assailed  the  Chicago  in 
come-tax  plank,  and  cautiously  pledged  "  resistance  to  every 
illegal  trust,  combination,  or  attempt  against  just  rights  of 
property."  Ex-Senator  Palmer,  of  Illinois,  and  Simon  E. 
Buckner,  of  Kentucky,  were  nominated  to  stand  upon  this 
platform.  Gold  Democrats  who  could  not  in  conscience  vote 
for  a  Republican  found  here  their  refuge. 

By  this  time  parties  were  seriously  mixed.  Thousands 
of  Western  Republicans  declared  for  Bryan;  as  many  or  more 
Eastern  Democrats  for  McKinley.  Party  newspapers  bolted. 
In  Detroit  the  Republican  Journal  supported  Bryan,  the  Demo 
cratic  Free  Press  came  out  against  him.  Not  a  few  voters 
from  both  sides  "  took  to  the  wroods,"  while  many,  to  be 
"  regular,"  appeared  to  lay  their  convictions  on  the  table. 

In  principle  both  "  silver  loons  "  and  "  gold  bugs  " 
favored  an  "  honest  dollar,"  that  is,  a  monetary  unit  which 
would  fluctuate  in  value  as  little  as  possible.  The  silverites 
maintained  that  the  general  adoption  of  the  gold  standard  had 
perniciously  increased  the  demand  for  gold  and  diminished 
that  for  silver,  without  materially  affecting  the  supply  of  either 
metal;  that,  hence,  gold  was  constantly  increasing  in  value, 
this  fact  expressing  itself  by  a  progressive  fall  in  the  prices 
of  general  commodities  and  of  silver,  to  the  sad  detriment  of 
all  industries  save  money-lending.  They  argued  that  the  free 
coinage  of  silver  by  even  one  powerful  commercial  nation  like 
the  United  States  would  restore  the  historic  value-ratio  be- 

782 


THE    CONTROVERSY    OVER    SILVER 

tween  the  metals,  compelling  other  nations  to  co-operate,  and 
thus  end  the  money  famine  and  the  fall  in  prices. 

Perhaps  most  of  those  opposing  independent  free  coin 
age  admitted  the  undesirableness  of  gold  monometallism. 
Some  of  them  believed  bimetallism  realizable  through  inter 
national  agreement;  none  of  them  deemed  the  United  States 
able  to  achieve  it  alone.  The  attempt,  they  said,  would  place 
us  upon  a  silver  basis  like  Mexico  and  flood  us  with  fifty-cent 
silver  dollars,  gold  leaving  the  country  or  hiding  within  it. 
The  resort  to  a  "  cheap  "  dollar  would  involve  repudiation  of 
our  national  debt  and  painfully  lower  national  credit,  while  the 
wage-worker  with  his  bisected  pittance  would  suffer  more  than 
any  other  citizen. 

A  few  went  to  the  extreme  of  urging  that  bimetallism, 
national  or  international,  was  a  delusion,  and  that  gold  was 
the  only  safe  metal  for  full  money,  as  superior  to  silver  as 
this  had  once  been  to  copper  or  wampum. 

A  considerable  number  who  believed  in  bimetallism 
theoretically  and  had  no  doubt  that  the  United  States,  proceed 
ing  to  coin  legal-tender  silver,  could  determine  for  the  world 
the  parity  of  the  two  precious  metals  either  single-handed  or 
by  compelling  or  inducing  other  nations  to  join,  still  felt  that, 
even  if  temporary,  such  a  shock  to  our  finances  and  credit  as 
was  sure  to  follow  the  attempt  would  more  than  outweigh  all 
the  good  which  the  intrinsically  more  rational  monetary  sys 
tem  might  finally  induce. 

The  campaign  was  fierce  beyond  parallel.  Neither  can 
didate's  character  could  be  assailed,  but  both  candidates' 
motives  and  those  of  their  followers  were.  Epithets  like 
"  gold  bug  "  and  "  popocrat  "  were  worn  stale.  A  Western 
campaign  song  had  for  its  refrain,  "  Shoot  the  gold  bugs, 
every  one."  At  a  social  function  in  Chicago  some  distin 
guished  Englishmen  known  to  sympathize  with  Bryan  were 
by  many  present  ogled  and  shunned  like  pickpockets.  An 
Eastern  man  supporting  Bryan  was  considered  a  freak  and 

783 


THE    UNITED    STATES    IN    OUR    TIME 

made  uncomfortable.  Some  Southern  bankers  were  threat 
ened  with  the  loss  of  New  York  credit  if  they  gave  support 
to  silver.  For  the  first  time,  perhaps,  in  our  history,  so  great, 
in  financial  circles,  was  the  dread  of  a  Bryan  victory,  corpo 
rations  as  such  voted  money  to  the  Republican  campaign  fund. 
The  other  side  could  tap  no  such  mine.  Never  before  had  a 
national  campaign  seen  the  Democratic  party  so  abandoned 
by  men  of  substance  or  with  so  slender  a  purse. 

Save  for  one  short  trip  to  Cleveland  the  Republican  can 
didate  did  not  during  the  campaign  leave  Canton,  though  from 
his  doorstep  he  spoke  to  hordes  who  came  to  visit  him.  He 
urged  "  sound  money,"  but  with  no  such  emphasis  or  iteration 
as  marked  his  pleas  for  protection. 

His  opponent,  in  the  course  of  the  most  remarkable  cam 
paigning  tour  ever  made  by  a  candidate,  preached  free  coinage 
to  millions.  The  immense  number  of  his  addresses,  their 
effectiveness,  notwithstanding  the  slender  preparation  possible 
for  most  of  them  severally,  the  abstract  nature  of  his  subject 
when  argued  on  its  merits,  and  the  strain  of  his  incessant  jour 
neys  amazed  all  at  the  man's  power. 

Had  Mr.  Bryan  been  able  through  the  campaign  to  sus 
tain  the  passionate  eloquence  of  his  Chicago  speech  or  the 
lucid  logic  of  that  with  which  at  Madison  Square  Garden  he 
opened  the  campaign,  he  would  still  have  failed  to  uphold  the 
"  more  hard  money  "  fervor  at  its  midsummer  pitch.  His 
eloquence,  indeed,  did  not  desert  him,  but  the  level  of  his  argu 
ment  sank.  Instead  of  championing  the  cause  of  producers, 
whether  rich  or  poor,  against  mere  money-changers,  which  he 
might  have  done  with  telling  effect,  he  more  and  more  fell  to 
the  tone  of  one  speaking  simply  for  the  poor  as  such  against 
the  rich  as  such,  an  attitude  which  repelled  multitudes  who 
possessed  neither  wealth  nor  much  sympathy  with  the  wealthy. 

As  election  day  drew  near  the  feeling  rose  that  it  post 
dated  by  at  least  two  months  all  possibility  of  a  Democratic 
victory.  The  Republicans'  limitless  resources,  steady  dis- 

784 


c  s 
~  "3 


I 


McKINLEY'S    CABINET 

cipline,  and  ceaseless  work  told  day  by  day.  They  polled  of 
the  popular  vote  7,104,244.  The  combined  Bryan  forces  had 
6,506,835;  the  Gold  Democracy,  134,652;  the  Prohibitionists, 
144,606;  and  the  Socialists,  36,416. 

(  By  his  choice  of  cabinet  ministers  the  new  Executive  gave 
hostages  to  seasoned  conservatism.^  The  youngest  was  fifty 
years  old;  their  average  age  was  three-score.  Their  Nestor, 
John  Sherman,  was  Secretary  of  State,  having  yielded  his 
Senate  seat  to  the  swiftly  rising  Hanna.  William  R.  Day, 
assistant  secretary,  succeeded  him  upon  the  outbreak  of  the 
Spanish  War.  In  1898  Day  in  turn  resigned,  when  Ambas 
sador  John  Hay  was  called  to  the  place  from  the  Court  of 
St.  James.  As  a  recognition  of  the  gold  democracy's  aid  in 
the  campaign  the  treasury  went  to  Lyman  J.  Gage,  a  distin 
guished  Illinois  banker,  till  1896  a  Democrat.  General  Rus 
sell  A.  Alger,  of  Michigan,  held  the  War  Office  till  August  i, 
1899,  at  which  date  Elihu  Root,  of  New  York,  was  installed. 
Postmaster  General  James  A.  Gary,  of  Maryland,  resigned 
the  same  month  with  Sherman,  giving  place  to  Charles  Emory 
Smith,  of  the  Philadelphia  Press,  late  Ambassador  to  St.  Peters 
burg.  John  D.  Long,  of  Massachusetts,  assumed  the  Navy 
portfolio;  Cornelius  N.  Bliss, of  Newr  York,  that  of  the  Interior; 
and  James  Wilson,  of  Iowa,  that  of  Agriculture.  In  December, 
1898,  Ethan  Allen  Hitchcock,  of  Missouri,  succeeded  Bliss. 

The  solemn  presentation  to  New  York  City  of  the  Grant 
Mausoleum,  April  27,  1897,  the  anniversary  of  the  great  hero's 
birthday,  pleasantly  introduced  President  McKinley  to  his 
round  of  general  public  functions. 

From  an  eminence  in  Riverside  Park  rose  a  granite 
quadrangle,  a  massive  pier  at  each  corner,  and  a  row  of  stately 
Doric  columns  along  each  side.  A  great  circle  of  Ionic  pillars 
surmounted  the  roof  and  supported  the  cupola,  an  obtuse  cone, 
wherefrom,  aloft,  the  eye  swept  "  the  lordly  Hudson  "  for 
miles  up  and  down.  The  remains  of  General  Grant  had  pre 
viously,  on  April  I7th,  been  laid  in  a  red  porphyry  sarcophagus 

787 


THE    UNITED    STATES    IN    OUR    TIME 


upon  a  square  platform   in  the  centre  of  the   cruciform    in 
terior. 

As  the  presentation  day  procession,  miles  in  length, 
headed  by  the  President,  the  Governor  of  New  York  State, 
the  Mayor  of  the  city,  and  the  various  diplomatic  corps  from 
Washington,  wended  its  way  to  the  sepulchre,  upon  the 


THE    GR^NT   MONUMENT,    RIVERSIDE    DRIVE,    NEff    rORK 
Copyright.  IQOI ,  bj  Detroit  Photographic  Co 

Hudson,  war-ships  -of  the  Powers,  Spain  among  them,  joined 
our  North  Atlantic  squadron  in  thunderous  salutes. 

The  exercises  at  the  tomb  were  simple.  Bishop  Newman 
offered  prayer.  "  America  "  was  sung.  President  -McKinley 
delivered  a  fitting  address  of  eulogy.  General  Horace  Porter 
gave  the  mausoleum  into  the  city's  keeping,  a  trust  which 
Mayor  Strong  in  a  few  words  accepted. 

Another  event,  less  spectacular,  but  charged  with  deep 

788 


THE    CIVIL    SERVICE 

import  for  civilization,  was  the  fifth  congress  of  the  Universal 
Postal  Union,  which  assembled  at  Washington  in  May,  1897. 
The  Postal  Union,  largely  the  fruit  of  American  diplomacy, 
had  procured  for  a  billion  people  cheaper  and  more  secure 
international  mail  service.  The  new  postal  treaty  resulting 
from  the  congress  was  promptly  approved  by  our  Government. 

If,  after  election,  interest  in  politics  cooled  down  among 
those  to  whom  it  represented  principle  and  governmental  pol 
icy,  among  those  to  whom  politics  meant  office-getting  it  waxed 
hot.  The  possibility  of  dispensing  offices  to  remunerate  party- 
service  had  been  greatly  diminished  by  the  merit  system,  occa 
sioning  extreme  hostility  to  merit  methods,  especially  in  the 
War  Department.  Mindful  of  the  party's  and  his  own  stand 
in  favor  of  civil  service  reform,  President  McKinley  did  not 
readily  succumb.  At  last,  however,  on  May  29,  1899,  he 
withdrew  from  the  classified  service  about  4,000  positions, 
removing  3,500  more  from  the  class  theretofore  filled  through 
competitive  examination  or  an  orderly  practice  of  promotion, 
and  placed  6,416  under  a  novel  system  drafted  by  the  Secre 
tary  of  War.  The  order  legitimized  a  large  number  of  tem 
porary  appointments  made  without  examination,  and  rendered 
eligible,  as  emergency  appointees,  without  examination,  thou 
sands  who  had  served  during  the  Spanish  War.  Transfers  to 
the  classified  service  without  examination  were  permitted,  as 
were  reinstatements  of  ex-employes. 

Less  in  the  hope  of  results  in  the  direction  of  bimetallism 
than  to  convince  those  who  might  still  cherish  such  a  hope, 
President  McKinley  early  in  his  term  appointed  Edward  O. 
Wolcott,  Adlai  E.  Stevenson,  and  Charles  J.  Paine  special 
envoys  to  the  Powers  to  urge  international  action  for  the  re 
habilitation  of  silver  as  full-tender  money. 

France  was  cordial,  nor  was  the  British  Cabinet  at  first 
ill-disposed,  so  far  as  the  Indian  mints  were  concerned.  But 
the  Indian  Council  unanimously  declined  to  reverse  its  mone 
tary  policy.  The  Bank  of  England  at  first  inclined  to  co- 

789 


THE    UNITED    STATES    IN    OUR    TIME 

operate  with  the  envoys  by  promising  to  use  its  legal  license 
of  accepting  silver  as  part  of  its  reserve,  but  a  storm  of  protest 
from  the  "  city  banks  "  dismayed  the  directors  into  with 
drawal.  Lacking  British  support,  the  mission,  like  its  numer 
ous  predecessors,  came  to  naught,  and  the  adoption  and  main 
tenance  of  the  gold  standard  became  our  irrevocable  policy. 

(Notwithstanding  dire  predictions  to  the  contrary  and 
impatience  at  our  slow  convalescence,  the  year  1897  brought 
a  gradual  revival  of  business,  due  partly  to  the  end  of  political 
agitation,  partly  to  the  confidence  of  investing  classes  in  the 
new  administrationA  The  money  stringency,  too,  began  to 
abate  in  the  face  of  an  increasing  gold  output,  an  increase 
seeming  to  be  assured  for  a  long  time  not  only  by  the  inven 
tion  of  new  processes  which  made  it  profitable  to  work  gold 
tailings  and  worn-out  gold  mines,  but  also  by  the  discovery  of 
rich  auriferous  tracts. 

In  the  Arctic  night  of  1896-97  an  old  squaw-man  made 
an  unprecedented  strike  upon  the  Klondyke  (Thron-Duick  or 
Tondak)  River,  two  thousand  miles  up  the  Yukon.  By 
spring  all  his  neighbors  had  staked  rich  claims.  Next  July 
the  arrival  at  San  Francisco  of  a  two-million-dollar  gold  ship 
ment  precipitated  a  rush  to  the  inhospitable  Upper  Yukon 
territory  hardly  second  to  the  California  migration  of  '49^ 
Reputed  suffering  among  the  over-sanguine  and  under-equipped 
pilgrim  thousands  impelled  Congress  to  vote  relief  and  the 
War  Department  to  warn  of  the  danger  those  eager  to  embark 
who  had  not  yet  done  so. 

Latter-day  Argonauts  toiled  up  the  Yukon  or,  swarming 
over  the  steep  Chilcoot  Pass,  braved,  too  often  at  cost  of  lite, 
the  boiling  rapids  and  boisterous  lakes  to  be  passed  in  descend 
ing  the  Yukon  to  the  gold  fields.  Later  the  easier  and  well- 
wooded  White  Pass  was  found,  traversed  at  length  by  a  rail 
road,  "  The  White  Pass  and  Yukon,"  from  Skagway  to  the 
Yukon's  head  of  navigation  at  White  Horse.  The  net  earn 
ings  of  this  road  during  the  first  year  of  its  operation  were 

790 


GOLD    IN    ALASKA 

reported  as  $30,000  a  mile,  and  for  the  fiscal  year  ending  in 
1902  as  6 1  per  cent,  on  the  capital  stock.  A  second  railway, 
wholly  in  United  States  territory,  was  soon  projected  to  run 
north  from  the  ice-free  port  of  Seward,  in  the  Kenai  Peninsula, 
a  distance  of  413  miles,  to  the  Tanana,  a  navigable  tributary 
of  the  Yukon,  whence  came  new  rumors  of  gold. 

Little  lawlessness  pestered  the  gold  settlements,  a  remark 
able  fact  in  view  of  the  lack,  or  vagueness,  of  all  laws  touch 
ing  land,  timber,  and  mining.  When  necessary  the  miners 


THE    FIRST   PASSENGER    TRAIN    DESCENDING    FROM    THE    SUMMIT    OF    IfHlTE 

PASS,    ALASKA 

themselves  formed  tribunals  and  meted  out  a  rough-and-ready 
justice.  The  Dominion  promptly  despatched  to  Dawson  a 
body  of  her  famous  Mounted  Police.  Our  Government,  more 
tardily,  made  its  authority  felt  from  St.  Michael's,  near  the 
Yukon  mouth,  all  the  way  to  the  Canadian  border.  On  June 
6,  1900,  Alaska  was  constituted  a  civil  and  judicial  district, 
with  a  governor,  whose  functions  were  those  of  a  territorial 
governor.  Already  there  was  demand  for  a  territorial  repre 
sentative  in  Congress. 

The  Kenai  Peninsula,  and  so  all  the  southerly  coastland 

791 


THE    UNITED    STATES    IN    OUR    TIME 

of  Alaska,  boasted  a  climate  no  less  mild  than  that  of  Scot 
land,  and  less  subject  to  extremes  of  temperature  than  our 
Northern  States. 

From  1897  to  the  beginning  of  1903  the  gold  districts  of 
and  near  Alaska  yielded  $132,500,000  in  the  yellow  metal.  In 
October,  1898,  the  Cape  Nome  coast,  north  of  the  Yukon 
mouth,  disclosed  new  riches,  whereupon  treasure-seekers  turned 
thither  even  from  the  Yukon.  Nor  did  the  wealth  of  this 


FLAT   CARS    USED    ON    THE    FIRST   PASSENGER    TRAIN   TO   LEAVE    LAKE    BENNET. 
IT   CARRIED    A    QUARTER    OF   A   MILLION   IN    GOLD    DUST,    JULY  6,   1899 

vast  empire  consist  in  gold  alone.  Timber,  copper,  semi-anthra 
cite  coal,  and  other  minerals  were  found  to  abound.  Accord 
ing  to  well-vouched  reports  the  territory  held  500  square  miles 
of  coal  deposits  from  two  to  twenty  feet  in  thickness,  copper 
ledges  of  high  assay  and  unknown  depth,  260,000,000  acres 
of  merchantable  timber,  and  an  area  suitable  for  agriculture 
and  stock-raising  exceeding  the  combined  size  of  Iowa,  Illinois, 
Indiana,  Ohio,  Michigan,  New  York,  and  Pennsylvania.  The 

792 


THE    ALASKA    BOUNDARY 

streams  were  alive  with  fish.  The  yearly  salmon  catch  was 
valued  at  $8,500,000.  During  the  last  half  of  1902  the 
province  sent  to  the  States  nearly  $25,000,000  of  produce, 
$10,500,000  being  in  gold  and  silver.  Alaskan  commerce  for 
the  fiscal  year  ending  writh  June,  1903,  appeared  to  reach 
$20^000,000,  exclusive  of  gold. 

The  rush  of  miners  to  the  Middle  Yukon  gold  region, 
which,  together  with  certain  ports  and  waters  on  the  way 
thither,  were  claimed  by  both  the  United  States  and  Great 
Britain,  made  acute  the  question  of  the  true  boundary  between 
Alaskan  and  British  territory,  j 

In  1825  Great  Britain  and  Russia,  the  latter  then  own 
ing  Alaska,  agreed  by  treaty  to  delimit  their  contiguous  pos 
sessions  by  a  line  commencing  at  the  southernmost  point  of 
Prince  of  Wales  Island  and  running  along  Portland  Channel 
to  the  continental  coast  at  56  degrees  north  latitude.  North 
of  that  degree  the  boundary  was  to  follow  the  mountain  sum 
mits  parallel  to  the  coast  until  it  intersected  the  I4ist  meridian 
west  longitude,  which  was  then  to  be  pursued  to  the  frozen 
ocean.  In  case  any  of  the  summits  mentioned  should  be  more 
than  ten  marine  leagues  from  the  ocean,  the  line  was  to  par 
allel  the  coast  and  be  never  more  than  ten  marine  leagues 
therefrom. 

When  it  became  important  more  exactly  to  determine  and 
to  mark  the  boundary,  Great  Britain  advanced  two  new 
claims;  first,  that  the  "Portland  Channel"  mentioned  in  the 
Russo-British  Treaty  was  not  the  channel  now  known  by  that 
name,  but  rather  Behm  Channel,  next  west,  or  Clarence 
Straits;  and,  secondly,  that  the  ten-league  limit  should  be 
measured  from  the  outer  rim  of  the  archipelago  skirting 
Alaska,  and  not  from  the  edge  of  the  mainland.  If  conceded, 
these  claims  would  add  to  the  Canadian  Dominion  about 
29,000  square  miles,  including  TOO  miles  of  sea-coast,  with 
harbors  like  Lynn  Channel  and  Tahko  Inlet,  several  islands, 
vast  mining,  fishery,  and  timber  resources,  as  well  as  Juneau 

793 


THE    UNITED    STATES    IN    OUR    TIME 

City,    Revilla,    and    Fort    Tongass,    theretofore    undisputedly 
American. 

In  September,  1898,  a  joint  high  commission  sat  at  Que 
bec  and  canvassed  all  moot  matters  between  the  two  countries, 
among  them  that  of  the  Alaskan  boundary.  It  adjourned, 
however,  without  settling  this  question,  though  a  temporary 
and  provisional  understanding  was  reached  and  signed  October 


20,     I 


' 


By  a  new  treaty  in    1903   the  boundary  question 


THOUSANDS  OF  SEALS  ON  THE  BEACH,  ST.  PAUL  ISLAND,  BERING  SEA,  ALASKA 

was  referred  to  a  board  embracing  two  Canadian,  one  British, 
and  three  American  members.  The  treaty  stipulated  that 
at  all  events  actual  American  settlements  should  remain  Amer 
ican  territory. 

The  commissioners  of  1898  gave  earnest  attention  to  the 
sealing  question,  which  had  been  plaguing  the  United  States 
ever  since  the  Paris  Arbitration  tribunal  upset  Secretary 
Blaine's  contention  that  Bering  Sea  was  mare  clausum.  Upon 
that  tribunal's  decision  the  modus  vivendi  touching  seals  lapsed, 

794 


PELAGIC    SEALING 

and  Canadians  with  renewed  zeal  plied  seal-killing  upon 
the  high  seas.  Dr.  David  S.  Jordan,  American  delegate 
to  the  1896-97  conference  of  fur-seal  experts,  estimated  that 
the  American  herd  had  shrunk  15  per  cent,  the  preceding 
year,  and  that  a  full  third  of  that  year's  pups,  orphaned  by 
pelagic  sealing,  had  starved.  Reckoning  from  the  beginning 
of  the  industry  and  in  round  numbers,  he  estimated  that 
400,000  breeding  females  with  as  many  unborn  pups  had 
been  slaughtered  and  that  300,000  nups  had  perished  for 
want  of  nourishment.  This  estimate  disregarded  the  mul 
titudes  of  females  lost  after  being  speared  or  shot.  Mr. 
Jordan  predicted  the  not  distant  extinction  of  the  fur-seal 
trade  unless  protective  measures  should  be  forthwith  devised. 
British  experts  questioned  his  conclusions,  but  admitted  the 
need  of  some  restriction  upon  pelagic  sealing. 

To  the  American  request  for  a  suspension  of  seal-killing 
during  1897  the  British  Foreign  Office  tardily  responded  that 
it  was  too  late  to  stop  the  sealers  that  year.  Secretary  Sher 
man,  charging  Great  Britain  with  dilatory  and  evasive  con 
duct  upon  this  matter,  met  with  the  retort  that  the  American 
Government  was  seeking  to  embarrass  British  subjects  in  pur 
suing  lawful  vocations. 

Great  Britain's  attitude  obviously  had  its  inspiration  in 
Canada,  whose  people  resented  our  tariffs  upon  their  coal, 
lumber,  and  live  stock,  as  well  as  our  contract  labor  laws,  which 
disserved  many  border  Canadians  seeking  employment  in  the 
States. 

Prompted  by  Canada,  Great  Britain  recanted  her  offer  to 
join  the  United  States,  Russia,  and  Japan  in  a  system  of  seal 
ing  regulations.  The  three  countries  last  named  thereupon 
agreed  with  each  other  to  suspend  pelagic  sealing  so  long  as 
expert  opinion  declared  it  necessary.  The  Canadians  would 
consider  the  same  course  only  on  condition  of  indemnity  to 
the  owners  of  sealing  vessels.  In  December,  1897,  our  Gov 
ernment  cut  off  the  Canadians'  best  market  by  ordering  con- 

7Q5 


THE    UNITED    STATES    IN    OUR    TIME 

fiscated  and  destroyed  all  imported  seal-skins  unless  accom 
panied  by  consular  certificates  showing  that  they  were  not  sea- 
captures.  Spite  of  all  this  the  devastation  among  the  dwin 
dling  herd  went  on. 

It  was  in  part  due  to  our  imbroglio  with  Canada  that  the 
Senate  rejected  the  Anglo-American  Arbitration  Treaty  nego 
tiated  by  Secretary  Sherman's  predecessor,  although  the  most 


RAISING    THE    AMERICAN    FLAG    AT  HONOLULU,    AUGUST  12,   iSqS 

enlightened  opinion  in  both  nations  seemed  to  indorse  it. 
Fortunately  the  mutual  good  feeling  which  inspired  the  treaty 
survived  this,  promising  not  only  to  solve  outstanding  difficul 
ties,  but  to  become  embodied,  some  time,  in  a  convention. 

The  project  of  annexing  Hawaii,  arrested  in  1893,  was 
revived  in  June,  1897,  and  speedily  indorsed  by  the  Island 
Government.  Not  quite  two-thirds  of  the  American  Senate 
could  be  brought  to  support  it.  After  a  year,  therefore,  the 
Annexation  Treaty  was  abandoned,  and  a  joint  resolution  to 

796 


HAWAII    ANNEXED 


THOMAS  B.  REED,  SPEAKER 
OF  THE  HOUSE  OF  REPRE 
SENTATIVES 

Copyright,  l8q8,  by  Underwood  & 
Underwood 


the  same  end  passed  by  a  majority  of  both  houses.  Most  of 
the  Democrats  and  some  of  the  Republicans  opposed,  among 
the  latter  Speaker  Reed,  whose  grow 
ing  want  of  accord  with  the  Adminis 
tration's  expansion  policy  led  him  at 
last  to  forswear  politics  and  retire  to 
private  life.  The  United  States  as 
sumed  the  Hawaiian  debt  up  to 
$4,000,000.  Our  Chinese  Exclusion 
law  was  extended  to  the  Islands,  and 
Chinese  immigration  thence  to  the 
continental  Republic  prohibited.  A 
territorial  form  of  government  was 
imposed  April  30,  1900. 

The  party  in  power  pointed  to 
the  deficit  under  the  Wilson  law  with 
much  the  same  concern  manifested  by 
President  Cleveland  in  1 8 88. over  the 
surplus.  A  new  tariff  must  be  enacted,  and,  if  possible,  in 
ample  advance  of  a  new  congressional  election.  Congress, 
therefore,  took  the  matter  up  in  extra  session.  March  15, 
1897,  Chairman  Nelson  Dingley,  of  the  Ways  and  Means 
Committee,  reported  a  bill,  which  bore  his  name.  The 
House  at  once  adopted  a  rule  whereby  the  measure,  spite  of 
Democratic  pleas  for  time  to  examine,  discuss,  and  amend, 
reached  the  Senate  about  two  weeks  later.  This  body  passed 
the  bill  after  toning  up  its  schedules  with  some  870  amend 
ments,  most  of  which  pleased  the  conference  committee  and 
became  law.  The  President  signed  the  Act  on  July  24,  1897. 

Mr.  Dingley  estimated  that  the  new  law  advanced  the 
average  rate  of  duty  from  the  40  per  cent,  of  the  Wilson  Bill 
to  approximately  50  per  cent.,  a  shade  above  the  McKinley 
level.  However,  on  articles  of  popular  consumption,  as  a 
class,  the  Dingley  Act  laid  a  considerably  heavier  tax  than 
either  of  its  predecessors. 

797 


THE    UNITED    STATES    IN    OUR    TIME 


Reciprocity,  a  feature  of  the   McKinley  Tariff,  was  sus 
pended  by  the  Wilson  Act.     The  Republican  platform  of  1896 

declared  protection  and  reciprocity 
twin  measures  of  Republican  policy. 
Clauses  graced  the  Dingley  Act  al 
lowing  reciprocity  treaties  to  be 
made,  "  duly  ratified  "  by  the  Sen 
ate,  and  "approved"  by  Congress; 
yet  of  the  twins  protection  proved 
stout  and  lusty,  while  the  weaker  sis 
ter  languished.  Some  concessions 
were  given  and  received,  but  treaties 
which  involved  lowering  strictly  pro 
tective  duties  met  summary  defeat 
in  the  Senate.  Reciprocity  became  a 
galling  issue.  For  that  well-adver 
tised  policy  Continental  Europe  now 

began  substituting  retaliatory  tariffs.  Having  done  our  ut 
most  in  the  maxima  reached  by  neo-protectionism  we  could 
not  follow  suit  and  retaliate  upon  retaliation.  As  favoring 
domestic  monopolies  certain  of  the  Dingley  rates  caused  great 
ire  in  Republican  as  well  as  in  Democratic  quarters. 


NELSON  DTNGLET,  JR.,  MEM 
BER  GF  C  ON  GR  E  S  S  FR  OM 
MAINE 


CHAPTER    XXVII 
THE    WAR    WITH    SPAIN 


WEYLER  AND    BLANCO. DESTRUCTION   OF    THE    MAINE. NOT    READY 

FOR  WAR. THE  '  *  BOTTLING-UP  "  OF  CERVERA. THE  LAND  CAM 
PAIGN. THE  OREGON  TO  THE  FORE. WAITING  WORSE  THAN  FIGHT 
ING. SAMPSON  AND  SCHLEY. ARMY  REFORM. RATIFICATION  OF 

THE  PARIS  TREATY. PORTO  RICO  AND  THE  UNITED  STATES. DEVEL 
OPMENT  OF  PORTO  RICO. CUBA  AND  THE  UNITED  STATES. CUBAN 

INDEPENDENCE. FUTURE   OF  CUBA. 


IN  sheer  ugliness  of  despotism,  in  wholesale,  systematic, 
selfish  exploiting,  and  in  irredeemably  corrupt  and  clumsy 
administration,  Spain  outdid  all  other  powers  ever  called  to 
deal  with  colonies!^  Curiously,  Cuba,  though  ruled  atrociously, 
did  not  rebel  with  Spain's  South  American  fiefs.  However, 
to  every  similar  uprising  elsewhere  some  convulsion  in  Cuba 
was  the  close  prelude  or  sequel.  In  1766  she  bloodily  antici 
pated  our  Revolution.  Her  slave  population  took  fire  in  1794 
from  the  French  Revolution  and  the  sympathetic  friction  in 
Haiti.  The  "  July  Revolution  "  occurred  but  a  year  after  the 
Cuban  "Black  Eagle"  rebellion,  1829;  the  servile  revolt  of 
1844  just  preceded  the  dethronement  of  the  last  French  Bour 
bons;  and  the  ten-year  insurrection  beginning  in  1868  followed 
Maximilian's  fall  in  Mexico. 

\JJnlike  Turkish  atrocities  in  Armenia  or  Belgian  outrages 

799 


THE    UNITED    STATES    IN    OUR    TIME 

on  the  Congo,  Iberian  fire  and  sword  in  Cuba,  so  near,  con 
cerned  the  United  States  immediately  and  deeply.  John 
Quincy  Adams  wrote:  "From  a  multitude  of  considerations 
Cuba  has  become  an  object  of  transcendent  importance  to  the 
commercial  and  political  interests  of  our  Union.  Its  com 
manding  position,  the  nature  of  its  productions  and  its  wants, 
furnishing  the  supplies  and  needing  the  returns  of  a  commerce 
immensely  profitable  and  mutually  beneficial,  give  it  an  im 
portance  in  the  sum  of  our  national  interests  with  which  that 
of  no  other  foreign  territory  can  be  compared." 

Humane  as  well  as  material  interest  came  to  be  felt  in 
Cubans'  welfare.  Cubans  knew  of  this  sympathy  and  used  it, 
Cuban  juntas  at  our  ports  sowed  dragon's  teeth  among  us. 
Naturalized  Cuban-American  citizens  got  into  difficulties  on 
the  island.^  The  utmost  our  Government  could  do  in  suppress 
ing  filibusters  fell  far  short  of  satisfying  Spain,  who,  furious 
as  an  Andalusian  bull,  gored  to  death  American  citizens  sus 
pected  of  complicity  with  the  rebels  and  trampled  their  prop 
erty.  The  Virgimus  affair,  an  outrage  of  this  character, 
President  Grant  would,  but  for  desperate  resistance  by  his 
Secretary  of  State,  Hamilton  Fish,  have  redressed  with  the 
sword. 

In  1894-95  the  colonial  council,  only  one-half  elective, 
its  acts  subject  to  absolute  veto  by  the  Governor-General,  ad 
ministered,  so  it  was  alleged,  but  2.75  per  cent,  of  the  insular 
revenues,  Spain  dispensing  the  rest.  Cuba's  general  budget 
and  all  her  tariffs  were  formulated  beyond  the  Atlantic.  All 
fattest  pickings  fell  to  Spaniards.  Socially,  peninsular  arro 
gance,  centred  at  Havana,  confronted  insular  defiance.  Women 
studied,  in  their  attire,  to  badge  themselves  as  Spanish  or  as 
Cuban. 

'  Spain  denied  the  Cubans  all  effective  power  in  shaping 
their  country's  fortunes,  doomed  them  to  political  and  social 
inferiority,  confiscated  the  products  of  their  labor  without* giv 
ing  in  return  either  safety,  prosperity,  or  education,  and  inces- 

3oo 


WEYLER    AND    BLANCO 

santly  exploited,^  impoverished,  and  demoralizecO  Journalists 
and  others  informing  against  official  transgressors  or  advocat 
ing  home  rule  were  prosecuted  or  even  banished  without  trial. 
Public  meetings  for  protest  were  spied  on  or  suppressed.  The 
thought  of  systematically  improving  the  Cubans'  lot  to  make 
Spanish  overlordship  a  blessing  to  them,  seems  never  to  have 
entered  any  Spaniard's  mind.  Force  and  cruelty  were  the  sole 
resources.  Remission  of  these  now  and  then  was  so  maladroit 
as  to  suggest  weakness  rather  than  honest  mercy.  vOne  day 
martial  law  was  proclaimed  in  Havana,  and  the  final  rev 
olution,  the  blood-red  dawn  of  independence,  opened  forth 
with  j 

General  Weyler,  who,  in  January,  1896,  succeeded  the 
more  humane  Martinez  Campos  as  Captain-General,  went  to 
work  destroying  buildings  and  crops  and  huddling  non-com 
batants  in  camps,  where  fifty  per  cent,  of  them  soon  died. 
American  citizens  he  imprisoned  without  trial,  one  of  whom, 
Dr.  Ruiz,  died  under  circumstances  occasioning  strong  sus 
picions  of  foul  play.  Yet  the  insurgents  were  more  and 
more  victorious,  at  last  dominating  all  rural  Cuba  save  one 
province. 

In  August,  1897,  an  anarchist  shot  Premier  Canovas, 
whereupon  Sagasta,  his  liberal  successor,  recalled  Weyler, 
sending  Ramon  Blanco  in  his  place.  Blanco  proclaimed  am 
nesty,  set  up  an  autonomist  government,  freed  Americans  from 
prison  and  the  wretched  reconcentrados  from  their  camps.  To 
relieve  these  unfortunates  Spain  appropriated  a  large  sum, 
promising  implements,  seed,  and  other  means  for  restoring 
ruined  homes  and  plantations.  The  reconcentrados  received 
succor  from  the  United  States  also.  But  it  was  now  too  late; 
rhe  iron  had  entered  the  Cuban's  soul.  He  rejected  auton 
omy  under  Spain  and  would  be  pacified  with  nothing  short 
of  independence. 

(Meanwhile   United    States   relations   with    Spain   became 
daily  more  strained.     President  Cleveland,  willing  to  mediate 

801 


THE    UNITED    STATES    IN    OUR    TIME 

between  jTjothej^xxuiotr^_^iLd_CQlony,  was  persistently  neutral, 
refusing,  even  under  congressional  pressure,  to  recognize 
Cuban  belligerency.  Only  at  the  very  close  of  his  term  was 
he  brought  to  hint  at  intervention.  ~  President  McKinley  at 


UNITED    STATES    BATTLE-SHIP   "MAINE"    ENTERING    HAVANA 
HARBOR,    JANUARY,   1898 

Copy  right,  l8gS,  by  J.   C.  Hemment 


his  accession  was  in  much  the  same  state  of  mind  and  might 
have  continued  so  had  not  two  "  untoward  events  "  compelled 
a  change. 

A  letter  written  by  Serior  Dupuy  de  Lome,  Spanish  Min 
ister  at  Washington,  was  intercepted  and  published,  wherein 
the  President  was  held  up  as  a  cheap,  time-serving  politician. 
The  offender  promptly  resigned,  yet  the  diplomatic  urbanity 
of  the  two  powers  was  henceforth  like  the  grim  smiles  and 
cold  hand-shakes  of  duellists  waiting  the  word. 

Our  Government  sent  the  battle-ship  Maine  on  a  friendly 
visit  to  the  Cuban  capital.  Old  Morro  Castle  thundered  a 
salute  as  the  American  war-ship  entered  Havana  harbor.  A 
Spanish  government  pilot  took  her  to  her  harbor  berth  and 
courtesies  were  showered  upon  her  officers.  On  the  night  of 
February  15,  1898,  the  silence  brooding  over  the  drowsy  har- 


DESTRUCTION    OF   THE    MAINE 


bor  wherejjif  Maine  lnome4-a^-andiQr^--2^^.  .officers  and  men 
asleep  within  her  steel  _  walls,  was  rent  by  an  explosion  as  of  a 
colossal  volcano;  the  darlc  hull  leapt  high  amid  a  tremendous 
turmoil  of  waters,  then  sank  till  only  a  low,  shapeless  hump 
was  visible.  Not  one  of  the  266  ever  saw  day. 

Many  immediately  charged  the  catastrophe  to  the  crim 
inal  negligence,  if  nothing  worse,  of  the  Spanish  authorities. 
The  Spanish  Government  earnestly  ^denied  fault,  announcing 


THE    WRECKED   "  MAINE"    HAVANA,    CUBA—DECORATED    MAT 
JO,    7902,    BY    ORDER    OF    PRESIDENT   PALM  A 

Copyright,  IQOJ,  by   Underwood  &  Underwood 


the  conclusion,  from  such  investigation  as  it  could  make  with 
out  violating  international  law  by  trespassing  upon  the  wreck, 
that  the  Maine  disaster  was  due  to  an  internal  explosion.  An 

803 


THE    UNITED    STATES    IN    OUR    TIME 

American  Court  of  Inquiry  studied  the  case  more  thoroughly, 
and,  March  list,  confirmed  the  view,  already  about  universal, 
that  a  submarine  mine  had  blown  up  the  Maine.  Spanish 
complicity  was  not  alleged  in  the  findings,  but  quite  generally 
inferred  from  them. 

\JVar-dogs  now  tugged  at  tJ^ir  leashes.  The  South  no 
less  than  the  North,  the  Democracy  eVen  more  than  the  party 
in  power,  was  hot  to  draw  sword.  "  Remember  the  Maine  " 
echoed  up,  down,  and  across  the  land.  Congress  unanimously 
voted  $50,000,000  for  national  defense^)  Peace  delegations 
waited  upon  the  President,  but  in  vain.  With  as  little  avail 
the  ambassadors  of  six  powers  jointly  pleaded  with  him  for 
further  negotiations.  He  replied  that  the  situation  had  be 
come  incurable  by  peaceful  means. 

fApril  2Oth,  Congress,  without  recognizing  the  Cuban 
Republic,  in  effect  declared  war  against  Spain  by  alleging 
that  the  people  of  Cuba  were  and  of  right  ought  to  be  free 
and  .independent.  To  enforce  Spain's  withdrawal  from  Cuba 
and  Cuban  waters  our  army,  navy,  and  militia  were  placed  at 
the  President's  disposal.  One  hundred  and  twenty-five  thou 
sand  Stale  volunteers  were  called  out;  the  regular  army  was 
increased  to  61,919;  a  call  for  75,000  additional  volunteers 
soon  followed,  answered  with  alacrity  by  multitudes  more  than 
were  needecy 

Spain  was  an  abject  spectacle,  misruled,  soldier-ridden, 
torn  by  Carlism  and  anarchy  at  home,  grappling  at  tremen 
dous  outlay  of  life  and  money  with  two  rebellions  beyond  the 
sea.  Yet,  while  the  contempt  felt  for  the  senile  Iberian  offi 
cialdom  seemed  well-deserved,  the  Spanish  people,  not  only  at 
this  first  crisis  but  again  and  again  during  the  war,  showed 
admirable  qualities.  Popular  subscriptions  poured  in  to  aid 
the  impoverished  treasury.  Young  reserves  sprang  to  arms. 
Spain's  soldiers,  and  sailors  were  brave,  patriotic,  temperate, 
and  uncomplaining,  proud  of  the  nation's  glorious  past,  and 
ready  to  die  for  her  without  flinching. 

804 


NOT    READY    FOR    WAR 

Our  own  unpreparedness  for  war  almost  matched  Spain's 
decrepitude.  With  such  energy  had  we  beaten  Civil  War 
swords  into  ploughshares  that,  though  our  fighting  men  were 
the  finest  in  Christendom,  our  weapons  were  almost  the  poor 
est.  A  large  part  of  our  small-arms  were  of  short  range 
and  obsolete  type.  Field  artillery,  somewhat  better,  was  in 
adequate.  Smokeless  powder  was  wanting.  There  was  no 
khaki  or  other  cloth  suitable  for  tropical  uniforms.  Canvas 
which  the  Post-Office  Department  had  laid  in  for  mail-bags 
had  to  be  requisitioned  for  tents.  Our  form  of  army  admin 
istration  was  effete.  Spain's  fortress  walls  might  be  crumbling, 


PROTECTED    CRUISER   "  OL  TMPIA"    COMMODORE    DEff'F.T'S    FLAGSHIP 

ours  were  not  yet  quarried.  If  some  of  her  men-of-war  were 
old  iron,  many  that  we  ought  to  have  been  able  to  rely  on 
existed  simply  as  ore. 

In  ships  and  guns  the  Spanish  navy  and  ours  were  of 
about  equal  strength.  We  had  the  more  battle-ships,  but  Spain 
boasted  several  new  swift  armored  cruisers,  besides  a  flotilla 
of  powerful  torpedo-boats.  In  men  the  case  \vas  different. 
The  Spaniard  was  a  poor  gunner,  a  clumsy  sailor,  an  awkward 
and  careless  mechanic,  while  the  American  tar  was  a  good 
navigator,  an  expert  with  machinery,  and,  thanks  to  long  and 
systematic  practice,  a  deadly  marksman. 


THE    UNITED    STATES    IN    OUR    TIME 

These  disparities  were  vividly  apparent  ere  the  war  was 
a  fortnight  old.  Placed  in  command  of  our  naval  forces  in 
Asiatic  waters,  and  ordered  to  capture  or  destroy  the  Spanish 
Philippine  fleet,  Commodore  George  Dewey,  a  little  before 
midnight,  April  30,  1898,  entered  the  Boca  Grande  Channel 
leading  to  Manila  BavJ  The  Olympia,  his  flag-ship,  the  Balti 
more,  the  Petrel,  the  Raleigh,  the  Concord,  and  the  Boston 
formed  his  fleet.  His  objective,  which  confronted  him  as  day 
broke  on  May  ist,  was  Admiral  Montojo's  fleet,  consisting  of 
the  Reina  Christina,  the  Castilla,  the  Don  Antonio  de  Ulloa, 
the  Don  Juan  de  Austria,  the  Isla  de  Luzon,  the  I  si  a  de  Cuba, 
the  General  Lezo,  the  Marquis  del  Duero,  the  El  Curreo,  and 
the  Velasco — nine  vessels  to-Dewey's.six^backed  by  the  Cavite 
batteries,  under  which  they  huddled.  Batteries  and  fleet  com 
bined  mounted  more  guns  and  threw  more  metal  per  volley 
than  the  American  did. 

Commodore  Dewey  held  his  fire  till  close  range  was 
attained.  Then,  sweeping  around  before  his  motionless  tar 
gets,  nearer  and  nearer,  so  baffling  the  enemy's  aim,  he  poured 
a  withering  cyclone  of  shot  and  shell  upon  the  Spanish  craft. 
Two  torpedo-boats  ventured  from  shore.  One  was  sunk,  one 
beached.  The  Reina  Christina,  the  Goliath  of  the  fleet, 
steamed  out  to  duel  with  the  Olympia,  but,  overwhelmed  with 
deadly  attentions,  co^ld  barely  stagger  back,  150  men  killed 
and  90  others  wounded.  The  pigmy  of  our  fleet,  the  saucy 
and  pugnacious  Petrel,  specially  impressed  the  Cavite  non- 
combatants.  "II  piccaninny  mucha-mucha  bom-bom!"  they 
said.  In  a  little  less  than  two  hours,  having  sunk  the  Christina, 
Castilla,  and  Ulloa  and  set  afire  the  other  war-ships,  the  Amer 
ican  withdrew  to  assure  and  arrange  his  ammunition  supply 
and  to  breakfast  and  rest  his  brave  crews.  fy\t  11.16  he  re 
turned  to  finish.  By  half  past  twelve  he  had  silenced  the  forts 
and  sunk  or  burned  every  Spanish  war-vessel.  The  Spanish 
reported  their  loss  at  381  killed  and  wounded.  Seven.  Amer 
icans  were  wounded,  none  killed. 


THE   "BOTTLING-UP"    OF    CERVERA 

Upon  receipt  of  the  tidings  Congress  passed  a  joint  reso 
lution  of  thanks  to  Dewey  and  his  men,  and  the  Commodore 
was  made  a  Rear-Admiral. 

Before  Dewey's  exploit  in  the  Orient — indeed,  as  the 
first  move  of  the  war — Rear-Admiral  Sampson  went  to  en 
force  the  proclaimed  blockade  of  the  Cuban  coast,  small 
expeditions  at  the  same  time  conveying  war-stuff  to  the  insur 
gents.  On  Mjiy__E2th  Sampson  bombarded  San  Juan  de  Porto 
Rico.  Meantime  the  Spanish  Admiral  Cervera  had  disap- 


PRESIDENT  McKINLEY   AND    ADMIRAL    DEU'F.Y   REVIEWING    THE    SOLDIERS    AND 
SAILORS    FROM    THE    UNITED    STATES    CAPITOL    STEPS 

Cofj right,  1899,  by  J.  F.  Jar-vis 

peared  west  of  the  Cape  Verde  Islands,  the  whole  world 
wondering  whither  he  had  gone.  Our  navy  patrolled  the  coast 
from  Maine  to  Florida,  sea-port  populations  trembling  as  if 
they  already  heard  the  Spaniard's  guns.  The  Spanish  squad 
ron  was  at  last  located  in  the  harbor  of  Santiago  de  Cuba, 
across^  whose  narrow  harbor-entrance  Commodore  Schiey, 
joined  a  little  later  by  his  superior,  Sampson,  drew  a  vigilant 
line  of  war-vessels. 

One  of  these,  the  Oregon,  child  of  the  Pacific  Coast,  for 

807 


THE    UNITED    STATES    IN    OUR    TIME 

she  was  built  by  the  Union  Iron  Works,  San  Francisco,  had 
just  won  laurels  by  a  voyage  unprecedented  in  naval  history. 
On  orders  issued  before  hostilities  commenced  she  steamed  from 
San  Francisco  round  the  Horn  to  re-enforce  the  Atlantic  fleet. 
The  long,  hard,  swift  trip  was  achieved  without  breaking  a  bar 
or  loosening  a  bolt.  It  was  thought  that  the  Pacific  Messenger 
might,  off  Brazil,  fall  in  with  Admiral  Cervera,  but  Captain 
Clark,  her  commander,  had  no  fear  in  case  of  such  emergency, 
expecting,  with  a  confidence  which  ere  long  appeared  quite  within 
bounds,  not  only  to  hold  his  own,  but  to  punish  his  assailant. 


UNITED 


BATTLE-SHIP   "  OREGON" 


At  the  end  of  her  voyage  the  noble  ship  was,  without  overhaul 
ing,  ready  to  take  effective  part  in  the  Santiago  blockade. 

To  leave  the  blockaders  freer  for  other  operations,  also 
to  prevent  the  remotest  possibility  of  Cervera's  escaping  to 
harry  our  coast,  relieve  Havana,  or  establish  himself  in  Porto 
Rico,  it  was  determined  to  sink  the  collier  Merrimac  across 
the  Santiago  channel  neck.  Just  before  dawn  on  June  3d  the 
young  naval  constructor,  Hobson,  with  a  forlorn  hope  chosen 
from  scores  of  eager  volunteers,  and  one  stowaway  who  joined 
them  against  orders,  pushed  the  hulk  between  the  headland 

SoS 


THE    LAND    CAMPAIGN 


forts  into  a  roaring  hell  of  projectiles  and  blew  her  up.  The 
rudder  being  shot  away,  the  wreck  went  down  not  across  the 
channel  but  lengthwise.  After  the  explosion  the  little  crew  of 
eight  clustered  round  their  float,  not  a  man  dead  or  missing. 
The  firing  ceased.  A  launch 
drew  near  bearing  the  Spanish 
Admiral  himself,  who,  with  ad 
miring  kindness,  took  aboard 
Hobson  and  his  men  and  noti 
fied  the  American  fleet  of  their 
safety.  On  July  6th  they  were 
exchanged. 

rMeanwhile  Major  -  Gen 
eral  WnHam~KT"SKafter  had 
embarked  at  Tampa  aa  army 
of  17,000  to  invest  Santiago 
by  land.^  Extricating,  assorting, 
and  shipping  the  mass  of  sup 
plies  and  equipment  that  blocked  the  railway  terminals  at 
Tampa,  had  been  slow  work.  There  was  another  week  of 
delay  afloat,  owing  to  unfounded  rumor  about  a  Spanish 
cruiser  and  destroyer  lying  in  wait  to  the  southward. 

Cjtanding  a  little  east  of  Santiago,  at  Daiquiri  and  Siboney, 
the  invaders  forthwith  pushed  toward  the  doomed  city])  They 


MAJ.-GEN.    WILLIAM    R.    SHAFTER 


WATER-FRONT    OF    THE    UNION    IRON    H'ORKS,  HAN    FRANCISCO,  CAL.,  WHERE    THE 

"OREGON"    If 'AS    BUILT 

encountered  some  resistance  at  Las  Guasimas,  but  easily  swept 
it  aside.  Further  on,  at  El  Caney  _and__San  Juan  Ridge,  the 
Spaniards  made  a  stubborn  stand,  in  the  only  pitched  military 
engagement  of  the  war.  QBy  July  2d  our  forces  had  invested 

809 


THE    UNITED    STATES    IN    OUR    TIME 


Santiago,  save  upon  its  western  side.  This  the  Cubans  were 
expected  to  guard,  but  they  did  their  work  so  ill  that  3,600 
Spanish  reinforcements  were  able  to  march  past  and  join  their 
8,000  besieged  compatriots  in  facing  our  armyj 

Although  our  advanced  position  had  been  gallantly  estab 
lished  it  was  precarious.  Supply  trains  were  stalled  in  the 
rear  out  of  reach.  Provision,  whether  for  sound,  for  sick, 
or  for  wounded,  was  insufficient.  Haversacks  cast  aside  in 
action  had  been  lost  or  stolen.  The  sickly  season  had  set  in 
and  disease  was  beginning  to  help  the  enemy  kill  us.  Demor 
alizing  reaction  from  the  zest  of  the  forward  movement 
settled  upon  the  troops,  who  fought  by  day  under  a  broiling 
sun  and  by  night  dug  trenches  and  rifle-pits  amid  drenching 
rains.  To  assault  was  out  of  the  question.  For  a  moment 
retreat  was  suggested,  but  General  Wheeler,  commanding  the 
fighting  line,  resolutely  set  his  face  against  this,  as,  upon  reflec 
tion,  did  his  chief.  General  Toral,  commanding  the  enemy, 
received  a  bold  demand  for  surrender,  while  Sampson  was 

requested   to   meet   Shafter  and   ar 
range  offensive  operations. 

\On  July  ^d  Sampson  steamed 
east  to  see  Shafter.  Cervera,  under 
peremptory  orders  from  his  govern 
ment  to  leave  Santiago,  deeming  it 
"  better  to  die  fighting  than  to  blow 
up  the  ships  in  the  harbor  " —the 
alternatives  were  reduced  to  this 
grim  pair — selected  the  moment  for 
his  desperate  attempt?]  His  mari 
ners  seconded  him  with  splendid 
heroism.  The  Maria  Teresa^  then 
the  Almirant'e  Oquendo,  then  the 
Vizcaya,  then  the  Christobol  Colon,  slipped  out  of  the  harbor 
and  lunged  westward.  The  Brooklyn  gave  chase,  the  other 
vessels  in  suit,  the  Texas  and  the  Oregon  leading. 

Sio 


GEN.    JOSEPH   WHEELER 
Cofy  right,  i8q8,  h  A.  Dufont 


THE    OREGON  TO    THE    EORE 

(As  the  Spaniard  had  predicted,  it  was  "  a  dreadful  holo 
caust."  One  by  one  his  sturdy  vessels  reeled  shoreward, 
silenced,  crippled,  torn  with  shot  and  shell,  flames  belching 
fore  and  aft^;  fhe  Oregon,  pride  of 
our_jiayy,  delivered  the  finishing 
stroke.  Outdoing  the  other  pur 
suers  and  her  own  contract  speed, 
she  had,  within  three  hours  and 
forty  minutes  of  the  enemy's  ap 
pearance,  reduced  his  last  vessel, 
the  Colon,  to  junk.  Cervera  was 
captured,  with  76  officers  and  1,600 
men.  Three  hundred  and  fifty 
Spaniards  were  killed,  1 60  wounded. 
Our  losses  were  inconsiderable. 
Our  ships  suffered,  in  effect,  nothing, 
victory  carried  with  it  vic 


ROBERT  Vr.  MILLIGAN, 
CHIEF  ENGINEER  OF  THE 
" OREGON" 


tory  on  land^)  Shafter's  men,  forgetting  fatigue  and  despond 
ency,  danced,  shouted,  and  hugged  each  other.  Bands  rent 
the  air  with  wild  music.  The  beleaguered  forces  heard  this 
jubilation  and  understood  it.  They  saw  re-enforcements  al 
ready  landed  extending  the  American  right,  and  fifty  trans- 
portsful  more  ready  to  land.  They  tried  to  choke  the  harbor 
throat  with  the  Reina  Mercedes,  but  she,  ugly  like  the  Merri- 
mac,  sank  lengthwise  of  the  channel.  Sampson  could  steam 
in  any  day. 

The  Washington  authorities  offered,  in  case  of  Toral's 
surrender,  to  convey  his  command  to  Spain  free  of  charge. 
He  therefore  sought  from  Madrid,  and  after  some  days  ob 
tained,  leave  to  capitulate,  which  he  did  on  July  i6th.  Not 
only  the  garrison,  but  the  entire  Spanish  force  in  eastern  Cuba, 
about  24,000  men,  became  our  prisoners  of  war. 

^General  Miles  now  proceeded  to  Porto  Rico,  under  con 
voy  of  the  battle-ship  Massachusetts,  with  3,314  men  not 
disembarked  at  Santiago.  Other  troops  followed^  The  land- 


Sn 


THE    UNITED    STATES    IN    OUR    TIME 


ing-place  "  as  advertised  "  was  Point  Fajardo,  on  the  north 
east  coast  of  Porto  Rico.  There  the  Spanish  forces  concen 
trated,  leaving  Guanica,  on  the  southwest,  undefended.  To 
this  town  the  expedition  changed  its  course,  and  here,  upon 
July  25th,  it  raised  the  Stars  and  Stripes.  The  people  waited 
"  with  impatience,"  as  one  wrote,  "  the  American  occupation 
destined  to  break  the  chain  which  had  been  constantly  forging 
through  four  centuries  of  infamous  spoliation,  torpid  despot 
ism,  and  shameful  moral  slavery."  (/The  Spanish  forces, 
17,000  strong,  were  swept  back  by  four  simultaneous  move 
ments,  and  our  conquest  was  as  good 
as  complete  when  the  peace  protocol, 
August  1 2th,  ended  hostilities^) 

This  occurred  none  too  soon  for 
our  army  in  Cuba.  Malaria,  typhoid, 
dysentery,  and  yellow  fever  were  in 
sore  progress.  At  one  time  over  half 
the  army  in  Cuba  wras  ill.  Not  a 
regiment  escaped.  Paucity  of  rations 
due  to  the  necessity  of  feeding  20,000 
refugees  increased  men's  susceptibil 
ity  to  disease.  The  situation  gave  no 
alarm  till  late  in  July,  when  the  War 
Department  determined  to  transfer  the  entire  Fifth  Corps  to 
Montauk  Point  for  rest  and  recuperation. 

August  3d  many  officers  of  high  rank  addressed  to  General 
Shafter  a  forcible  letter,  which  became  famous  as  the  "  Round 
Robin."  '  We  are  of  the  unanimous  opinion,"  said  they, 
"  that  this  army  must  at  once  be  taken  out  of  Cuba  and  sent 
to  some  point  on  the  northern  sea-coast  of  the  United  States 
.  .  .  or  it  will  perish.  .  .  .  Persons  preventing  such  a  move 
will  be  responsible  for  the  unnecessary  loss  of  many  thousands 
of  lives."  Shafter  forwarded  this  letter  to  the  War  Depart 
ment.  Measures  for  removing  the  troops  had  already  been 
taken  and  were  being  pressed  with  utmost  haste,  so  that,  con- 

812 


GEN.    NELSON 


MILES 


WAITING    WORSE   THAN    FIGHTING 

trary  to  the  then  popular  impression,  the  "  Round  Robin  " 
did  not  contribute  to  this  end.  The  document  was  severely 
criticised  as  unnecessary  and  as  contrary  to  good  military  form 
and  discipline.  Especially  deplorable  was  its  publication  in  the 
press,  spreading  useless  and  painful  panic  through  the  land. 

At  Manila,  as  in  Cuba,  waiting  proved  harder  work  than 
fighting.  At  the  time  of  Dewey's  victory  Filipino  insurgents 
encircled  Manila  on  the  land  side,  precluding  Spaniards'  escape. 
To  spare  life,  the  admiral  awaited  the  arrival  of  land  forces 
before  taking  the  city.  It  was  necessary  to  encourage  -the 
insurgents  without  permitting  excesses  on  their  part,  nor  could 
they  be  recognized  as  allies  in  a  manner  to  involve  our  Gov 
ernment.  Once  Dewey  firmly  rebuked  impertinence  on  the 
part  of  Admiral  von  Diederich,  commanding  the  German 
fleet.  A  German  war-ship,  starting  into  harbor  contrary  to 
Dewey's  instructions,  was  promptly  halted  by  a  shot  across 
her  bows. 

With  the  English,  on  the  other  hand,  our  relations  were 
cordial.  When  the  British  man-of-war  Immortalite  steamed 
for  Hong  Kong  American  yards  were  manned,  crews  making 
the  welkin  ring  with  cheers  as  she  passed,  while  from  her 
shrinking  mast-head  fluttered  back,  till  it  vanished  in  the  blue, 
the  farewell  signal,  "Thank  you." 

On_June  3Oth  the  advance  portion  of  General  Merritt's 
troops  arrived  and  replaced  the  insurgents  in  beleaguering 
Manila.  The  city  surrendered  August  I3th,  the  day  after  the 
peace  protocol  was  signed. 

~The  total  United  States  casualties  during  the  Spanish- 
American  War  were:  in  the  army,  officers  killed,  23;  enlisted 
men  killed,  257 — £0tal,  280;  officers  wounded,  113;  enlisted 
men  wounded,  1,464 — total,  1,577;  in  the  navy,  killed,  1 7j 
-wounded,  67;  died  of  wounds,  i;  invalided  from  service,  6— 
total,  91. 

M.  Renan  remarks  that  Frenchmen  remembering  the 
French  Revolution  place  the  makers  of  it  all  in  the  same 

Si3 


THE    UNITED    STATES    IN    OUR    TIME 

Pantheon,  forgetting  how  cordially  those  heroes  often  hated 
each  other  when  alive.  Americans  will  as  graciously  forget 
the  heart-burnings,  animosities,  and  angry  controversies  result 
ing  from  the  Spanish  war,  not  letting  these  shorten  a  whit  the 
.stature  of  any  worthy  participant  in  the  struggle. 


PRESIDENT  McKINLET,    ADMIRAL    SAMPSON   AND    OTHER    DISTINGUISHED 
GUESTS    AT   ADMIRAL    DEH  EY'S    RECEPTION,    ff'ASHINGTON 

i  H,  Ran 


Santiago  certainly  afforded  "glory  enough  for  all  ";  yet 
few  seemed  desirous  of  placing  this  en  bloc.  Some  disparaged 
Admiral  Sampson's  part  in  the  battle,  others  Admira1  Schley's. 
Sampson  was  commander  of  the  fleet,  and  he  had  sagaciously 
prescribed  both  its  routine  and  its  emergency  procedure. 
Though  on  duty  out  of  sight  of  the  action  at  its  beginning,  he 

814 


SAMPSON    AND    SCHLEY 


was  entitled  to  the  utmost  credit  for  the  outcome.  The  day 
added  his  name  to  the  list  of  history's  great  sea-captainsT) 

Schley  had  the  fortune  to  be  senior  officer  during  his 
chief's  temporary  absence.  He  fought  his  ship,  the  Brooklyn, 
to  perfection,  and,  while  it  was  not  of  record  that  he  issued 
any  orders  to  other  ship  commanders,  his  prestige  and  his  well- 
known  stomach  for  battle  inspired  all,  contributing  much  to 
the  victory.  The  early  accounts,  which  made  Schley  the  cen 
tral  figure  of  the  battle,  deeply  impressed  the  public.  Unfort 
unately,  Sampson's  first  report  had  not  even  mentioned  him. 
Personal  and  political  partisans  en 
tered  into  the  strife,  giving  each 
phase  of  it  the  angriest  possible  look. 
Admiral  Schley  at  length  requested  a 
court  of  inquiry,  and  such  was  speed 
ily  convened. 

The  court  found  Schley's  con 
duct  in  the  part  of  the  campaign  prior 
to  June  i,  1898,  vacillating,  dilatory, 
and  lacking  in  enterprise.  It  main 
tained,  however,  that  during  the  bat 
tle  his  conduct  was  self-possessed  and 
that  he  inspired  his  officers  and  men 
to  courageous  fighting.  Admiral 

Dewey,  President  of  the  Court,  held  to  a  certain  extent  a  dis 
senting  opinion,  which  carried  weight  with  the  country.  He 
not  only  acquitted  Schley,  for  the  most  part,  of  blameworthi- 
ness  preceding  the  battle,  but  considered  him  the  actual  fleet 
commander  during  the  battle,  thus  giving  him  the  main  credit 
for  the  victory. 

^Legally,  it  turned  out,  Sampson,  not  Schlev,  commanded 
during  the  hot  hours.  Moreover,  from  the  point  of  view  of 
pure  theory,  the  court's  strictures  upon  Schley,  like  many 
criticisms  affecting  General  Grant's  conduct  at  Shiloh  and  in 
his  Wilderness  campaign,  were  probably  just.  But,  in  the  one 

815 


REAR  ADMIRAL    ff'TNFIELD    S, 
SCHLEY 

Copyright,  IQOI,  hi   Underwood  Sf 
Underwood 


THE    UNITED    STATES    IN    OUR    TIME 

case    as    in    the    other,  a    glorious    victory    having    been    wonr 
people    thought    criticism    an    impertinence.      The    world    has 
-*      never  allowed  a  proved  artist  to  be  condemned   for  what  it 
considered  mere  breach  of  technique^ 

Both   before   and   after   his   resignation,   July    19,    1899, 

Secretary   of   War   Alger   was    the    victim    of    great    obloquy, 
much   of    it,    certainly,    unjust.      Shafter's    corps    undoubtedly 


THE    U.    S.    S.    "BROOKLYN" 

Cofjright,jSgS,  h  C.  L.  Langill 

suffered  a  great  deal  that  proper  system  and  foresight  would 
have  prevented.  The  delay  in  embarking  at  Tampa,  the 
crowding  of  transports,  the  use  of  heavy  uniforms  in  Cuba 
and  of  light  clothing  afterward  at  Montauk  Point,  the  defi 
ciency  in  tents,  transportation,  ambulances,  medicines,  and 
surgeons,  as  well  as  the  sufferings  among  our  troops  in  the 
United  States,  ought  not  to  have  occurred.  Indignation  swept 
the  country  when  it  was  charged  that  Commissary-General 

Si6 


ARMY    REFORM 

Egan  had  furnished  soldiers  quantities  of  beef  treated  with 
chemicals  and  of  canned  roast  beef  unfit  for  use.  An  investi 
gating  commission  found  that  u  embalmed  beef  "  had  not  been 
given  out  to  any  extent.  Canned  roast  beef  had  been  used,  and 
the  commission  declared  it  improper  food. 

The  inquiry  made  it  clear  that  the  quartermaster  service 
had  been  physically  and  financially  unequal  to  the  task  of 
suddenly  equipping  and  transporting  the  enlarged  army — over 
ten  times  the  size  of  our  regular  army — for  which  it  had 
to  provide.  If  wanting  at  times  in  system,  the  War  Depart 
ment  had  been  zealous  and  tireless.  At  the  worst  it  was  far 
less  to  blame  than  recent  Congresses,  which  had  stinted  both 
army  and  navy  to  lavish  money  upon  less  important  objects. 

The  army  system  needed  radical  reform.  There  was  no 
general  staff,  and  the  titular  head  of  the  army,  Lieutenant- 
General  Miles,  had  less  real  authority  than  the  Adjutant- 
General  and  his  bureau.  The  Commander-in-Chief  frequently 
found  himself  at  variance  with  Secretary  Alger  and  with  Sec 
retary  Root.  The  strategy  which  he  proposed  for  the  war 
was  discountenanced.  His  Porto  Rico  campaign,  which  he 
would  have  made  cardinal,  was  postponed  to  the  Cuban  opera 
tions  described  above.  A  published  interview,  wherein  Miles 
applauded  Dewey's  dissent  from  the  Schley  Court  of  Inquiry 
findings,  elicited  from  President  Roosevelt  a  cruelly  brusque 
reprimand,  which  reacted  in  favor  of  the  victim. 

\By  the  act  of  Congress  approved  February  2,  190'!,  the 
regular  army  was  enlarged  and  reorganized.  The  artillery 
arm  no  longer  kept  its  regimental  formation,  but  constituted 
a  corps  of  two  branches,  coast  artillery  and  field  artillery,  156 
batteries  in  all.  Thirty  regiments  of  foot  and  fifteen  of  horse 
were  provided.  The  regular  forces  were  augmented  to 
58,000  (in  round  numbJTsj,  which  the  President  might  swell 
to  100,000,  including,  in  his  discretion,  12,000  Filipino  re 
cruits.  A  regiment  of  Porto  Ricans  might  also  be  raised  for 
service  in  their  island. 

819 


THE    UNITED    STATES    IN    OUR    TIME 

General  Miles's  powers  were  little  widened  by  this  act, 
though  he  was  better  liked  at  the  legislative  than  at  the  execu 
tive  end  of  Pennsylvania  Avenue.  His  friends  in  Congress 
were  able  to  modify  in  important  particulars  the  form  pro 
posed  for  the  measure  by  Secretary  Root.  Also  the  abolition 
of  the  army  canteen,  achieved  by  an  amendment  to  the  new 
statute,  was  more  in  accord  with  Miles's  view  than  with  the 
Adjutant-General's. 

CThese  imbroglios  had  little  significance  compared  with 
problems  more  imperatively  pressed  upon  our  consideration  by 
the  warTJ  When  our  commissioners  met  at  Paris  to  draft  the 
Treaty  of  Peace,  one  wished  to  confine  United  States  demands 
in  the  Orient  to  Manila  with  a  few  harbors  and  coaling  sta 
tions.  Two  wished  Luzon  or  some  such  goodly  part  of  the 
archipelago.  ^The  Treaty  of  Paris  was  signed  December  loth. 
Spain  evacuated  Cuba  and  ceded  to  the  United  States  Porto 
Rico,  and  Guam  Island  in  the  Pacific.  The  Isle  of  Pines,  south 
of  Cuba,  was  also  surrendered.  In  1903  we  proposed  quit 
claiming  this  island  to  the  Cuban  Republic,  it  to  provide  us 
with  two  harbors  and  naval  stations  on  the  Cuban  coast.  The 
whole  Philippine  Archipelago  was  transferred,  the  open-door 
being  pledged  to  Spain  for  a  term  of  years.  As  a  muniment 
of  title,  grounding  it  upon  purchase  rather  than  conquest, 
$20,000,000  were  paid  Spain,  a  tenth  of  what  President 
Buchanan  once  offered  for  Cuba. 

This  treaty  encountered  bitter  opposition  in  both  coun 
tries.  The  Cortes  were  against  it,  the  Queen-Regent's  royal 
prerogative  having  to  be  invoked  to  make  it  law.  Our  Senate 
ratified  it  February  6,  1899,  by  the  narrow  margin  of  two 
votes — forty-two  Republicans  and  fifteen  others  in  favor, 
twenty-four  Democrats  and  three  others  opposing.  But  for 
the  influence  of  William  J.  Bryan,  who  pleaded  for  it  in  the 
belief  that  the  pending  problems  could  be  dealt  with  by  Con 
gress  better  than  in  the  way  of  diplomacy,  ratification  would 
probably  have  failed. 

820 


RATIFICATION    OF    PARIS    TREATY 


Ratification  of  the  Paris  Treaty,  indeed  the  very  initia 
tion  of  the  war,  marked  a  momentous  departure  from  Amer 
ican  tradition.  Annexation  of  the  Philippines  was,  in  par 
ticular,  an  extreme  novelty.  Our  participation,  during  Arthur's 
administration,  in  the  erection  of  the  Congo  Free  State  was 
hardly  a  hint  of  this.  More  ^significant  was  our  co-tenacy  of 
the  Samoan  Islands  with  England  and  Germany  by  an  agree- 


SeZor  SeZor 

J.  de         E.  Montero      Interfrettr 
Garnicia  Rios  Ferguson 


Sec.  Sen. 

John  B.      Cusbman 
Moore       K,  Davis 


Judgt 
m.  1 
Day 


Gen. 
Rafael 
Cerero 


Senor 

W.  R.  de 

Villa-Vrittia 


Senor  Sec. 

B.  de  Emilia 

Ebamxxa       de   Ojeda 


THE    FINAL    SESSION    OF    THE    SPANISH- AMERICAN   PEACE    COMMTSSION    IN  PARIS, 

DECEMBER    /o,  1898 

From  a  photograph  br   I'.  Gribayedaff 

ment  which  the  United  States  Senate  ratified  in  January,  1900. 
The  group  was  partitioned  among  the  three  powers,  the  isl 
ands  west  of  171  degrees  west  longitude,  including  Tutuila 
and  Pago  Pago  Harbor,  the  only  good  haven  in  the  group, 
falling  to  the  United  States.  Also,  Hawaii  had  been  annexed. 
These  precedents,  if  they  could  be  termed  such,  were  sup 
ported  by  considerations  of  national  security,  the  obtaining  of 

821 


THE    UNITED    STATES    IN    OUR    TIME 

naval  bases  or  strategic  points,  a  principle  which  might  furtlver 
justify  us  in  taking  Guam,  Porto  Rico,  and  a  post  in  Cubaj 

Porto    Rico   had   an   area   of   about   3,600   square   miles, 
containing  953,243  souls — about  the  population  of  Maryland- 
crowded  into  an  area  no  larger  than  the  eastern  shore  of  that 
State.     The  people  were  more  exclusively  rural  than  those  of 
Cuba.     About  a  third  were  colored,  about  three-fourths  peons, 


CUBA'S    FIRST    SENATE,  IN    SESSION— SENATE    CHAMBER,  HAFAXA 
Copyright,  1C)O2,  by    Underwood   &  Underwood 

a  semi-barbarous  type  of  poor-whites  and  mixed  bloods,  who 
lived  in  contented  ignorance,  poverty,  and  debt.  Part  of  these 
were  ex-slaves,  whose  freedom  had  in  1874  been  bought  from 
the  owners  for  $11,000,000,  or  the  descendants  of  such. 
About  a  twentieth  of  the  Porto  Ricans  compared  favorably 
with  the  virile  and  intelligent  classes  in  any  land.  They  had 
the  Spanish  sensitiveness  and  pride. 


PORTO    RICO    AND    THE    UNITED    STATES 

Though  they  had  been  docile  under  Spain,  the  Porto 
Ricans  hailed  the  Americans  as  deliverers.  Their  aspirations 
were :  ( I )  commercial,  for  free  trade  with  us  and  a  system 
of  savings  banks;  (2)  social,  for  the  gradual  adoption  of 
American  customs,  civilization,  and  language,  with  universal, 
free  and  compulsory  education;  (3)  political,  for  a  territorial 
status,  with  ultimate  statehood,  and  sadly  needed  fiscal,  judicial, 
and  administrative  reforms. 

From  the  Spanish  evacuation  till  December  5,  1898, 
General  John  R.  Brooke  was  military  governor  both  of  Cuba 
and  of  Porto  Rico.  He  was  succeeded  in  Porto  Rico  by 
General  Guy  V.  Henry,  who  in  turn  gave  place,  May  8,  1899, 
to  General  George  W.  Davis.  These  able  men  at  once  began 
reform  work.  The  fact  of  cession  divorced  Church  and  State, 
stopping  public  expenditure  for  royal  revenues  and  ecclesias 
tical  dues.  Outlay  was  reduced  more  than  half.  Vexatious 
taxes  were  abolished,  also  the  lottery  system.  Special  privi 
leges  were  abated,  franchise-granting  hedged  about,  the  fore 
closure  of  agricultural  mortgages  suspended  for  a  year,  and 
child  labor  forbidden. 

In  1899  there  were  about  600  schools,  with  26.000 
pupils,  in  1900  about  800,  with  38,000  pupils — barely  an 
eighth  the  children  of  school-age,  still  a  larger  proportion  than 
had  ever  attended  before.  At  the  beginning  of  1903  $192.896 
had  already  been  spent  on  school-houses.  There  were  reported 
at  that  time  55,000  pupils,  with  1,126  teachers. 

Spared  the  ravages  of  war,  Porto  Rico  suffered  heavily 
from  the  fury  of  Nature.  August  8,  1899,  a  cyclone,  whereof 
the  Weather  Bureau  had  given  timely  notice,  found  the  people 
unprepared,  sweeping  2,700  to  death.  Two-thirds  of  the 
coffee  district  was  devastated;  torrents  rolled  down  the  valleys; 
the  hill-side  earth  tumbled  in  avalanches;  while  on  the  southern 
coast  a  huge  tidal  wave  rose  as  if  to  dam  back  the  waters  rush 
ing  from  the  land. 

This  disaster  widened  sympathy  with  the  view,  already 

823 


THE    UNITED    STATES    IN    OUR    TIME 

prevalent,  that  our  markets  should  be  open  for  Porto  Ricans 
selling  or  buying,  since  the  doors  of  Spain  and  of  Cuba,  till 
lately  open  to  them,  were  now  closed.  By  Act  of  Congress, 
April  12,  1900,  fifteen  per  cent,  of  the  Dingley  rates  were 
levied  against  Porto  Rican  products,  to  cease,  however,  at 


President  Palma 

PRESIDENT  PALMA  AND   HIS   CABINET,  SECRETARIES  ZALDO,  TAMATO,  TERRT, 
MONTES,    DIAZ,    AN1±  TERO-1N   THE    PALACE,    HAVANA,    CUBA 

Copyright,  JQO2,  h   Underwood  &f  Underwood 

latest,  March  I,  1902.     The  actual  end  came  earlier,M"uly  25, 
1901,  when  civil  government  was  proclaimed. 

The    inhabitants    now    formed    a    body    politic    as    "  The 
People  of  Porto   Rico."      All   Porto   Rico  citizens  were   "  en 


titled  to  the  protection  of  the  United  States.  Insular  laws 
so  far  as  consistent  with  our  own,  also  our  own  laws  locally 
applicable,  were  made  valid  on  the  island,  subject  to  modifica- 

824 


DEVELOPMENT    OF    PORTO    RICO 

tion  by  the  insular  legislature.  This  consisted  in  a. House  of 
Delegates — five  members  elected  biennially  from  each  of  seven 
districts — and  an  Executive  Council  of  eleven  appointed  for 
four  years  by  the  President.  Six  of  these,  known  as  "  port 
folio  members,"  constituted  the  Governor's  Cabinet.  Five 
were  native  Porto  Ricans.  The  Governor  was  appointed  for 
four  years.  The  Act  provided  for  a  resident  Commissioner 
to  the  United  States,  paid  by  the  United  States.  A  Com 
mission  to  codify  the  maze  of  Porto  Rican  laws  was  to  be 
appointed.  The  established  courts  were  maintained,  but  an 
appointive  district  judge  was  placed  at  the  head  of  the  system, 
with  appeal  to  the  United  States  Supreme  Court. 

The  suffrage  wras  restricted  with  close  educational  or 
property  and  residential  qualifications,  and  the  Executive  Coun 
cil  was  given  power  to  narrow  it  still  more. 

"  All  grants  of  franchises,  rights,  and  privileges  or  con 
cessions  of  a  public  or  quasi-public  nature  "  were  to  be  made 
by  the  Executive  Council  with  the  approval  of  the  Governor. 
All  franchises  granted  in  Porto  Rico  had  to  be  "  reported  to 
Congress,  which  reserved  the  power  to  annul  or  modify  the 


same," 


.  Charles  H.  Allen,  of  Massachusetts,  the  first  Civil 
Governor,  was  inducted  into  office  May  i,  1900.  In  the  elec 
tion  which  soon  succeeded  the  Republicans  were  sweepingly 
victorious.  The  Federal  Party,  which  had  carried  the  island 
by  6,500  within  the  year,  took  no  part,  alleging  that  United 
States  officiousness  made  all  effort  vain.T 

Governor  Allen  cabled  to  Washington  that  this  Re 
publican  victory  meant  legislation  for  the  good  of  the  island, 
education,  public  works,  stable  government,  and  the  protection 
of  property  interests?)  Many  feared,  however,  lest  American 
suzerainty  should  prove  too  paternal,  overshadowing  the 
worthy  beginnings  of  self-government.  It  was  the  President 
whom  6,000  Porto  Rican  workingmen  petitioned,  as  "  the 
father  of  their  country,"  to  see  that  they  got  employment  on 

825 


THE    UNITED    STATES    IN    OUR    TIME 

public  works,  and  other  relief.  The  House  of  Delegates  could 
hardly  muster  a  quorum  for  its  humble  routine,  while  its  mem 
bers  continually  went  to  u  portfolio  "  councilors  for  direction. 
The  richest  and  ablest  element  in  the  island,  mostly  of  Federal 
proclivities,  held  aloof  from  such  little  part  in  political  life  as 
the  law  permitted. 

other  respects  results  were  happy.     The  Insular  Treas- 


THE   FIRST  HOUSE   OF  REPRESENTATIVES   OF  THE  CUBAN  REPUBLIC,  HAVANA 
Coprright,  1QO2,  by   Underwood  &°  Underwood 

ury  credit  balance  trebled  in  a  year,  standing,  July  I,  1902, 
at  $314,000.  The  exports  for  1902  increased  over  50  per 
cent.,  most  of  the  advance  being  consigned  to  the  United  States. 
The  principal  exports  were  sugar,  tobacco,  the  superior  coffee 
grown  in  the  island,  and  straw  hats.  Of  the  coffee,  the  year 
named,  Europe  took  $3,000,000  worth,  America  only  $29,000 
worth.  Porto  Rico  imported  from  the  United  States  $7,415,- 

826 


CUBA    AND    THE    UNITED    STATES 

ooo  worth  of  commodities,  from  Spain  over  $808,000  worth. 
The  first  year  under  our  government  there  were  13,000  fewer 
deaths  than  the  year  before,  improvement  due  to  better  sanita 
tion  and  a  higher  standard  of  living.  Mutual  respect  between 
natives  and  Americans  grew  dailyTl 

^Touching  Cuba,  the  course  to  be  pursued  by  the  United 
States  was  clear.  We  were  in  the  island  as  trustees  for  the 
Cubans.  The  fourth  congressional  resolution  of  April  20, 
1898,  gave  pledge  as  follows:  "The  United  States  hereby 
disclaims  any  disposition  or  intention  to  exercise  sovereignty, 
jurisdiction,  or  control  of  said  island  (Cuba)  except  for  the 
pacification  thereof,  and  asserts  its  determination  when  that  is 
completed  to  leave  the  government  and  control  of  the  island 
to  its  people."  This  self-denying  ordinance,  than  which  few 
official  utterances  in  all  our  history  ever  did  more  to  shape  the 
nation's  behavior,  was  moved  and  urged,  at  first  against  strong 
opposition,  by  Senator  Teller,  of  Colorado.  Some  thought  it 
likely  that  but  for  the  pledge  just  recited  European  States 
would  have  formed  a  league  against  the  United  States  in  favor 
of  Spain. 

December  13,  1898,  a  military  government  was  estab 
lished  for  "  the  Division  of  Cuba."  The  New  Year  saw  the 
last  military  relic  of  Spanish  dominion  trail  out  of  Cuba  and 
Cuban  waters.  The  Cuban  army  gradually  disbanded.  The 
wrork  of  distributing  supplies  and  medicines  was  followed  by 
the  vigorous  prosecution  of  railroad,  highway,  and  bridge- 
repairing,  and  other  public  works,  upon  which  many  of  the 
destitute  found  employment.  Courts  and  schools  were  re™ 
sumedj  Hundreds  of  new  schools  opened — in  Santiago  sixty, 
in  Santiago  province  over  three  hundred.  Brigandage  was 
stamped  out.  Cities  were  thoroughly  cleansed  and  sewer  sys 
tems  constructed.  The  death-rate  fell  to  a  lower  mark  than 
ever  before.  In  1896  there  were  in  Havana  1,262  deaths 
from  yellow  fever,  and  during  the  eleven  years  prior  to  Amer 
ican  occupation  440  annually.  In  1901  there  were  only  four. 

827 


THE    UNITED    STATES    IN    OUR    TIME 

Under  the  "  pax  Americana  "  industry  awoke.  New  huts  and 
houses  hid  the  ashes  of  former  ones.  Miles  of  desert  smiled 
again  with  unwonted  tillage. 

A  census  of  Cuba,  taken  by  the  War  Department  October 
1 6,  1899,  showed  a  population  of  1,572,797,  a  falling  off  of 
nearly  60,000  in  the  twelve  years  since  the  last  Spanish  census. 
The  average  density  of  population  was  about  that  of  Iowa, 
varying,  however,  from  Havana  Province,  as  thickly  peopled 
as  Connecticut,  to  Puerto  Principe,  with  denizens  scattered 
like  those  of  Texas.  In  the  island  at  large  two-thirds  of  the 
people — in  the  rural  districts  eighty  per  cent.— could  neither 
read  nor  write. 

[in  December,  1899,  Governor  Brooke  retired  in  favor 
of  General  Leonard  Wood.  A  splendid  object-lesson  in  good 
administration  having  been  placed  before  the  people,  they 
were,  in  June,  1900,  given  control  of  their  municipal  govern 
ments  and  the  powers  of  these  somewhat  enlarged. T 

In  July  Governor  Wood  summoned  a  constitutional  con 
vention,  which,  meeting  in  November,  drafted  a  ground-law 
modelled  largely  upon  our  Constitution.  The  Government  was 
more  centralized  than  ours.  The  President  was  to  be  chosen 
by  an  electoral  college.  His  term  of  office  was  four  years. 
Six  senators  from  each  of  the  six  departments  were  elected 
for  a  term  of  six  years,  one-third  coming  in  every  two  years. 
Representatives  in  the  lower  house  were  elected,  one-half  every 
two  years,  to  serve  four  years,  apportioned  in  the  ratio  of  one 
representative  to  every  25,000  people.  Suffrage  was  universal. 

The  bill  of  rights  was  more  specific  than  ours,  contain 
ing,  among  other  things,  a  guaranty  of  freedom  in  "  learning 
and  teaching  "  any  business  or  profession,  and  in  peaceably 
assembling,  "  without  arms,  for  all  licit  purposes."  A  pro 
vision  was  inserted  calculated  to  prevent  "  reconcentration," 
another  forbidding  confiscation  of  property  as  a  penalty,  still 
another  against  retroactive  laws  except  new  penal  statutes 
more  favorable  to  delinquents.  For  usurpation  and  for  certain 

828 


CUBAN    INDEPENDENCE 

other  offences  the  President  might  be  suspended  from  office  by 
the  Senate  on  motion  of  the  House,  and,  if  found  guilty, 
deposed. 

(Upon  a  hint  from  Governor  Wood  the  convention  took 
up  the  subject  of  Cuba's  relations  with  the  United  States.  It 
laid  stress  upon  reciprocity,  but  entirely  ignored  conditions 
which  President  McKinley  deemed  precedent  to  the  cessation 
of  our  control.  March  2,  1901,  Congress  adopted  as  a  rider 
to  the  Army  Appropriation  Bill  an  amendment,  named  from 


THE     CRUISER    "BROOKLYN"    PASSING    MORRO    CASTLE, 
CARRYING  GEN.   H'OOD   FROM  HAl' AN  A,  MAY  20,  iqo2 

Copyright,  IQO2,  by   Underwood  &  Underwood 

its  author,  Senator  Platt,  of  Connecticut,  which  embodied  the 
necessary  conditions  and  enacted  that  until  they  were  fulfilled 
the  control  of  the  island  was  not  to  be  turned  over  to  its  peo 
ple.  The  points  to  be  safeguarded  were  that  Cuba  should 
permit  no  foreign  lodgement  or  control,  contract  no  debt  be 
yond  the  resources  of  the  ordinary  net  revenues  to  pay  interest 
and  provide  a  sinking-fund  for  the  principal,  permit  our  inter 
vention  to  protect  Cuban  independence  or  to  maintain  a  gov 
ernment  competent  to  protect  life,  liberty,  and  property,  and 

829 


THE    UNITED    STATES    IN    OUR    TIME 


to  sustain  international  obligations  undertaken  by  the  United 
States  under  the  Paris  Treaty  on  behalf  of  Cuba.J  Cuba  must 
further  ratify  the  acts  of  the  military  government,  protect 
rights  acquired  thereunder,  continue  to  improve  city  sanitation, 
give  the  United  States  certain  coaling  and  naval  stations,  and 
finally  by  treaty  confirm  these  things  and  adjust  our  title  to 

the  Isle  of  Pines.  Upon  June  12, 
1901,  the  convention,  not  without 
much  opposition,  adopted  the  amend- 
menfv/' 

\The  first  President  of  the  Cu 
ban  Republic  was  Tomaso  Estrada 
y  Palmaj  He  had  been  years  an  exile 
in  the  United  States  and  was  much 
in  sympathy  with  our  country.  His 
opponent  in  the  canvass,  General 
Bartolomo  Maso,  withdrew  before  the 
end  of  the  campaign,  alleging  United 
States  pressure  in  favor  of  Estrada 
palma.  The  eastern  provinces  never 
theless  gave  Maso  eight  electoral 
votes.  Maso  and  his  supporters 
joined  in  the  ovation  which  greeted  Estrada's  home-coming. 
n  May,  1902,  the  Stars  and  Stripes  were  hauled  down  and 
the  Cuban  tricolor  raisedj  The  military  governor  and  his 
soldiers,  as  the  Spaniards  had  done  so  recently,  left  the  island, 
going  with  a  record  of  dazzling  achievements  that  had  in  a 
few  months  done  much  to  repair  the  mischiefs  of  centuries. 

(_From  the  moment  Spain  evacuated,  Cuban  affairs  began 
as  by  a  "  manifest  destiny  "  to  shape  themselves  toward  an 
nexation  to  the  United  States.  Put  to  proof,  the  Cubans 
revealed  less  power  of  self-government  than  had  been  hoped. 
Such  Spaniards  and  Spain-adherents  as  remained — all,  in  fact, 
who  prized  honest  and  virile  government — preferred  United 
States  to  Cuban  rule/7  Cuban  sovereignty  must  at  best  be 

V  830 


CUBA,    IN     THE     PALACE, 

HAVANA 

Copyright,  JQO2,  by   Underwood   & 
Underwood 


FUTURE    OF    CUBA 

more  formal  than  real.  The  industries  of  the  island  would 
be  immensely  benefited  by  the  demolition  of  tariff  walls  be 
tween  Cuba  and  the  United  States.  Withal,  that  the  United 
States  needed  Cuba  our  wisest  statesmen  had  always  seen.  (It 
was  but  natural,  therefore,  that,  soon  as  our  flag  was  hoisted 
in  Cuba,  the  influence  of  the  United  States  authorities  was  used 
in  all  legitimate  ways  to  create  a  public  opinion  in  the  new 


LOWERING     THE     STARS    AND     STRIPED     0\     TlIK      PALACE, 
MAY  20,    i$02,  FOR    THE    FLAG    OF    THE    CUBAN    REPUBLIC 

Cofyrigbt,  IQO2,  by   Underwood  &  Underwood 

Republic  favorable  to  incorporation  with  us.  It  was  charged, 
and  many  believed,  that  our  authorities  used  certain  illegiti 
mate  means  to  this  end.  President  Estrada  Palma  no  doubt 
favored  annexation.  Leaders  with  a  contrary  thought  were  in 
one  way  or  another  silencedj 

[_Cut  off  from  her  former  free  commercial  intercourse  with 
Spain,  Cuba  looked  to  the  United  States  to  market  her  raw 
.sugar,  most  of  our  people  wishing  to  assistj  Advocates  of 

831 


THE    UNITED    STATES    IN    OUR    TIME 

reciprocity  urged  considerations  of  honor  and  fair  dealing 
with  Cuba,  where,  it  was  said,  ruin  stared  planters  in  the  face/) 
Senators  and  representatives  from  beet-sugar  sections  opposed 
the  step  as  ruinous  to  a  distinctively  American  industry,  while 
calculated  to  be  helpful  not  to  the  American  public  but  to 
the  Sugar  Trust  alone.  (Jhe  Sugar  Trust,  of  course,  favored 
reciprocity,  and  was  charged  with  the  expenditure  of  large 
sums  in  that  interest.  Against  it  was  pitted  the  Sugar  Beet 
Trust,  a  new  figure  among  combinations.^ 

During  the  long  session  of  the  LVIIth  Congress,  the 
House  "  insurgents,"  as  the  Republican  opponents  of  reciproc 
ity  were  called,  joining  the  Democratic  members,  overrode  the 
Speaker  and  the  Ways  and  Means  Chairman,  and  attached  to 
the  Reciprocity  Bill  a  rider  cutting  off  the  existing  differential 
duty  in  favor  of  refined  sugar — a  dart  aimed  at  the  vitals  of 
the  Sugar  Trust.  This  clash  of  the  trusts  outlasted  the  ses 
sion,  neither  side  being  able  to  convince  or  outvote  the  other. 
At  the  polls  next  year  the  reciprocity  cause  seemed  to  be  vindi 
cated.  A  reciprocity  treaty  was  negotiated  and  promptly  rati 
fied  in  Cuba.  Radically  amended  in  the  United  States  Senate, 
it  returned  to  Cuba  for  reconsideration.  The  vexed  question 
occupied  the  stage  still  in  1903.^ 


832 


CHAPTER    XXVIII 

THE    UNITED    STATES  A   PACIFIC    OCEAN 

POWER 


NATIVE    TRIBES    OF    THE    PHILIPPINES. THE   MOROS   AND   VISAYANS. 

CHINESE     IN     THE     PHILIPPINES. THE      RELIGIOUS     QUESTION. AGUI- 

NALDO. THE    PHILIPPINE    REPUBLIC. THE    PHILIPPINE    CONGRESS. 

AFFAIRS      IN      SAMAR. GENERAL      MILEs's      REPORT, THE      SCHUKMAN 

COMMISSION'S   REPORT. — THE    "INSULAR   CASES." — THE   ANTI-IMPE 
RIALIST      DISCUSSION. INAUGURATION      OF      GOVERNOR     TAFT. THE 

PACIFIC    CABLE. 


AT  the  end  of  the  war  with  Spain  the  United  States,  with 
84,233,069  citizens  and  dependants,  stood  fourth  in 
population  among  the  nations  of  the  world,  the  Chinese  and 
the  British  Empire  holding  each  from  350,000,000  to  400,- 
000,000,  the  Russias  131,000,000,  and  France  with  her  de 
pendencies  about  83,666,000.  Our  acquisition  of  the  Philip 
pine  Islands  suggested  these  comparisons  almost  impera 
tively. 

The  Philippines  formed  a  section  of  the  insular  cordon 
southeast  of  the  Chinese  coast,  approaching  Formosa  to  the 
north  and  Borneo  and  Celebes  to  the  south.  Their  extent  was 
1,152  miles  meridian-wise  by  682  miles  across.  A  third  of 
their  area,  which  nearly  doubled  New  England's,  was  taken 
up  by  Luzon,  a  fifth  or  a  sixth  by  Mindanao.  There  were 
seventeen  principal  isles  besides,  with  1,500  or  more  islets. 
Luzon,  to  the  north,  with  Marinduque,  Mindoro,  Masbate, 
and  others,  formed  one  group,  the  most  civilized;  Mindanao, 
to  the  south,  with  the  Sulu  Archipelago  and  Palawan,  com 
prised  another  group,  the  wildest;  while  between  them  lay  a 


THE    UNITED    STATES    IN    OUR    TIME 

third  group,  the  Visayas  (Negros,  Panay,  Cebu,  Bohol,  Eeyte, 
Samar,  and  lesser  land-dots),  "median"  in  civilization  as 
well  as  geographically. 

Fifty  or  more  volcanoes,  twenty  of  them  active,  besides 
innumerable  hot  and  cold  springs,  revealed  the  geological 
origin  of  the  archipelago.  The  characteristic  tropical  seasons, 
dry  in  winter,  rainy  in  summer,  were  well  marked,  save  on  the 
eastern  coasts,  where  precipitation  was  more  uniform.  South 
wardly  the  temperature  averaged  much  as  at  the  north,  but 
varied  less.  There  were  high  altitudes  comfortable  for  Eu 
ropeans  the  year  round,  but  the  climate  generally  was  trying. 
Intense  home-sickness,  nervous  collapse,  even  insanity  attacked 
many  a  white  sojourner.  Numerous  harbors  notched  the 
coasts,  Manila  the  best  and  best  located. 

Manila  hemp,  tobacco,  sugar,  copra  (dried  cocoa-nut 
kernels),  coffee,  rice,  and  indigo  made  up  the  islands'  most 
prized  tribute  to  world-markets.  Mindanao  and  Palawan 
furnished  spices  also.  Most  of  the  archipelago's  73,000,000 
acres,  fertile  beyond  conception,  were  virgin  soil.  From 
200,000  to  400,000  civilized  natives  held  squatters'  tenure 
on  public  lands.  Only  4,940,000  acres  were  subject  to  recog 
nized  private  ownership.  Deposits  of  gold,  copper,  high- 
grade  iron  ore,  coal,  and  other  minerals  underlay  large  tracts, 
and  valuable  timber-lands  abounded. 

The  inhabitants  numbered  from  6,900,000  to  8,000,000. 
Some  reckoned  even  10,000,000.  There  were  25,000  resident 
Europeans.  Of  every  twenty  natives  one  might  be  a  Mo 
hammedan,  one  a  pagan,  the  rest  Christian.  The  common 
calling  was  agriculture,  but  it  was  of  a  primitive  sort.  A 
little  lumbering  was  carried  on,  less  mining  and  manufact 
uring. 

There  were  eighty-four  native  tribes,  mainly  of  the  Malay 
type,  which  cropped  out  persistently  despite  Mongolian,  Cau 
casian,  and  Negrito  admixtures.  The  Negritos,  black,  stunted 
savages,  represented  the  earliest  known  inhabitants,  now  driven 

834 


NATIVE    TRIBES    OF    THE    PHILIPPINES 

to  forest  and  mountain  hidings  and,  as  a  separate  stock,  nearly 
extinct.  Other  savages,  distinct  from  the  Malays  as  from 
the  Negritos,  were  the  so-called  Indonesians,  of  Mindanao. 
These,  not  numerous,  were  a  fine,  tall,  strong  race,  with  large 
heads,  high  foreheads,  aquiline  noses,  wavy  blonde  hair,  and 
abundant  beards.  Savage  Malays  ranged  the  unexplored 
wilds.  Sections  of  the  Philippines  were  reported  as  given  over 
to  slavery,  polygamy  or  concubinage,  head-hunting,  even 
cannibalism. 

The  hardy  bronze  Igorrotes  of  northern  Luzon  appeared 
to  be  at  bottom  Malays,  though  Negrito  blood  ran  in  their 
veins  and  Mongolian  features  marked  many  a  face.  They 
had  withstood  all  attempts  to  Christianize  them,  and  stub 
bornly  clung  to  their  primitive  mode  of  life  as  tillers  of  the 
soil.  Nevertheless  they  adhered  to  the  American  arms  and 
rendered  valuable  porter-service. 

Their  religion  had  elements  of  sun  and  ancestor  worship. 
The  one  tangible  feature  in  it  was  the  "  kanyan,"  a  drunken 
feast  held  on  such  occasions,  fifteen  in  all,  as  marriage,  birth, 
death,  and  serious  illness.  The  feast  began  with  an  invoca 
tion  to  Kafunion,  the  sun-god,  and  a  dance  much  like  that  of 
the  American  Indians.  Then  came  the  swilling  of  tapi,  a 
strong  beer  made  from  rice,  and  gorging  with  buffalo,  horse, 
or  dog  meat,  the  last  being  the  greatest  delicacy.  Till  the 
Americans  vetoed  the  practice,  the  Igorrotes  were  'head- 
hunters."  The  theory  was  that  the  brains  of  the  captured 
head  became  the  captor's. 

The  Igorrotes  had  magnificent  chests  and  legs  and  were 
extensively  used  as  burden-bearers.  Sustained  by  only  a  few 
bowlfuls  of  rice  and  some  sweet  potatoes,  a  man  would  carry 
fifty  or  seventy-five  pounds  on  his  head  or  back  all  day  over 
the  most  difficult  mountain  trails.  The  Igorrotes  had  a  mild 
form  of  slavery,  and,  though  good-natured  and  at  times  in 
dustrious,  appeared  utterly  without  spirit  of  progress  or  moral 
outlook. 

S35 


THE    UNITED    STATES    IN    OUR    TIME 

The  Malay-Filipinos  comprised,  upon  the  lowest  esti 
mate,  forty-seven  tribes  and  5,700,000  souls.  In  the  southern 
or  Mindanao  group  were  the  fierce  Arah-Malay  Moham 
medans  known  as  Moros,  owning  allegiance  first  to  their 
local  dattoes,  then  to  the  Sultan  of  Sulu.  They  loved  war, 


IGORROTES    OF    BENGUET    EATING    FIGS    AT  A    RELIGIOUS 
FESTIVAL 


despised  work,  practised  polygamy.  Their  piracies  had  been 
curbed  only  within  fifty  years,  and  their  depredations  and  slave- 
raiding  by  land  were  never  wholly  prevented.  The  slaves 
consisted  of  such  as  had  succumbed  in  fight,  such  as  had  sold 
themselves  for  debt,  and  the  descendants  of  both.  Slaves 

836 


THE    MOROS    AND    VISAYANS 

seemed  to  be  humanely  treated  and  were  often  permitted  to 
earn  money  and  buy  their  freedom.  The  Moros  liked  the 
Americans,  and  were  suspiciously  eager  to  u  assist  "  our  forces 
in  subduing  the  insurgent  Tagals. 

The  Visayans,  2,500,000  strong,  belonging  to  the  Mid 
dle  Group,  were  Christians.  A  warlike  Visayan  variation 
upon  the  Mindanao  coast  had  for  centuries  held  its  own  against 
Moro  and  Indonesian  alike.  Also  Christian  were  the  most 
advanced  of  all  the  tribes,  the  Tagals  or  Tagalogs,  number- 


IGGRROTE    SAGES    SUNNING    THEMSELVES    ON    THE 
PLAZA    AT   MID-DAT,    LE PANTO 


ing  1,500,000.  They  dominated  the  Northern  or  Luzon 
Group,  though  not  to  the  exclusion  of  an  equal  or  greater 
number  of  others,  the  Ilocanos,  Cagayans,  and  Pangasinans 
in  North  Luzon,  the  Bicols  and  Pampangas  in  South  Luzon. 
Many  Filipinos  had  studied  in  Europe.  There  was  a 
select  class  possessing  information  and  manners  which  would 
have  admitted  them  to  cultivated  circles  in  Paris  or  London, 
and  thousands  were  the  peers  of  average  middle-class  Euro 
peans.  Perhaps  500,000  were  hybrids, 

837 


"  mestizos,'*   cluster- 


THE    UNITED    STATES    IN    OUR    TIME 

ing  at  the  commercial  centers — white,  yellow,  or  brown, 
according  to  the  special  blend  of  blood.  By  heredity  and 
contagion  they  emulated  Europeans.  They  were  intelligent 
\but  uneducated,  active  but  not  industrious,  fond  of  pomp' and 
display.  Below  the  elite  and  the  mestizos  were  the  vast 
toiling  masses,  some,  like  the  Ilocanos,  intelligent,  enter 
prising,  spirited,  eager  for  education,  but  mostly  passive 
and  abject. 

The  typical  Filipino  was  vain  and  lazy,  but  cheerful  and 
quick  to  learn  whatever  did  not  require  reasoning  power.     His 


THE    MALOCON   DRII^E,    MANILA 

ethical  level  was  low.  An  American  teacher  related  to  her 
small  charges  the  edifying  story  of  George  Washington  and 
the  cherry-tree,  while  a  group  of  native  mothers  listened 
agape.  She  reached  the  climax:  "  Father,  I  did  it.  I  cannot 
tell  a  lie."  "  Pobre  Madre!  "  ejaculated  a  little  brown  woman, 
with  a  fond  glance  at  one  of  the  children.  u  Poor  mother! 
to  have  such  a  blockhead  for  a  son  !  " 

The  Filipinos  possessed  marvelous  musical  talent  and 
appreciation.  Bugle-calls  were  the  delight  of  their  soldiers. 
Any  evening  in  Manila  one  might  hear  the  latest  music  from 

838 


CHINESE    IN    THE    PHILIPPINES 

Paris  or  London,  even  Sousa's  marches,  discoursed  by  native 
performers  in  the  band  out-of-doors  or  in  the  theatrical  or 
chestras,  and  eagerly  drunk  in  by  high  and  low. 

Some  40,000  Chinese  were  an  essential  if  an  unpopular  " 
clement  of  Philippine  life.  They  were  the  pushful,  daring 
traders  of  the  islands — for  local  purposes  the  only  traders. 
They  were  as  ill-liked  as  the  Jews  in  Russia,  being  not  in 
frequently  maltreated,  in  out-of-the-way  places  killed.  The 
Yellow  Peril  threatened  the  Philippines  as  it  did  the  American 
West,  competition  in  the  labor-market  being  fierce.  Coinci- 
dently  with  the  same  movement  here,  Spain  ineffectually  sought 
to  shut  the  Chinese  from  her  oriental  colony.  After  American 
occupation  our  Chinese  Exclusion  Act  was  in  force  there, 
though  yearly  arrivals  from  the  Celestial  Empire  still  consid 
erably  exceeded  the  departures. 

Spain^Jiad  done  in  the  islands  much  civilizing  work,, 
though  none  of  a  very  advanced  kind.  Dethroning  petty  broil 
ing  rajahs,  curbing  piracy,  establishing  public  order,  planting 
the  Cross,  and  introducing  letters  were  grand  performances, 
far  better  effected  than  the  analogous  work  anciently  done  by 
the  Romans.  In  1893  Spain  gave  the  Filipinos  a  measure  of 
home  rule,  a  system  not  unlike  the  Russian  Zemstvos  or 
village  communities.  At  the  American  occupation  schools 
were  numerous,  but  not  general.  The  University  of  St. 
Thomas  graced  Manila,  and  some  seventy  colleges  and  acad 
emies  at  various  centers  professed  to  prepare  pupils  for  it. 

But  the  shield  had  its  dark  other  side.  If  Spain  spared 
the  Philippines  the  worst  barbarities  marking  her  rule  in  Peru 
and  Mexico,  she  inflicted  here  other  iniquities  in  sum  nearly 
as  indefensible.  Government  monopolies  were  numerous.  Pri 
vate  property  was  confiscated,  now  openly,  now  by  indirection. 
Compulsory  labor  was  exacted.  The  old  system  of  farming 
the  revenues  was  as  great  a  curse  as  the  friars.  Liberty  was 
not  regarded,  nor,  upon  occasion,  life  itself.  The  wonder 
was  not  that  the  natives  rebelled,  but  that  they  were  patient 

839 


THE    UNITED    STATES    IN    OUR    TIME 


so  long.  Senator  Hoar  wrote :  '?  I  should  as  soon  give  back 
a  redeemed  soul  to  Satan  as  give  back  the  people  of  the  Philip 
pine  Islands  to  the  cruelty  and  tyranny  of  Spain." 

^  The  Christian  Filipinos  were  Catholics.  There  were 
746  regular  Catholic  parishes,  all  but  150,  which  were  small, 
administered  by  Dominican,  Augustinian,  and  Franciscan  friars, 


ILOCANO   SENORITAS,    SANTA    COTATTNA,   ILOCOS 

to  whose  orders  natives  were  ineligible.  After  generations  of 
evangelical  devotion,  during  which  they  did  creditable  work, 
of  lasting  value,  these  orders  had  ceased  to  be  aggressive 
religiously,  growing  opulent  and  oppressive  instead.  They 
owned  420,000  acres  of  the  best  land. 

Once  settled  in  his  parish  the   friar  stayed,  becoming  a 
fixed  political  factor,  while  a  Spanish  officer  never  held  a  post 

8.10 


THE    RELIGIOUS    QUESTION 

over  four  years.  Thus  the  friars  were  the  pedestal  of  the 
civil  government.  Their  influence  could  unseat  a  refractory 
officer;  it  could  and  often  did  cause  natives  to  be  deported, 
even  put  to  death.  One  of  their  victims  was  that  beautiful 
spirit,  Dr.  Rizal,  author  of  u  Noli  me  Tangere,"  the  most 
learned  and  distinguished  Malay  ever  known.  He  had  taken 
no  part  whatever  in  rebellion  or  sedition,  on  the  contrary  was 
quoted  as,  just  before  his  death,  denouncing  the  folly  of 
Aguinaldo's  1896  rebellion.  Yet,  because  he  was  known  to 
abominate  clerical  misrule,  he  was,  without  a  scintilla  of  evi 
dence  that  he  had  broken  any  law,  first  expatriated,  then  shot. 
This  murder  occurred  December  30,  1896,  doing  much  to 
further  the  rebellion  then  spreading.  Forty  of  the  obnoxious 
friars  were  killed,  403  imprisoned  till  released  by  the  Amer- ' 
icans.  Of  the  1,124  in  the  islands  in  1896  but  472  remained 
in  1898. 

"Every  abuse  leading  to  the  revolutions  of  1896  and 
1898  the  people  charged  to  the  friars;  and  the  autocratic 
power  which  each  friar  exercised  over  the  civil  officials  of  his 
parish  gave  them  a  most  plausible  ground  for  belief  that  noth 
ing  of  injustice,  of  cruelty,  or  oppression,  or  narrowing  liberty 
was  imposed -on  them  for  which  the  friar  was  not  entirely  re 
sponsible.  The  revolutions  against  Spain  began  as  movements 
against  the  friars."  * 

Free  Masonry  was  a  redoubtable  antagonist  to  the  Orders. 
Other  secret  leagues,  as  the  Liga  Filipina,  also  opposed.  Most 
belligerent  of  all  was  the  "  Katipunan."  It  was  formed  after 
the  1872  outbreak,  adopting  as  its  symbol  the  sinister  initials 
"  K.  K.  K.,"  "  Kataas-Tassan  Kagalang-Galang,  Katipunan  " 
— "  sovereign,  worshipful  association."  If  the  Ku  Klux  Klan 
gave  the  hint  for  the  society's  symbol  it  also  prefigured  its 
program.  It  was  the  Katipunan  which,  catching  and  truly 
expressing  popular  Filipino  feeling,  led  in  bringing  on  the  in 
surrection  of  1896. 

•^Abridged  from  Reports  of  Taft  Commission. 
841 


^    ~*»«k 


THE    UNITED    STATES    IN    OUR    TIME 

In  December,  1897,  the  conflict,  marked  by  frightful 
atrocities  on  both  sides,  had,  as  in  Cuba,  degenerated  into  a 
u  stalemate."  The  Spaniard  could  not  be  ousted,  the  Filipino 
could  not  be  subdued.  Spain  ended  the  trouble  for  the  time 
by  promising  reform  and  hiring  the  insurgent  leaders- 
prominent  among  them  Don  Emilio  Aguinaldo — to  leave  the 
country. 

-  Aguinaldo  was  born  March  22,  1869,  at  Cavite,  of 
which  town  he  subsequently  became  mayor.  His  blood  prob 
ably  contained  Spanish,  Tagal,  and  Chinese  strains.  He  had 


CUSTOM    HOUSE,    MANILA 


supplemented  a  limited  school  education  by  extensive  and 
eager  contact  with  books  and  men.  To  a  surprising  wealth 
of  information  he  added  inspiring  eloquence  arid  much  genius 
for  leadership.  He  had  the  "  remarkable  gift  of  surrounding 
himself  with  able  coadjutors  and  administrators."  The  insur 
rection  early  revealed  him  as  the  incarnation  of  Filipino  hos 
tility  to  Spain.  Judging  by  appearances — his  zeal  in  1896, 
bargain  with  Spain  in  1897,  fighting  again  in  Luzon  in  1898, 
acquiescence  in  peace  with  the  United  States,  reappearance  in 
arms,  capture,  and  instant  allegiance  to  our  flag — he  was  a 

842 


AGUINALDO 

shifty   character,    little   worthy   the    great   honor   he    received 
among  his  own  people  and,  for  long,  here. 

But  if  he  lacked  in  constancy  he  excelled  in  enterprise. 
Spaniards  never  missed  their  reckoning  more  completely  than 
in  thinking  they  had  quieted  Aguinaldo  by  sending  him  to 
China  with  a  bag  of  money.  He  simply  held  the  treasure  for 
future  use  as  a  war-fund.  Since  Spain  had  not  redressed  and 


DON   EMILTO   AGUINALDO  AND    HIS   ADFISERS 

showed  no  disposition  to  redress  Philippine  abuses,  he  re 
garded  the  Spanish-American  War  as  an  auspicious  chance  for 
renewed  activity  in  the  cause  of  Filipino  home  rule. 

Consul  Wildman,  at  Hong  Kong,  saw  the  value  to  us  of 
Aguinaldo's  co-operation.  Aguinaldo  and  those  with  him 
declared  that  Wildman,  alleging  authority  from  Washington, 
promised  the  Filipinos  independence;  and  other  Hong  Kong 
consuls  and  several  press  representatives  had  the  impression 

843 


THE    UNITED    STATES    IN    OUR    TIME 

that  this  was  the  case.  Wildman  absolutely  denied  having 
given  any  assurance  of  the  kind.  Admiral  Dewey  also  denied, 
in  the  most  positive  manner,  that  he,  Dewey,  had  done  so. 

Whatever  the  understanding  or  misunderstanding  at 
Hong  Kong,  Aguinaldo,  some  twenty- four  days  after  Dewey 's 
victory,  was  brought  home  by  the  Americans,  in  the  evident 
belief  that  they  were  to  co-operate  with  him  for  Filipino  inde 
pendence.  He  easily  resumed  his  leadership,  and  in  three 
weeks  proclaimed  an  independent  republic,  announcing  that  an 
American  protectorate  would  not  be  opposed.  Dewey  fur 
nished  him  arms  and  ammunition. 

June  19,  1898,  the  Spanish  Government  attempted,  as  in 
Cuba,  to  mend  matters  by  instituting  autonomy;  but  the  failure 
was  farcical.  Agjiiggjclp  roused  and  solidified  the  opposition 
with  consummate  skill.  Nearly  every  province  of  Luzon  had 
its  rebel  organization.  Aguinaldo's  men  assumed  the  offensive, 
and  with  effect.  At  last  only  Manila  remained  to  the  Span 
iards.  Even  Manila  the  insurgents  hemmed  in  by  a  line  reach 
ing  from  water  to  water.  They  must  have  captured  ten  thou 
sand  prisoners,  though  part  of  those  they  had  at  the  Spanish 
evacuation  were  from  the  Americans. 

September  8,  1898,  the  American  commander  ordered 
the  insurgents  out  of  Manila,  and,  October  loth,  still  further 
away.  Although  the  Paris  Treaty  was  not  yet  ratified,  the 
President,  believing  that  it  would  be,  and  wishing  to  widen 
forthwith  the  sphere  of  American  authority,  ordered  our 
government,  December  21,  1898,  extended  with  despatch 
over  the  archipelago.  In  January  he  appointed  Jacob  G. 
Schurman,  of  New  York,  Admiral  Dewey,  General  Otis, 
Charles  Denby,  ex-minister  to  China,  and  Dean  C.  Worcester, 
of  Michigan,  a  commission  of  conciliation  and  investigation. 

Conciliation  was  sorely  needed.  The  Treaty  of  Paris 
summarily  gave  not  only  the  islands  but  their  inhabitants  to 
the  United  States,  entirely  ignoring  the  people's  wishes  in  the 
matter.  It  seemed  to  guarantee  perpetuation  of  the  friar 


THE    PHILIPPINE    REPUBLIC 

abuses  under  which  the  Filipinos  had  groaned  so  long.  Out 
side  Manila  threat  of  American  rule  awakened  bitter  hostility. 
In  Manila  itself  thousands  of  Tagals,  lip-servants  of  the  new 
masters,  were  in  secret  communion  with  their  kinsmen  in  arms. 
As  the  year  1899  opened  the  Spanish  troops  embarked 
for  Spain.  The  Philippine  "  republic,"  from  Malolos,  its 
capital,  still  effectively  controlled  at  least  the  Tagal  provinces 
of  Luzon.  Aguinaldo,  its  soul  from  the  first  moment,  was 
president.  This  republic  assumed  to  act  for  the  archipelago, 


AGUINALDO'S    HEADQUARTERS,    MALOLOS 

taking  the  place  of  Spain.  It,  of  course,  had  neither  in  law  nor 
in  fact  the  power  to  do  this,  nor,  under  the  circumstances,  could 
the  administration  at  Washington,  however  desirable  such  a 
course  from  certain  points  of  view,  consent  that  it  should  at 
present  even  try. 

It  was  wholly  problematical  how  long  Aguinaldo,  un 
aided,  could  dominate  Luzon,  still  more  so  whether  he  would 
rule  tolerably,  and  more  uncertain  yet  whether  Center  or  South 
would  ever  yield  to  him.  Insurrection  had  foothold  in  four 
or  five  Visayan  islands,  but  never,  it  seems,  in  Xegros,  which 

845 


THE    UNITED    STATES    IN    OUR    TIME 

of  its  own  accord  raised  our  flag.  In  Mindanao,  the  Sulu 
islands,  and  Palawan  the  insurgents  had  practically  no  influ 
ence.  The  propertied  minority  in  the  commercial  sections 
preferred  seeing  the  American  Eagle  spread  his  wings  from 
Sulu  to  north  Luzon  to  feeling  the  beaks  of  native  vultures 
pecking  at  their  vitals.  They,  as  well  as  the  foreign  commer 
cial  interests,  dreaded  Aguinaldo  and  his  braves  more  than 
they  had  dreaded  Spain.  The  business  men  of  Iloilo,  in 
December,  1898,  petitioned  for  American  protection.  The 
insurgents  burned  the  town. 

Even  should  the  native  government  succeed  in  establish 
ing  order  over  the  entire  archipelago,  clearly  it  must  for  an 
indefinite  period  be  incompetent  to  take  over  the  international 
responsibilities  connected  with  the  islands.  To  have  at  once 
conceded  Filipino  sovereignty  could  have  subserved  no  end  that 
would  have  been  from  any  point  of  view  rational  or  humane. 
^  The  American  situation  was  delicate.  We  were  present 
as  friends,  but  could  be  really  so  only  by  for  the  time  seeming 
not  to  be  so.  At  points  we  failed  in  tact.  We  too  little  recog 
nized  distinctions  among  classes  of  Filipinos,  tending  to  treat 
all  alike  as  savages.  When  our  thought  ceased  to  be  that  of 
ousting  Spain  and  attacked  the  more  serious  question  what  to 
do  next,  our  manner  toward  the  Filipinos  abruptly  changed. 
Our  purposes  were  left  unnecessarily  equivocal.  Our  troops 
viewed  the  Filipinos  with  open  contempt.  "  Filipinos  "  and 
"  niggers  "  were  often  used  as  synonyms. 

Imperialism  of  the  greedy  sort  was  in  evidence,  the  worst 
enemy  of  sane  or  successful  expansion,  bringing  to  the  islands 
carpet-bag  adventurers  and  other  would-be  exploiters  with 
dreams  of  rich  spoils.  Unlovely  incidents  of  our  occupation 
got  undue  prominence  by  being  officially  suppressed  or  dis 
torted.  Alike  from  harpy  imperialism  and  from  anti-imperi 
alist  assertions  the  Filipinos  received  the  impression  that  we 
were  there  to  out-Spaniard  the  Spaniard  in  oppression. 

No  blood  flowed  till  February  4,  1899,  when  a  skirmish, 

846 


THE    PHILIPPINE    CONGRESS 

set  off  by  the  shot  of  a  bullyragged  American  sentry,  led  to 
war.  February  22,  1899,  tne  insurgents  attempted  to  fire 
Manila  as  they  had  fired  Iloilo.  From  now  on  their  towns 
were  seized,  one  "  capital  "  after  another  captured,  and  their 
forces  driven  north  beyond  the  foot-hills. 

May  J,  1899,  the  Philippine  Congress  almost  unani 
mously  voted  for  peace.  Aguinaldo  consented.  Mabini's 
cabinet,  opposing,  was  overturned,  but  Mabini  had  General 


ADOPTION    OF    CONSTITUTION   BY   THE    PHILIPPINE   "  REPUBLIC,"    SEPTEMBER    />, 
fSqS.     PARADE    STARTING    FROM   AGUINALDO'S    HEADQUARTERS 

Luna  arrest  the  peace  emissaries,  sentencing  some  to  prison, 
some  to  death. 

Thereafter  the  very  skeleton  of  the  Republic  vanished. 
Most  of  the  incorrigibles  were  soon  captured,  some,  among 
them  Mabini,  deported  to  Guam.  The  insurgents,  like  the 
Macedonian  Committee  in  European  Turkey,  still  wielded  a 
midnight  authority,  making  secret  levies — robbers  rather  than 
tax-gatherers.  They  inflicted  capital  punishments,  but  as  mur 
derers  rather  than  as  executioners.  Like  the  untamable  moun 
tain  Greeks  under  Turkish  rule,  they  were  styled,  and  in  fact 
more  and  more  became,  highwaymen,  "  ladrones." 

By  the  end  of  1899  central  Luzon  seemed  pacified. 
Meantime  our  power  was  recognized  in  the  Southern  group 

847 


THE    UNITED    STATES    IN    OUR    TIME 


by  a  treaty  with  the  Moro  Sultan  and  his  dattoes.     This  in 
strument   confirmed   the   custom   whereby   bondmen   had   been 

permitted  to  buy  freedom.  Datto 
Mandji,  of  Zamboanga,  went  further 
and  abolished  slavery  among  his  sub 
jects.  Most  of  the  Visayas  also, 
sometimes  willingly,  usually  perforce, 
accepted  our  sovereignty. 

Systematic  opposition  to  our 
arms  ended  in  March,  1901,  by  a 
stratagem  involving  much  nerve,  and 
also  that  clever  duplicity  which,  when 
successful,  is  a  high  merit  in  war.  A 
captured  message  from  Aguinaldo 
asking  re-enforcements  gave  clew  to 
his  whereabouts.  General  Frederick 
Funston,  with  four  comrades  and  a 
picked  body  of  trustworthy  natives, 
set  out  for  the  rebel  lair.  Aguinaldo,, 
informed  that  re-enforcements  were 
at  hand  with  five  captured  Ameri 
cans,  sent  provisions  and  directed  that 
the  prisoners  be  treated  with  humanity.  On  March  29th  he 
received  the  officers,  but  had  hardly  excused  them  when  a 
volley  leveled  his  body-guard.  Next  moment,  with  a  rush, 
the  American  officers  seized  him,  his  chief  of  staff,  and  his 
treasurer.  Four  days  later  Aguinaldo  swore  allegiance  to  the 
United  States,  and  in  a  proclamation  advised  his  followers  to 
do  the  same.  Great  and  daily  increasing  numbers  of  them 
obeyed.  Even  the  irreconcilable  exile  Mabini  took  the  oath 
and  returned  to  his  home  in  time  to  die. 

From  May  5,  1900,  to  June  30,  1901,  there  were  in  the 
Philippines  1,026  hostile  contacts.  Two  hundred  and  forty- 
five  Americans  were  killed,  490  wounded,  118  captured,  20 
missing.  Three  thousand  eight  hundred  and  fifty-four  Filipinos 

848 


DATTO    MANDJI,     OF 

ANGA,  THE  RULER  OF  MIN- 
DANOA,  WHO  ABOLISHED 
SLAVERY  AMONG  HIS  SUB 
JECTS 


AFFAIRS    IN    SAMAR 

were    killed,     1,193    wounded,    6,572    captured,    and    23,095 
surrendered. 

Everywhere  and  always  Americans  had  to  guard  against 
treachery.  Americans  and,  even  more,  native  "Americanistos" 
falling  into  rebel  hands  suffered  outrages  inspired  rather  by 
the  teachings  of  their  old  Spanish  masters  than  by  their  lead 
ers'  desire  or  by  the  conduct  of  our  troops.  In  Samar  treach 
erous  guides  abandoned  to  die  in  a  wilderness  an  expedition 
of  our  Marine  Corps  under  Major  Waller.  Eleven  prisoners 


ABOUT  THREE  THOUSAND  INSURRECTOS  TAKING  THE  OATH  OF 
ALLEGIANCE  TO  THE  UNITED  STATES  ON  THE  PLAZA  AT 
BENGUET,  ABIA,  EARLY  IN  APRIL,  iqoi 

subsequently  captured  were  shot  without  trial  as  implicated  in 
the  barbarity.  The  Major  was  court-martialed,  but  acquitted, 
in  that  he  had  acted  under  superior  orders  and  military  neces 
sity.  A  sensational  feature  of  his  trial  was  the  production  of 
General  Smith's  order  to  Major  Waller  "  to  kill  and  burn," 
"  make  Samar  a  howling  wilderness,"  "  kill  everything  over 
ten  "  (every  native  over  ten  years  old).  "  Hell-roaring  Jake 
Smith,"  as  the  General  was  dubbed,  was  in  turn  court-mar 
tialed  and  reprimanded.  President  Roosevelt  considered  this 
not  severe  enough,  and  summarily  retired  him  from  the  service. 

S49 


THE    UNITED    STATES    IN    OUR    TIME 

Lieutenant-General  Miles  thought  our  Philippine  opera 
tions  attended  with  unnecessary  severity,  referring  for  proof 
to  serious  but  then  unpublished  charges  of  cruelty  made  by  the 
civil  governor  of  Tayabas.  February  18,  1902,  he  asked  per 
mission  to  take  to  the  islands  a  committee  of  Cubans  and  Porto 
Ricans  to  explain  to  the  Filipinos  the  benefits  of  American  rule, 
also  to  bring  a  Filipino  delegation  to  Washington  to  make 
our  personal  acquaintance,  as  it  were.  Secretary  Root  declined, 
declaring  that  the  war  had  been  conducted  with  "  marked  hu 
manity."  "  It  is  to  be  regretted,"  he  continued,  "  that  the 
officer  of  highest  rank  in  the  -^mv  should  assume  the  truth  of 
charges  reflecting  upon  the  credit  of  the  army  without  giving 
General  Chaffee  an  opportunity  to  be  heard."  Miles  was 
taxed  upon  the  Senate  floor  with  having  supplied  to  anti- 
administration  Senators  official  war-department  matter  which 
his  superiors  did  not  desire  to  give  out. 

At  last  the  General  got  leave  to  make  a  tour  of  inspec 
tion,  in  the  course  of  which  he  issued  orders  against  practices 
contrary  to  civilized  warfare.  Challenged  for  facts  that  could 
render  such  orders  appropriate  he,  on  February  19,  1903, 
made  a  report  upon  the  condition  of  the  archipelago,  naming 
some  abuses  which  had  been  charged.  The  reconcentration  of 
non-combatants  had  been  practiced,  600  being  imprisoned  in  one 
building.  Reconcentrados  had  been  compelled  to  pay  for  food 
largely  above  its  cost.  Natives  at  Laoag,  Luzon,  deposed  that 
numbers  of  them  had  been  whipped,  two  dying  under  the  in 
fliction,  but  this  testimony,  so  far  as  it  reflected  upon  the  officer 
in  command,  was  discredited.  The  water  torture  had  often 
been  used  to  extort  information.  It  was  charged  that  Philip 
pine  scouts  had  taken  prisoners  into  the  country  with  orders 
not  to  bring  them  back  unless  they  guided  our  force  to  the 
rebel  camp,  and  that  all  but  one  were  shot  or  bayoneted  to 
death. 

Such  of  these  outrages  as  occurred  were  sporadic,  caused 
by  a  sort  of  calenture  destroying  the  mental  poise  of  unaccli- 

850 


GENERAL    MILES'S    REPORT 

mated  officers.  Major  Waller's  sufferings  nearly  drove  him 
insane.  Similar  lapses  into  barbarous  ways  had  been  observed 
among  troops  in  other  torrid  regions. 

'*  It  is  most  gratifying,"  wrote  General  Miles,  u  that  the 
serious  offences  have  not  been  committed  by  the  soldiers  unless 
they  were  under  the  direct  orders  of  certain  officers  who  were 
responsible.  Soldiers  have  withheld  fire  when  ordered  to  shoot 
prisoners,  protested  against  acts  of  cruelty,  and  written  to  rela 
tives  at  home  urging  them  to  take  action  to  put  a  stop  to  those 


PHILIPPINE    COMMISSIONERS    DELII'ERING    THE    WRITTEN  SURRENDER    OF 

TO    BRIGADIER-GENERAL     KIM;    AM)    \TAI-1-' 

crimes.  It  will  ever  be  one  of  the  glories  of  the  army  that 
such  deeds  committed  by  whatever  authority  are  abhorrent  to 
the  American  soldier.  The  officers  who  are  responsible,  using 
chiefly  cruel  Macabebes,  do  not  by  any  means  constitute  the 
American  army,  and  there  must  be  a  very  unmistakable  line 
drawn  between  the  great  body  of  honorable  and  faithful  offi 
cers  and  brave  soldiers  whose  records  have  been  commendable, 
and  those  of  whatever  station  wrhose  acts  have  received  and 
should  receive  the  earnest  condemnation  of  all  honorable  men." 
Constructive  civilization  work  went  hand  in  hand  with 

851 


:' 


THE    UNITED    STATES    IN    OUR    TIME 

the  enforcement  of  our  sovereignty.  Order  was  re-established 
in  the  Cavite  Province  so  early  as  1898.  In  the  next  two  years 
several  municipal  governments  were  erected  under  military 
protection,  and  six  ports  of  entry  opened,  two  more  than  Spain 
permitted,  with  seventy-three  ports  for  coastwise  trade. 

March   20,    1899,   tne   Schurman   Commission   began   its 
labors,  working  with  great  zeal,  discretion,  and  success  to  win 
the  Filipinos  to  the  American  cause.     On  April  4th  they  issued 
proclamation  which   had   excellent   effects.      While   unquali- 


Jacob  G.  Schurman          Admiral  George.  Dewey  Charles  Denby  Dean  C.  Worcester 

FIRST    PHILIPPINE    COMMISSION,   1899 
Copyright,  iSqq,  by  Frances  B.  Johnston 

fiedly  asserting  United  States  supremacy,  it  assured  the  natives 
of  self-government  so  far  as  compatible  with  our  rule,  dis 
claimed  all  purpose  of  exploiting,  guaranteed  civil  and  religious 
rights,  with  equality  before  the  law,  and  an  honest,  effective, 
and  beneficent  administration  through  natives  where  and  when 
possible.  United  States  sway  in  the  archipelago  would  be 
made  "  as  free,  liberal,  and  democratic  as  the  most  intelligent 
Filipino  desired,"  "  a  firmer  and  surer  self-government  than 
their  own  Philippine  Republic  could  ever  have  guaranteed." 


THE    SCHURMAN    COMMISSION'S    REPORT 

In  September,  after  collecting  much  testimony  from  represent 
atives  of  the  well-to-do  and  intelligent  classes,  the  Commission 
was  recalled. 

Its  preliminary  report,  published  just  before  the  1899 
elections,  exercised  notable  influence.  The  Commission's  con 
clusions,  elaborated  in  its  final  report,  were  that  the  United 
States  could  not  then  withdraw  from  the  Philippine  Islands, 
that  the  Filipinos  were  unprepared  for  independence,  that 
Aguinaldo  had  never  been  promised  independence,  that  there 
was  no  general  public  opinion  among  the  Filipino  peoples,  but 
that  men  of  property  and  education,  who  alone  interested  them 
selves  in  public  affairs,  favored  American  suzerainty. 

American  opinion  was  far  from  clear  upon  the  tangled 
problems  of  fact,  law,  policy,  and  ethics  which  the  Philippine 
situation  involved.  Some  wished  our  demands  in  the  Orient 
confined  to  Manila,  with  a  few  harbors  and  coaling  stations. 
Others  thought  it  well  to  take  all  Luzon.  Nearly  all  were 
surprised  when  the  administration  insisted  upon  appropriating 
the  whole  Philippine  domain. 

Then  arose  the  question  what  the  Filipino's  status  was     / 
to  be  under  our  flag.      Only  the  Vice-President's  casting  vote   ' 
defeated   a    resolution,    introduced   in   the   Senate   by    Senator 
Bacon,  of  Georgia,   declaring  our  intention  to  treat  the  Fili 
pinos  as  we  were  pledged  to  treat  the  Cubans.     After  ratifica 
tion    the    Senate   passed   a    resolution,    introduced   by    Senator 
McEnery,  of  Louisiana,  avowing  the  purpose  not  to  make  the 
Filipinos  United  States  citizens  or  their  land  American  terri 
tory,  but  to  establish  for  them  a  government  suited  to  their 
needs,  in  due  time  disposing  of  the  archipelago  according  to 
the  interests  of  our  people  and  of  the  inhabitants. 
""""       In  international  law,  though  Spain's  sovereignty  was  at 
last  hardly  more  than  nominal,   our  title  to  the   Philippines, 
whether  or  not  good  as  based  on  conquest,  was  unimpeachable^ 
considered  as  a  cession  by  way  of  war  indemnity  or  sale.     Nor, 
according  to  the  weight  of  authority,  could  the  constitutional 

853 


THE    UNITED    STATES    IN    OUR    TIME 

right  of  the  federal  power  to  acquire  these  islands  be  denied. 
It  was  indeed  ably  contended  that  unless  made  for  specific  con 
stitutional  purposes,  such  as  national  defence,  the  annexation 
would  not  be  lawful,  but  the  judiciary  would  not  be  apt  to 
review  the  action  of  the  co-ordinate  treaty-making  branch  of 
the  Government  upon  such  a  question  of  public  policy. 


AN  AMERICAN    TEACHER    AND    SOME    OF    HIS    NATIVE    ASSISTANTS, 
N  ART  AC  AN,    I  LOCOS 


f* 


However,  did  "  the  Constitution  follow  the  flag  "_?~  If 
(not,  what  were  the  relations  of  those  outlands  and  their  in- 
;  habitants  to  the  United  States?  Could  people  and  products 
\from  the  new  possessions  come  to  the  United  States  proper 
With  the  same  freedom  as  our  own  passed  from  State  to  State  ? 
/If  not,  on  what  terms  could  they  come?  Would  our  conti- 

854 


L 


THE    "  INSULAR    CASES  " 

nental  laws  regulate  insular  importation  and  immigration  from 
foreign  parts?  Could  we  tariff  our  own  exports  to  the  islands 
without  violating  the  constitutional  inhibition  of  State-export 
taxes?  Could  we,  on  the  other  hand,  enter  them  freely,  tax 
ing  competitive  foreign  imports,  without  violating  open-door 
and  most-favored-nation  treaties?  Could  we  recognize  slavery 
in  the  Sulus?  Might  Filipinos  peaceably  assemble  and  petition 
our  Government  for  redress  of  grievances?  Might  they  de 
mand  jury  trials?  Or  could  only  Americans  to  the  manner 
born  do  these  things? 

On  the  fundamental  question  whether  the  dependencies 
formed  part  of  the  United  States  the  Supreme  Court  passec|/^ 
In^ certain  so-called  -Knsular  cases*)  which  were  early  brought 
before  it.  Four  of  the  justices  held  that  at  all  times  after  the 
Paris  Treaty  said  islands  were  part  and  parcel  of  the  United 
States.  Four  were  moved  by  the  exigency  to  hold  that  the 
islands  at  no  time  became  part  of  the  United  States,  but  were 
rather  "  territories  appurtenant  "  thereto. 

Mr.  Justice  Brown  read  the  court's  decree,  "eight  jus 
tices  dissenting."  I-n  his  logic,  that  is,  his  reasoning  upon  the 
law  of  the  case,  not  one  of  his  colleagues  concurred.  On 
^  the  practical  issue,  however,  he  agreed  with  the  latter  four  jus 
tices^  making  it  the  decision  of  a  majority,  and  so  of  the  Court, 
that  Porto  Rico  and  the  Philippines  did  not  fall  within  the 
United  States  proper.  On  the  other  hand,  they  were  not  for 
eign.  The  revenue  clauses  of  the  Constitution  did  not  forbid 
tariffing  goods  from  or  going  to  the  islands.  In  the  absence 
of  express  legislation  the  general  tariff  did  not  obtain  as  against 
imports  from  the  dependencies.  The  Court  intimated  that,  so 
far  as  applicable,  the  Constitution's  provisions  favoring  per 
sonal  rights  and  liberty  accompanied  the  Stars  and  Stripes 
beyond  the  sea  as  well  as  between  our  old  shores. 

Unsatisfactory  as  was  this  utterance  of  a  badly  divided 
court  it  sanctioned  the  administration  policy  and  opened  way 
for  necessary  legislation.  It  did  nothing,  however,  to  hush  the 

855 


THE    UNITED    STATES    IN    OUR    TIME 

anti-imperialists'  appeal,  based  more  upon  the  Declaration  of 
Independence  and  the  spirit  of  our  national  ideals. 

It  was  said  that  having  delivered  the  Filipinos  from 
\  Spain  "  we  were  bound  in  all  honor  to  protect  their  newly 
acquired  liberty  against  the  ambition  and  greed  of  any  other 
nation  on  earth,  and  we  were  equally  bound  to  protect  them 
against  our  own.  We  were  bound  to  stand  by  them,  a  de 
fender  and  protector,  until  their  new  government  was  estab- 


FILIPINO  SINGERS.  THESE  BOTS  STNG  A  SCORE  OF  AMERT- 
CAN  SONGS  AND  CARRY  SOPRANO,  TENOR,  AND  ALTO. 
NARVACAN,  I  LOCOS 

lished  in  freedom  and  in  honor;  until  they  had  made  treaties 
with  the  powers  of  the  earth  and  were  as  secure  in  their  national 
independence  as  Switzerland,  Denmark,  Belgium,  Santo  Do 
mingo,  or  Venezuela." . 

The  Filipinos,  it  was  urged,  had  inalienable  right  to  life 
and  liberty;  our  policy  in  the  Philippines  was  in  derogation  of 
those  rights;  Japan  left  to  herself  had  stridden  further  in  a 
generation  than  England's  crown  colony  of  India  in  a  cen- 

856 


THE    ANTI-IMPERIALIST    DISCUSSION 

tury;  the  Filipinos  could  be  trusted  to  do  likewise;  our  incre 
ments  of  territory  hitherto  had  been  adapted  to  complete 
incorporation,  while  the  new  were  not;  and  growth  of  any 
other  character  would  mean  weakness,  not  strength.  These 
were  the  views  of  eminent  and  respected  Americans  like  George 
F.  Hoar,  George  S.  Boutwell,  Carl  Schurz,  and  William  J. 
Bryan.  Our  two  living  ex-presidents,  Harrison  and  Cleveland, 
also  ex-Speaker  Reed,  sympathized  with  the  same. 

The  mistakes,  expense,  and  difficulties  incident  to  expan 
sion  and  the  misbehavior  and  crimes  of  some  of  our  officers 
and  soldiers,  referred  to  above,  were  exhibited  in  their  worst 
light. 

Rejoinder  usually  proceeded  by  denying  the  capacity  of 
the  Filipinos  for  self-government.  Even  waiving  this,  men 
found  in  international  law  no  such  mid-status  between  sov 
ereignty  and  non-sovereignty  as  anti-imperialists  wished  to 
have  the  United  States  assume  'toward  the  Philippines  while 
the  Filipinos  were  getting  upon  their  feet.  Many  made  great 
point  of  minimizing  the  abuses  of  our  military  government 
and  dilating  upon  native  atrocities.  The  material  wealth  of 
the  archipelago  was  described  in  glowing  terms.  Only  Amer 
ican  capital  and  enterprise  were  needed  to  develop  it  into  a 
mine  of  national  riches.  The  military  and  commercial  advan 
tages  of  our  position  at  the  doorway  of  the  East,  our  duty 
to  protect  lives  and  property  imperiled  by  the  insurgents, 
and  our  manifest  destiny  to  lift  up  the  Filipino  races,  were 
dwelt  upon. 

The  argument  having  chief  weight  with  most  was  that  i* 
there  seemed  no  clear  avenue  by  which  we  could  escape  the 
policy  of  American  occupation  save  the  dishonorable  and  hu 
miliating  one  of  leaving  the  islands  to  their  fate — anarchy  and 
intestine  feuds  at  once,  conquest  by  Japan,  Germany,  or  Spain 
herself  a  little  later. 

All  demanded  that  abuses  in  connection  with  our  rule 
should  be  punished  and  the  repetition  of  such  made  impos- 

857 


THE    UNITED    STATES    IN    OUR    TIME 

sible,  and  that  our  power  should,  without  regard  to  party,  be 
administered  for  the  benefit  of  our  wards  by  men  of  approved 
fitness  and  high  and  humane  character.  American  tutelage,  if 
it  were  to  exist,  must  present  the  best  and  not  the  worst  side 
of  our  civilization,  and  do  so  with  tact  and  sympathy. 

In  the  spring  of  1900  a  second  Philippine  Commission- 
William  H.  Taft,  of  Ohio;  Luke  E.  Wright,  of  Tennessee; 


Gen.  Luke  E.  [fright  Henry  C.  Ide  Prof,  Bernard  Moses 

Dean  C.  Worcester  Judge  If'm.  H.  Taft 

SECOND    PHILIPPINE    COMMISSION,  iqoo 
Cof)  right ^  7900,  bj  Vaughan  &  Keith 

Dean  C.  Worcester,  of  Michigan;  Henry  C.  Ide,  of  Vermont, 
and  Bernard  Moses,  of  California — was  appointed  to  concili 
ate  still  further  the  Filipinos  and  to  institute  civil  government. 
Better  men  could  not  have  been  chosen. 

The  Commission  attacked  its  \vork  with  vigor.  Its  first 
year  saw  passed  no  less  than  263  lawrs.  Its  members  labori 
ously  toured  the  provinces,  considering  and  sometimes  adopt- 

£58 


INAUGURATION    OF    GOVERNOR    TAFT 


ing  Filipino  recommendations  touching  local  governments.  As 
provinces  were  pacified,  municipal  and  provincial  civil  govern 
ments  took  the  place  of  the  military  arm,  such  transfers  grow 
ing  more  and  more  extensive,  though  occasional  relapses  made 
military  government  again  necessary.  A  native  Federal  party, 
organized  November,  1900,  to  secure  peace  under  United 
States  sovereignty,  made  rapid  progress. 

On  July  4,  1901,  Judge  Taft  was  inaugurated  civil  gov- 
^rnor,  General  Adna  R.  Chaffee  military  governor  under  him, 
and  civil  executive  power  was 
given  to  the  provincial  gov 
ernors.  Taft  was  extremely 
popular  with  the  natives, 
who  found  him  the  soul  of 
justice.  The  American  and 
foreign  business  public  spe 
cially  liked  the  Vice-Gover 
nor,  having  more  to  do  with 
him.  September  i,  1901,  the 
President  added  four  native 
members  to  the  Commission. 
He  also  divided  its  work  into 
departments  :  interior,  com 
merce,  police,  justice  and 
finance,  and  public  instruc 
tion.  By  May  i,  1902,  the 

insurrection  was  confined  to  the  Luzon  provinces  of  Batangas, 
parts  of  Laguna  and  Tayabas,  and  the  Visayan  islands  of  Sa- 
mar  and  Bohol. 

July  i,  1902,  an  act  of  Congress  confirmed  all  that  Taft 
and  his  associates  had  done  to  date.  Appointments  to  chief 
offices  in  the  archipelago  were  henceforth  subject  to  confirma 
tion  by  the  Senate.  Upon  pacification  of  the  islands  a  census 
was  to  be  taken  as  basis  of  a  representative  assembly  to  be 
elected  two  wears  later,  making,  \vith  the  Commission,  a  bi- 

859 


GOT.    If  ILL! AM    H.    TAFT 


THE    UNITED    STATES    IN    OUR    TIME 

cameral  legislature.  To  vote,  a  Philippine  citizen  must  read 
and  write  English  or  Spanish,  also  own  $250  (American  cur 
rency)  worth  of  property,  or  pay  $15  yearly  in  taxes,  or  have 
held  municipal  office  under  Spain.  This  excluded  all  but  about 
two  per  cent,  of  the  population  and  all  but  ten  per  cent,  of  the 
adult  males.  Absolute  congressional  veto  was  reserved  upon 
insular  legislation.  There  were  to  be  two  resident  commis 
sioners  at  Washington.  The  insular  Supreme  Court  had 
appeal  to  the  United  States  Supreme  Court. 

N^The   law  carefully   guarded  against  the  unjust   exploita 
tion  of  public   lands,   timber,   mineral,   and  water-rights,    and 


XjJMjfti 


COMPANY   OF    NATIVE    CONSTABULARY    ORGANIZED    BY   TAFT 
COMMISSION,    LA    TRINIDAD,    BENGUET 

franchises.  Involuntary  servitude  was  prohibited  and  penal 
ized,  a  provision  made  necessary  by  the  wish  of  certain  interests 
(as  in  Hawaii)  to  import  Chinese  and  Japanese  coolies  under 
contracts  amounting  to  leasehold  slavery.  A  bond  issue  was 
authorized  in  order  to  purchase  the  friars'  lands,  the  bonds  to 
be  paid  so  far  as  possible  from  the  sale  of  such  lands.  Schemes 
of  jtaxation  and  of  coinage  were  features  of  the  measure. 
There  was  also  a  bill  of  rights  containing  most  of  the  guaran 
tees  provided  in  our  Constitution,  not  giving,  however,  the 
right  to  bear  arms,  to  be  tried  by  jury,  or  to  be  exempt  from 
having  soldiers  quartered  upon  you.  The  Philippine  Act  made 

860 


THE    PACIFIC    CABLE 

bailable    all    offences    not    capital    and    forbade    imprisonment 
for  debt. 

It  was  a  fit  time  to  promulgate  the  new  law.  Peace  was 
making  headway.  Cost  of  living  was  higher,  but  so  seemed 
the  standard  of  living,  and  so,  certainly,  were  wages.  In  addi 
tion  to  the  6 10  miles  of  commercial  cables  already  existing, 
the  Americans  had  laid  6,000  miles  of  permanent  telegraph, 
telephone,  and  cable  wires,  with  203  offices  open  for  commer- 


SUPERINTENDENT   OF    SCHOOLS    GIVING    AN   ADDRESS, 
WASHINGTON'S    BIRTHDAY,   jqo?,    FIG  AN,    I  LOCOS 

cial  business.  In  1903  was  completed  the  new  Pacific  Cable, 
from  San  Francisco  to  Manila.  Over  it,  on  July  4,  1903,  Pres 
ident  Roosevelt,  from  Oyster  Bay,  Long  Island,  sent  the  first 
message  around  the  world.  Schools  of  telegraphy  had  been 
opened  to  Filipinos.  We  were  operating,  at  little  loss,  twenty 
post-offices  in  Luzon,  one  to  three  each  in  Negros,  Marinduque, 
Samar,  Mindanao,  Cebu,  Corregidor,  Panay,  and  Sulu — thirty- 
two  in  all.  We  had  established  a  weather  bureau  with  fifteen 
stations.  In  thirty-two  provinces  a  native  constabulary  was 

861 


THE    UNITED    STATES    IN    OUR    TIME 

functioning.  The  board  of  health  for  the  archipelago,  insti 
tuted  a  year  before,  had  vaccinated  1,000,000  natives,  opened 
leper  hospitals  for  that  frightfully  common  blight,  made  pro 
vision  against  the  plague,  and  begun  to  teach  natives  how  to 
treat  and  immunize  their  carabaos,  decimated  by  the  rinderpest. 

Though  we  abolished  the  state  lottery  and  sale  of  monop 
olies  whence  Spain  gleaned  fifteen  per  cent,  of  her  Philippine 
revenues,  our  balance-sheet  showed  the  islands  still  able  easily 
to  pay  running  expenses.  By  a  wholesome  provision  provincial 
governments  were  required  to  levy  a  land-tax  for  roads  and 
bridges,  and  municipalities  such  a  tax  for  schools. 

Educational  work  in  the  Philippines  was  pressed  from  the 
very  beginning  of  American  control.  Our  military  authorities 
reopened  the  Manila  schools,  making  attendance  compulsory. 
The  schools  were  systematically  organized,  placed  under  able 
headship,  and  taught  in  chief  by  devoted  teachers  from  the 
United  States.  These  advanced  into  the  interior,  to  the  needi 
est  tribes.  Nine  early  settled  among  the  Igorrotes,  scattered 
in  towns  along  the  Agno  River,  and  an  industrial  and  agri 
cultural  school  was  soon  planned  for  Igorrote  boys.  In  1901 
150,000  Filipino  pupils  were  enrolled  in  free  primary  schools. 
By  July,  1902,  there  were  1,835  schools,  with  2,625  native 
and  806  American  teachers. 

The  Manila  Normal  School  was  a  model  institution.  It 
occupied  beautiful  grounds  and  a  magnificent  building.  In 
1903  twelve  American  teachers  formed  the  nucleus  of  its 
faculty.  Four  hundred  pupils,  the  elite  of  all  the  islands, 
attended.  In  furnishing  and  carrying  it  on  the  Government 
spent  much  money,  with  the  design  of  making  it,  in  connection 
with  a  new  university  of  Manila,  soon  to  rise,  the  best  seat 
of  western  learning  in  all  the  East. 


862 


Bringing  the  cable  ashore  at   San    Francisco,   Cal. 


Hauling   the   rope   ashore  from  cable-ship  at   Honolulu 

THE    LAYING    OF    THE    TRANS-PACIFIC    CABLE 

Photograph  bi  Charles  U'eidner,  San  Francisco,  Cal. 


CHAPTER    XXIX 

POLITICS  AND    PROGRESS   AT   THE    TURN 
OF    THE    CENTURY 

ISSUES      OF      THE      CAMPAIGN.  THE      PORTO      RICO      TARIFF.  THE 

TRUSTS. THE      CAUSES      OF     DEMOCRATIC      DEFEAT. THE      FINANCIAL 

ISSUE. THE     CENSUS     OF     1900. THE      PAN-AMERICAN     EXPOSITION. 

THE    ST.     LOUIS    EXPOSITION. 

FOR  the  sake  of  continuity,  events  in  our  island  posses 
sions  have  been  traced  to  a  certain  denouement,  but 
during  the  presidential  campaign  of  1900  they  were  mainly 
unfinished  business.  The  insular  cases  had  not  been  decided; 
Cuba  was  in  metamorphosis  from  colony  to  republic;  Porto 
Ricans  peacefully,  Filipinos  through  blood  and  fire,  were  chang 
ing  sovereignty.  It  was  inevitable  that  the  campaign  of  1900 
should  deeply  involve  the  question  of  "  imperialism." 

The  money  question  and  other  issues,  of  course,  came  in. 
The  Prohibitionists,  now  reunited,  found  a  good  issue  in  the 
u  army  canteen  "  and  the  exports  of  liquor  to  our  Philippine 
soldiery.  Middle-of-the-road  Populists  were  again  in  the  field 
with  their  own  ticket  and  platform,  their  zeal  imitated  in  both 
particulars  by  Socialist-Laborites,  Socialist-Democrats,  and 
United  Christians.  The  Gold-Democrat  National  Committee 
made  no  nominations,  contenting  itself  with  a  stout  ^affirma 
tion  of  faith. 

Again  in  1900  McKinley  and  Bryan  were  presidential 
standard-bearers,  each  unanimously  chosen  by  his  party's  con 
vention.  These  choices  were  so  inevitable  long  beforehand 
that  Admiral  Dewey's  announcement  of  his  availability  met 
with  no  response.  Unanimously,  also,  though  against  his  will, 
Governor  Theodore  Roosevelt,  of  "New  York,  was  assigned 
second  place  upon  the  Republican  ticket.  His  Democratic 
opponent  was  ex-Vice-President  Adlai  E.  Stevenson. 

865 


THE    UNITED    STATES    IN    OUR    TIME 

For  a  time  Democratic  success  seemed  possible  if  not 
probable.  Democratic  State  organizations  were,  to  all  appear 
ance,  solid  for  Bryan.  The  Farmers'  Alliance  and  Industrial 
Union,  through  its  Supreme  Council,  gave  him  anticipatory 
indorsement  so  early  as  February.  The  regular  Populists  and 
the  Silver  Republicans  in  national  conventions  subscribed  his 
candidacy.  The  Populists  made  no  vice-presidential  nomina 
tion;  and  the  Silver  Republicans'  candidate  for  the  vice-presi 
dency,  Hon.  Charles  A.  Towne,  withdrew  in  Stevenson's 
favor.  The  fusion  of  these  organizations  with  the  Democrats 
was  thus  complete.  Lastly,  the  Anti-Imperialist  League  gave 
Mr.  Bryan  its  support. 

Personally  Mr.  Bryan  was  stronger  than  in  1896.  Hosts 
of  voters  who  had  then  supported  McKinley  now  favored  his 
opponent.  Powerful  newspapers  that  once  vilified  Bryan  now 
extolled  him.  Strangest  of  all,  an  organization  of  Civil  War 
Veterans  electioneered  for  him  among  the  old  soldiers.  The 
man  had  proved  fearless,  sincere,  and  straightforward  to  a 
fault.  His  declaration  that  unless  the  1900' platform  specifi 
cally  reaffirmed  the  silver  plank  of  four  years  before  he  would 
not  run  signally  illustrated  these  qualities.  While  probably 
impolitic,  this  attitude  repelled  fewer  Eastern  and  Middle 
State  voters  than  one  might  at  first  suppose,  for  a  silver  Presi 
dent,  even  should  he  be  so  inclined,  was  now  powerless  for 
evil,  owing  to  the  Gold  Standard  Law  of  March  14,  1900, 
which  it  would  take  a  majority  of  both  Houses  of  Congress 
to  repeal.  For  at  least  four  years  gold  was  inexpugnably  in 
trenched  in  the  Senate.  The  silver  Democracy  had  lost  ardor 
for  free  coinage.  The  Nebraskan  himself  explicitly  subor 
dinated  this  cause  to  anti-Imperialism,  which  he  championed 
with  his  most  persuasive  eloquence  and  logic. 

Owing  to  its  novel  nature  and  even  more  to  our  awkward 
ness  and  errors  in  prosecuting  it,  our  campaign  in  the  Pacific 
was  a  tempting  theme  for  opposition  oratory.  Had  greater 
frankness,  tact,  and  forbearance  been  used  toward  the  Filipinos 

866 


rl   .  5  I 

-^       ..«          «»       S 


ISSUES    OF    THE    CAMPAIGN 

imperialism  might  not  have  been  an  issue  at  all.  The  Filipino 
was  not  what  Anti-Imperialist  imagination  pictured  him,  a 
bro\vn  Anglo-Saxon,  jealous  of  hard-won  individual  rights  and 
liberties,  and  cherishing  like  an  Ark  of  a  Covenant  the  for 
mulas  of  such  rights  from  a  Magna  Charta  to  a  Declaration  of 
Independence.  Bestowed  at  the  right  time  on  the  revolutionist 
chiefs  in  Luzon,  the  consideration  accorded  the  Sulu  Sultan  and 


"  H'HENEVER  THE  FLAG  IS  ASSAILED  THE  ONLY  TERMS  U'E  EVER  MAKE  U'lTH 
ITS  ASSAILANT  IS  UNCONDITIONAL  SURRENDER,"  PRESIDENT  McKINLET  AT 
%UINC1\  ILL. 

Copyright,  iqOO,  b->   Underwood  &  Underwood 

his  dattoes  might  have  procured  us  in  the  Philippines  a  hearty 
welcome,  involving  every  substantial  prerogative  which  we 
asserted.  Cuba,  so  desirable  an  acquisition,  led  by  our  behavior 
in  the  Orient  to  insist  on  independence,  might  have  been  will 
ing,  even  eager,  to  make  our  flag  her  own. 

C  The  tariff  question  inevitably  became  bound  up  with  im 
perialism.     The   Republicans  wished  to  use  "  Protection  "   as 

S69 


THE    UNITED    STATES    IN    OUR    TIME 

the  key-note  vocable  of  the  campaign.  Press  and  platform 
dilated  on  the  fat  years  of  McKinley's  administration.  "  The 
full  dinner-pail,"  said  ardent  speakers,  "  is  the  paramount 
issue."  But  the  suggestion  of  allowing  the  Dingley  Tariff  to 
"  follow  the  flag  "  gave  pause. 

I  Constitutionally,  as  was  in  1900  all  but  universally  held, 
duties  must  be  uniform  at  all  United  States  ports.  If  Luzon 
was  part  of  the  United  States  in  the  usual  sense  of  the  words, 
rates  of  duties  at  Manila  and  at  New  York  must  be  the  same. 
No  considerable  or  general  tariff  reduction  for  the  continental 
domain  was  to  be  thought  of  by  the  Republicans.  However, 
it  would  not  do  to  burden  our  vassals  with  -the  high  duties 
prevalent  at  home.  That  act  would  in  effect  be  forcing  them 
to  buy  and  sell  in  the  suzerain  country  alone,  precisely  George 
III.'s  policy  toward  Americans  in  those  Navigation  Acts  which 
occasioned  the  Revolutionary  War.  Such  a  system  all  parties 
were  certain  to  condemn. 

Out  of  this  dilemma  was  gradually  excogitated  Mr. 
Justice  Brown's  theory  mentioned  in  the  last  chapter,  that  the 
United  States  can  possess  "  appurtenant  "  territory,  subject 
to  but  not  part  of  itself,  to  which  the  Constitution  does 
not  apply  save  as  Congress  votes  that  it  shall  apply.  Thus 
construed  the  Constitution  did  not  ex  proprlo  vigore  follow 
our  flag,  nor  could  inhabitants  of  the  acquired  islands  plead 
a  single  one  of  its  guarantees  unless  Congress  voted  them  such 
a  right.  They  were  subjects  of  the  United  States,  not  citizens. 

The  first  avowal  of  this  "  imperialist  "  theory  and  policy 
was  the  Porto  Rico  tariff  bill,  approved  April  12,  1900,  estab 
lishing  for  Porto  Rico  a  line  of  customs  duties  differing  from 
that  of  the  United  States.  President  McKinley  disapproved 
this  bill,  urging  that  it  was  "  our  plain  duty  to  abolish  all  cus 
toms  tariffs  between  the  United  States  and  Porto  Rico  and 
give  her  products  free  access  to  our  markets."  Until  after  its 
passage  the  bill  was  earnestly  opposed  both  by  a  number  of 
eminent  Republican  statesmen  besides  the  President,  and  by 

870 


THE    PORTO    RICO    TARIFF 

nearly  all  the  leading  Republican  party  organs.  Every  pos 
sible  plea — constitutional,  humanitarian,  prudential — was  ex 
hausted  against  it.  The  bill  passed  nevertheless. 

Great  numbers  of  Democrats  were  naturally  expansionists, 
execrating  "  little  Americanism  "   as  heartily  as  any   Republi- 


GOV.  ROOSEVELT  SPEAKING  DURING  THE   CAMPAIGN  OF  igoo 

cans  did.  The  Porto  Rico  tariff  act  closed  this  Democratic 
schism  at  once.  Besides,  many  Republicans  who  had  deemed 
the  taking  over  of  the  Philippines  simply  a  step  in  the  nation's 
growth,  similar  in  nature  to  several  preceding  steps,  and  had 

871 


THE    UNITED    STATES    IN    OUR    TIME 

laughed  at  imperialism  as  a  Democratic  "  bogy,"  now  changed 
their  minds  and  sidled  toward  the  Democratic  lines.  Able 
arguments  which  Republican  editors  and  Congressmen  had 
urged  against  the  Porto  Rico  bill  furnished  the  Democrats  in 
1900  with  their  best  campaign  material/  Balaam,  they  said, 
prophesied  for  Israel.  |  That  imperialism  was  not  only  an  issue 


SENATOR     DEPEW    WAITING    FOR    GOVERNOR    ROOSEVELT 
REPUBLICAN    NATIONAL     CONVENTION 

but  one  of  the  most  important  ones  ever  agitating  the  Republic, 
was  as  certain  as  Republican  logic  could  make  it. 

Campaigners  dwelt  upon  several  minor  matters,  with  a  net 
result  favorable  to  the  Democrats.  A  suspicion  gained  cur 
rency  that  powerful  financial  interests  had  in  effect  coerced  the 
President  in  forming  his  policy.  The  commissariat  scandal  in 

872 


THE    TRUSTS 

the  Spanish  War  incensed  many,  as  did  the  growth  of  army, 
navy,  and  "  militarism  "  incident  to  the  new  order.  jJThe  sym 
pathy  of  official  Republicanism  with  the  British  in  the  South 
African  War  tended  to  solidify  the  Irish  vote  as  Democratic, 
but — and  it  was  among  the  novelties  of  the  campaign — Re 
publicans  no  longer  feared  to  alienate  the  Irish.  It  also  drove 
into  the  Democratic  ranks  for  the  time  a  goodly  number  of 
Dutch  and  German  Republicans.  The  Democracy,  once  the 
slave-power  party,  posed  as  the  heir  of  Abraham  Lincoln's 
mission.  Colored  Republicans  came  out  for  Bryan,  declaring 
that  the  "  subject-races  "  notion  in  American  public  law  and 
policy  would  be  the  negro's  despair  and  that  the  acceptance 
thereof  by  the  Republican  party  was  a  renunciation  of  all  its 
friendship  for  human  liberty,  j 

The  wide  and  intense  hostility  to\vard  trusts  and  monop 
olies  promised  something  for  the  Democracy.  Trusts  had 
rapidly  multiplied  since  the  Republicans  last  came  into  power, 
and  nothing  had  been  done  to  check  the  formation  of  them  or 
to  control  them.  Republicans  decried  these  no  less  lustily  than 
Democrats,  naturally,  however,  taking  occasion  to  remark  that 
monopolistic  organizations  "  had  nothing  to  do  with  the  tar 
iff."  It  was  argued  that  trusts  tended  to  depress  wages,  to 
crush  small  producers,  to  raise  the  prices  of  their  own  products 
while  lowering  those  of  what  they  bought,  to  deprive  business 
officials  and  business  travelers  of  positions,  and  to  work  vast 
other  mischief  politically,  economically,  and  socially. 

Why,  then,  was  not  Democracy  triumphant  in  1900? 
A  majority  of  the  people,  no  doubt,  disapproved  the  Ad 
ministration's  departure  into  fields  of  conquest  and  empire. 
Many  Republicans  denied  that  a  "  full  dinner-pail  "  was  the 
most  vital  consideration  presented  by  the  presidential  year. 
Few  anti-imperialists  were  saved  to  the  Republicans  by  Senator 
Hoar's  faith  that  after  a  while  the  party  would  retrieve 
the  one  serious  mistake  marring  its  record.  Nor  was  it  that 
Andrew  Carnegie,  who  to  ransom  the  Filipinos  offered  to  re- 

873 


THE    UNITED    STATES    IN    OUR    TIME 

pay  the  United  States  the  $20,000,000  we  had  given  for  the 
islands,  could  not  possibly  put  up  with  the  Kansas  City  and 
Chicago  heresies.  Nor  was  it,  either,  that  the  Republicans 
had  ample  money,  or  that  the  Administration  made  votes  by 
its  war  record  and  its  martial  face.  Agriculture  had,  to  be  sure, 
been  remunerative.  Also,  the  strike  in  the  hard-coal  regions 
had,  at  the  instance  of  Republican  leaders,  been  settled  favor 
ably  to  the  miners,  thus  enlisting  extensive  labor  forces  in  sup 
port  of  the  status  quo.  But  these  causes  also,  whether  by 
themselves  or  in  conjunction  with  the  others  named,  were 
insufficient  to  explain  why  the  election  went  as  it  did. 


ENTRANCE  TO  THE  REPUBLICAN  NATIONAL   CONVENTION, 
HELD    AT   PHILADELPHIA,   igoo 


A  partial  cause  of  Mr.  Bryan's  second  defeat  was  the 
incipient  waning  of  anti-imperialist  zeal  in  the  very  midst  of 
the  campaign,  discussion  more  and  more  begetting  the  convic 
tion,  even  among  such  as  had  doubted  this  long  and  seriously, 
that  the  Administration,  painfully  faulty  as  were  many  of  its 
measures  in  the  new  lands,  was  pursuing  there  the  only  hon 
orable  or  benevolent  course  open  to  it  under  the  novel  and 
peculiar  circumstances. 

A  deeper  cause — the  decisive  one,  if  any  single  circum 
stance  may  be  pronounced  such-C-was  the  fact  that  Mr.  Bryan 

I- — 


THE    CAUSES    OF    DEMOCRATIC    DEFEAT 

primarily,  and  then,  mainly  owing  to  his  strong  influence,  also 
his  party,  misjudged  the  fundamental  meaning  of  the  coun 
try's  demand  for  monetary  reform^  The  conjunction  of  good 
times  with  increase  in  the  volume  of  hard  money  made  pos 
sible  by  the  world's  huge  new  output  of  gold,  might  have  been 
justly  taken  as  vindicating  the  quantity  theory  of  money  value, 
prosperity  being  precisely  the  result  which  the  silver  people  of 
1896  prophesied  as  certain  in  case  the  stock  of  hard  money 
were  amplified.  Bimetallists  could  solace  themselves  that  if 
they  had,  with  all  other  people,  erred  touching  the  geology  of 


DELEGATES    ARRIVING   AT   THE    CONTENTION 

the  money  question,  in  not  believing  there  would  ever  be  gold 
enough  to  stay  the  fall  of  prices,  their  main  and  essential  rea 
sonings  on  the  question  had  proved  perfectly  correct.  Good 
fortune,  it  might  have  been  held,  had  removed  the  silver  ques 
tion  from  politics  and  remanded  it  back  to  academic  political 
economy. 

Probably  a  majority  of  the  Democrats  in  1900  felt  this. 
The  Kansas  City  Convention  would  never  have  thought  of 
aught  more  than  a  formal  reassertion  of  the  Chicago  creed  had 
not  Mr.  Bryan  flatly  refused  to  run  without  an  explicit  plat- 

875 


THE    UNITED    STATES    IN    OUR    TIME 

form  restatement  of  the  1896  position  on  silver.  His  hope, 
no  doubt,  was  to  hold  Western  Democrats,  Populists,  and  Sil 
ver  Republicans,  his  anti-imperialism  meanwhile  attracting 
Gold  Democrats  and  Republicans,  especially  at  the  East,  who 
emphatically  agreed  with  him  on  that  paramount  issue.  But 
it  appeared  as  if  most  of  this,  besides  much  else  that  was  quite 
as  well  worth  while,  could  have  been  accomplished  by  frankly 
acknowledging  and  carefully  explaining  that  gold  alone  had 


BRTAN,    DURING    THE    CAMPAIGN    OF   iqoo 

done  or  bade  fair  to  do  substantially  the  service  for  which  sil 
ver  had  been  supposed  necessary;  for  which,  besides,  silver 
would  really  have  been  necessary  but  for  the  unexpected  and 
immense  increase  in  the  world's  gold  crop  through  a  long  suc 
cession  of  years. 

The  Republican  leaders  gauged  the  situation  better.  Mr. 
McKinley,  to  a  superficial  view  inconsistent  on  the  silver 
question,  was  in  fact,  on  this  point,  fundamentally  consistent 
throughout.  With  other  non-inflationist  monetary  reformers 

876 


THE    FINANCIAL    ISSUE 

he  merely  wished  the  fall  of  prices  stopped,  demanding  only 
such  increment  to  the  hard-money  supply  as  would  effect  that 
result.  The  metal — the  kind  of  money  producing  the  needed 
enlargement  to  the  hard-money  pedestal  underneath  the  nation's 
paper  money  and  credit — might  look  yellow  or  it  might  look 
white.  That  was  of  no  consequence.  When  it  became  prac 
tically  certain  that  gold  alone,  at  least  for  an  indefinite  time, 
would  form  a  sufficiently  broad  pedestal,  he  was  willing  to 
relinquish  silver  except  for  subsidiary  coinage.  A  sweeping 
rise  in  general  prices  would  be  hardly  less  an  evil  than  the 
sweeping  fall  over  which  all  complained.  It  could  and  would 
be  used  by  mere  speculators  at  the  expense  of  honest  industry, 
just  as  the  fall  of  prices  had  been  used. 

The  law  of  March  14,  1900,  put  our  paper  currency,  save 
the  silver  certificates,  and  also  all  national  bonds,  upon  a  gold 
basis,  providing  an  ample  gold  reserve.  Silver  certificates  were 
to  replace  the  treasury  notes,  and  gold  certificates  to  be  issued 
so  long  as  the  reserve  was  not  under  the  legal  minimum.  If 
it  ever  fell  below  that  the  Secretary  of  the  Treasury  had  dis 
cretion.  The  law  provided  for  refunding- the  national  debt  in 
two  per  cent,  gold  bonds — a  bold,  but,  as  it  proved,  safe 
assumption  that  our  national  credit  was  the  best  in  the  world 
—and  allowed  national  banks  to  issue  circulating  notes  to  the 
par  value  of  their  bonds. 

Our  money  volume,  also  our  volume  of  credit,  now  ex 
panded  as  rapidly  as  in  1896  advocates  of  free  coinage  could 
have  expected  even  with  the  aid  of  free  silver.  July  i,  1900, 
the  circulation  was  $2,055,150,998,  against  $1,650,223,400 
four  years  before.  Nearly  $163,000,000  in  gold  certificates 
had  been  uttered.  The  gold  coin  in  circulation  had  increased 
twenty  per  cent,  for  the  four  years;  silver  about  one-eighth; 
silver  certificates  one-ninth.  The  Treasury  held  $222,844,953 
of  gold  coin  and  bullion,  besides  some  millions  of  silver,  paper, 
and  fractional  currency. 

\  The    Republican    victory   was    the    most    sweeping    since 


THE    UNITED    STATES    IN    OUR    TIME 

1872.  /  Of  the  total  popular  vote  (13,970,300)  President 
McKinley  scored  a  clear  majority  of  443,054,  and  a  plurality 
over  Bryan  of  832,280.  Of  the  Northern  States\  Bryan  carried 


SENATOR    SPOON ER    AND    H.    C.    PAYNE    OF    WISCONSIN 
GOING    INTO    THE    CONTENTION 

only  Colorado,  Idaho,  Montana,  and  Nevada.  He  lost  his  own 
State  and  was  shaken  in  the  traditionally  "  solid  South."  Un 
necessarily  ample  Republican  supremacy  was  maintained  in  the 
legislative  branch  of  the  Government. 

878 


THE    CENSUS    OF    1900 

|  The  turn  of  the  century  placed  in  the  triumphant  party's 
hanfts^enormous  and  complex  responsibilities  aside  from  those 
connected  with  our  insular  wards.  The  new  census  emphasized 
this.  As  it  disclosed,  76,303,387  people  inhabited  the  United 
States,  including  Alaska  and  Hawaii./  Though  less  than  for 
any  previous  decade  the  ten-year  increase  approached  twenty- 
one  per  centTj  Alone  among  our  States  and  Territories  Nevada 
had  declined  in  numbers,  resuming  nearly  the  place  she  held  in 
1870.  The  loss  was  about  one  in  ten  of  her  people,  against 
about  one  in  four  between  1880  and  1890.  Oklahoma  had 
quintupled  and  more.  The  Indian  Territory — now,  with 
Alaska  and  Hawaii,  canvassed  for  the  first  time — grew  next 
most  rapidly,  followed  by  Idaho  and  Montana.  Maine,  New 
Hampshire,  Vermont,  Delaware,  Kansas,  and  Nebraska  crawled 
at  a  snail's  pace.  In  numerical  advance  New  York,  Pennsyl 
vania,  and  Illinois  led.  Texas  marched  close  to  them,  over 
hauling  Massachusetts. £jfi  percentage  of  increase  the  southern, 
central,  and  western  divisions  were  in  the  van. J 

^Almost  a  third  of  our  people  were  now  urban,  ten  times 
the  proportion  of  1790,  but  the  rate  of  urban  increase  (36.8 
per  cent.)  was,  barring  the  decade  from  1810  to  1820,  the 
smallest  ever  noted,  and  was  only  three-fifths  the  rate  for 
1880-18907  The  546  folk-clusters  called  cities  ran  in  popu 
lation  from  8,000  upward,  averaging  45,857.  Greater  New 
York,  a  colossus  of  nearly  three  and  a  half  millions,  having 
swallowed  Brooklyn,  ranked  second  only  to  London  among 
the  world's  cities.  Chicago,  Philadelphia,  St.  Louis,  Boston, 
and  Baltimore  followed  in  the  same  order  as  a  decade  before. 
The  enterprising  lake  rivals,  Cleveland  and  Buffalo,  had  raced 
past  San  Francisco  and  Cincinnati.  Pittsburg  instead  of  New 
Orleans  now  came  next  after  the  ten  just  named. 

The  first  two  cities  following  New  York  held  more  than 
a  million  apiece,  the  three  succeeding  these  more  than  half  a 
million  apiece.  Five  other  cities  came  within  200,000  of  the 
second  class,  none  within  100,000.  In  numbering  their  people 

879 


THE    UNITED    STATES    IN    OUR    TIME 

thirty-eight  cities  used  six  figures  or  more  each.  More  than 
half  the  larger  municipalities  adjoined  the  Atlantic,  but  those 
on  the  Pacific  also  showed  noteworthy  increase.  Rural  districts 
waned,  especially  in  Kansas,  Nebraska,  and  the  far  Northeast. 
Rhode  Island,  407  inhabitants  to  the  square  mile,  was 
the  most  densely  peopled  State.  Massachusetts  came  next. 
Idaho,  Montana,  New  Mexico,  Arizona,  Wyoming,  and  Ne- 


SEN4TOR    PLATT   AND    GOVERNOR    ROOSEVELT   ON   THEIR 
WAY    TO    THE    REPUBLICAN    CONTENTION 


vada  could  not  show  two  souls  to  the  square  mile.  Several  far 
Western  States  hardly  had  ten  to  the  mile.  Alaska  had  a  little 
over  eight  per  mile,  having  doubled  population  since  1890. 

The  center  of  population,  neither  Hawaii  nor  Alaska 
being  considered  in  computing  it,  stood  six  miles  southeast  of 
Columbus,  Ind.,  drawn  southwardly  two  and  a  half  miles  and 
westwardly  fourteen  miles  since  1890.  Never  before  had  the 
occidental  shunt  of  this  point  been  less  than  thirty-six  miles  a 

880 


THE    CENSUS    OF    1900 

decade.  For  six  decades  it  had  not  fallen  under  forty  miles. 
Its  inertia  hinted  the  exhaustion  of  free  land  in  the  West  and 
the  immense  growth  of  eastern  manufactures,  mining,  and 
commerce. 

United  States  families  were  smaller  than  ever, /averaging 
only  4.7  members,  in  place  of  4.9  in  1890  and  5  in  1880. 
Except  in  the  South — it  was  particularly  true  in  southern  New 
England — -the  old  American  stock,  though  still  stamping  its 
influence  upon  communities'  lives,  was  declining  in  numbers. 
Massachusetts  kept  her  census  position  only  by  taking  in  for 
eigners.  The  educated  classes  appeared  less  and  less  inclined 
to  rear  families  of  size,  those  prudential  checks  which  amazed 
the  world  by  keeping  the  population  of  France  stationary 
being  also  in  full  play  among  American  Anglo-Saxons.  Warn 
ing  was  sounded  against  this  "  race-suicide,"  but  in  vain.  The 
very  race-pride  thus  appealed  to,  with  its  instinct  for  getting 
on  in  the  world,  strongly  deterred  men  from  marriage.  The 
frequency  of  divorces  and  the  ease  with  which  these  were  ob 
tained  also  wrought  to  keep  down  the  census. 

\  Of  thes  total  population  barely  one-ninth  were  negroes, 
against  one-fifth  in  1790.  They  numbered  8,840,789,  an  in 
crease  of  1 8  per  cent,  in  ten  years,  or  3.3  per  cent,  less  than 
the  white  increment.  The  border  States  now  held  a  smaller 
proportion  of  colored,  but  both  at  the  North  and  at  the  far 
South  their  proportion  had  augmented.  Yet  little  more  than 
one  in  ten  of  them  lived  at  the  North,  and,  except  Pennsyl 
vania,  no  Northern  State  had  large  numbers.  In  the  black 
belts,  especially  that  of  Alabama,  blacks  multiplied  faster  than 
whites.  In  Alabama  as  a  whole,  however,  the  negro  element 
had  not  relatively  increased  since  1850.  In  Delaware  and 
Georgia  the  pace  of  the  races  was  even.  In  Louisiana  blacks 
no  longer  outnumbered  Caucasians,  In  South  Carolina  they 
still  did  so,  while  in  Mississippi  their  majority  shot  up  phe- 
nomenallj.j 

The  foreign-born  fraction  of  our  population,  which  had 

88 1 


THE    UNITED    STATES    IN    OUR    TIME 

alternately  risen  and  fallen  since  1860,  now  fell  again  from 
14,8  per  cent,  to  13.7  per  cent.  {JThe  South  retained  its  dis 
tinction  as  the  most  thoroughly  American  section  of  the  land. 
The  foreign-born  were  conspicuous  in  the  Northwest  and  in 
the  Northeast,  everywhere  clinging  to  cities.]  The  residuum 
of  ten  years'  immigration  was  less  than  a  thircr  that  from  1880 
to  1890,  and  only  about  two-thirds  the  total  recorded  influx 
from  1890  to  1900.  Many  foreigners,  notably  Canadians, 
had  returned  to  their  native  lands. 


NOTIFICATION  COMMITTEE  AT  OYSTER  BAT  TO  ADVISE  GOV.  ROOSEJ'ELT  OF 
HIS  NOMINATION  AS  VICE-PRESIDENT.  ONE  FROM  EACH  STATE.  SENATOR 
ff'OLCOTT  ON  RIGHT,  GEN.  F.  V.  GREENE  ON  LEFT 

Not  immigrants  from  Canada,  the  United  Kingdom,  and 
Germany,  but  those  from  Austria-Hungary,  Bohemia,  Italy, 
Russia,  and  Poland  now  preponderated.  Poles,  Bohemians, 
Austrians,  Huns,  and  Russians  comprised  13.4  per  cent,  of  the 
foreign-born,  against  6.9  per  cent,  in  1890,  and  less  than  one- 
third  per  cent,  in  1850.  Natives  of  Germany  still  constituted 
the  largest  body  of  our  foreign-born,  being  25.8  per  cent,  of 
the  whole,  compared  with  30.1  per  cent,  in  1890.  The  pro 
portion  was  about  the  same  in  1900  as  in  1850.  The  Irish 
were  15.6  per  cent,  of  the  foreign-born.  The  figures  had 

882 


THE    CENSUS    OF    1900 

been  20.2  per  cent,  in  1890  and  42.8  per  cent,  in  1850. 
The  proportion  of  native  Scandinavians  and  Danes  had  slightly 
increased. 

In  1900  the  United  States  proper  had  89,863  Chinese, 
against  107,488  in  1890.  Of  Japanese  there  were  24,326, 
against  only  2,039  in  1890.  In  the  Hawaiian  Islands  alone 
the  Chinese  numbered  25,767  and  the  Japanese  61,111. 

The  congressional  apportionment  act  based  on  the  twelfth 
census  and  approved  January  16,  1902,  avoided  cutting  down 
the  representation  of  laggard  States  by  increasing  the  House 
membership  from  357  to  386.  Of  the  twenty-nine  new  mem 
bers,  twelve  hailed  from  trans-Mississippi  (including  Louisi 
ana),  two  from  New  England,  three  each  from  Illinois  and 
New  York,  four  from  the  Southern  States  east  of  the  Missis 
sippi,  two  each  from  Pennsylvania  and  New  Jersey,  and  one 
from  Wisconsin. 

The  census  showed  over  five  and  one-half  million  farms, 
four  times  the  number  reported  in  1850,  more  than  a  million 
above  the  number  reported  in  1890.  Over  two  hundred  thou 
sand  of  the  new  farms  were  in  Oklahoma,  Indian  Territory, 
and  Texas.  Not  quite  one  per  cent,  of  the  farm  acreage  was 
under  irrigation.  The  abundant  year  1899  yielded  farm  prod 
ucts  worth  $4,717,069,973,  the  best  part,  $828,192,388  in 
corn.  Next  to  corn  stood  hay  and  forage,  $484,254,073; 
wheat,  $369,945,320;  and  cotton,  $323,758,171.  The  total 
value  of  farm  and  range  animals  in  1900  was  close  to  three 
billion  dollars. 

j The  census  of  1850  registered  123,000  manufacturing 
establishments^ with  a  capital  of  $533,000,000.  In  1900  there 
were  512,000  such  establishments,  capitalized  at  $9,800,000,- 
ooo,  employing  5,300,000  wage-earners,  paying  $2,327,000,- 
ooo  yearly  wages,  and  evolving  $13,000,000,000  worth  of 
product.  Their  number  appeared  to  have  increased  some  44 
per  cent,  over  the  number  in  1890;  the  investment  embarked 
in  them  slightly  more,  about  53  per  cent.  >_The  number  of 

883 


THE    UNITED    STATES    IN    OUR    TIME 

employes  had  risen  but  a  fourth,  betokening  the  greater 
efficiency  of  the  individual  laborer  a^nd  the  substitution  of 
machine-work  for  that  of  men's  hands.  I )  The  heaviest  invest- 

^ J    L ^ 

ments  among  classified  industries  were  in  foundries  and  ma 
chine-shops,  and  these  also  employed  the  most  men.  Estab 
lishments  making  lumber  and  timber  products  came  next. 
Third  came  manufactories  of  iron  and  steel. 

Our  foreign  commerce  for  the  fiscal  year  1899-1900 
reached  the  astounding  total  of  $2,244,424,266,  exceeding 
that  of  the  preceding  year  by  $320,000,000.  Our  imports 
were  $849,941,184,  an  amount  surpassed  only  in  1893.  Our 
total  exports  were  $1,394,483,082.  The  favorable  balance  of 


THE  CENSUS  OFFICE,  WASHINGTON,  D.  c. 

trade  amounted  for  three  years  to  $1,689,849,387.  Much  of 
this  meant  the  lessening  of  United  States  indebtedness  abroad. 
The  chief  commodities  for  which  we  now  looked  to  for 
eign  lands  were  first  of  all  sugar,  then  hides,  coffee,  rubber, 
silk,  and  fine  cottons.  In  return  we  parted  with  cotton  and 
bread-stuffs  each  exceeding  $260,000,000  in  value.  Next  in 
volumes  exported  were  provisions,  meat  and  dairy  products, 
worth  $184,453,055.  Iron  and  steel  exports,  including 
$55,000,000  and  more  in  machinery,  were  valued  at  about 
$122,000,000.  The  live-stock  shipped  abroad  was  appraised 
at  about  $43,500,000.  About  3 4-  per  cent,  of  our  imports 
came  from  Cuba,  about  2-J  per  cent,  from  Hawaii,  and  about 
i  per  cent,  from  Porto  Rico,  Samoa,  and  the  Philippines. 


THE    CENSUS    OF    1900 

In  1902  the  tables  were  turned  somewhat.  American 
exports  fell  off  and  the  home  market  was  again  invaded,  im 
ported  steel  billets  being  sold  at  the  very  doors  of  the  Steel 
Corporation  factories. 

So  abundant  were  the  revenues  in  1899-1900,  exceeding 
expenditures  by  $79,500,000,  that  war  taxes  were  shortly 
repealed.  "  A  billion-dollar  Congress  "  would  now  have 
seemed  economical.  Our  gross  expenditures  the  preceding  year 
had  been  $1,041,243,523.  For  1900  they  were  $988,797,697. 


SCULPTURE  AT  THE   PAN-AMERICAN  EXPOSITION,  BUFFALO,  N.  r. 

Our  national  debt,  lessened  during  the  year  by  $28,000,000 
or  $30,000,000,  stood  December  31,  1900,  at  $1,042,617,638. 

Our  new  relations  with  the  Philippines,  Cuba,  and  Porto 
Rico  forced  our  attention  as  never  before  to  the  Spanish-Amer 
ican  world  at  large.  United  States  people  and  Spanish-Amer 
icans  were  deplorably  ignorant  of  each  other;  our  commerce 
with  them  languished;  at  the  same  time  the  rapprochement 
invited  by  our  liberation  of  Cuba  was  hindered  by  our  acquisi 
tion  of  Porto  Rico  and  the  Philippines, 

The  Pan-American  Exposition,  inaugurated  at  Buffalot 

885 


THE    UNITED    STATES    IN    OUR    TIME 

May  20,  1901,  was  calculated  to  quiet  Spanish-Americans 
touching  our  intentions,  to  illustrate  the  community  of  interests 
between  the  western  continents,  and  to  promote  mutual  knowl 
edge  and  friendliness. 

On  Opening  Day  a  grand  parade,  in  cadence  with  the 
music  of  twenty  bands,  marched  out  from  Buffalo  to  the 
grounds.  Ten  thousand  pigeons  soared  away  in  all  directions 
carrying  announcements  that  the  Fair  had  begun.  In  the 
Temple  of  Music  the  Hallelujah  Chorus  was  rendered,  after 


THE    ELECTRIC    TOM  ER    AND    FO 

which   Vice-President   Roosevelt  delivered  the   dedicatory   ad 
dress.     At  night  fireworks  painted  the  sky. 

Entering  the  Park  Gateway  you  passed  the  terraces  and 
colonnades  of  the  forecourt  to  the  Triumphal  Bridge,  guarded 
by  monumental  piers.  Thence  stretched  the  Court  of  Honor, 
double  the  size  of  that  at  the  Chicago  Exposition,  gemmed  with 
fountains,  lakes,  and  gardens.  The  central  court  bore  the  form 
of  a  cross.  On  the  east  of  it  was  the  Government  group  of 
structures,  on  the  west  that  devoted  to  horticulture,  mines,  and 
the  graphic  arts.  The  Esplanade,  at  the  intersection  of  the 
two  arms  of  the  cross,  could  have  held  two-thirds  of  Buffalo's 
people  without  crowding.  Connected  by  pergolas  with  the 

886 


THE    PAN-AMERICAN    EXPOSITION 

buildings  in  the  transverse  ends,  the  Temple  of  Music  and  the 
Ethnology  Building  stood  at  the  entrance  to  the  Court  of 
Fountains,  terminating  in  the  Electric  Tower  at  the  north,  the 
central  point  in  the  scheme  of  architecture,  surmounted  by  the 
Goddess  of  Light,  and  combining  massiveness  with  airiness. 

From  the  tower  round  to  the  gateway  again  all  the  build 
ings  were  coupled  by  cool  colonnades.  The  plaza  pleasingly 
repeated  the  artistic  effects  of  the  other  courts — greenery,  blos 
soms,  crystal  lakes  and  fountains,  interspersed  with  statuary. 
The  ensemble  was  charming  beyond  description — not  classic, 
not  even  serious,  but  romantic,  picturesque,  even  frivolous. 
No  style  of  architecture  could  have  contributed  better  to  such 
gayety  than  the  Spanish  Renaissance,  light,  ornate,  and  varied, 
lending  itself  to  endless  decoration  in  color  and  relief;  and  no 
more  delicate  compliment  could  have  been  paid  our  guests  from 
Spanish  America  than  the  choice  of  their  graceful  designs  for 
this  purpose.  Each  building  was  unique.  Domes,  pinnacles, 
colonnades,  balconies,  towers,  and  low-tiled  roofs  offered  be 
wildering  but  pleasant  variety. 

As  a  testimony  to  the  progress  of  American  art,  the  ex 
hibit  was  astonishingly  successful.  The  most  daring  novelty 
connected  with  the  architecture  was  its  color-scheme,  making 
the  Rainbow  City  at  Buffalo  a  startling  contrast  to  the  Chicago 
White  City.  Rich,  warm  tones  were  used  to  form  a  back 
ground.  The  Temple  of  Music  was  a  Pompeian  red;  Horti 
cultural  Hall  orange,  with  details  of  blue,  green,  and  yellow. 
In  his  gradation  of  hues  Mr.  Turner,  the  color-artist,  sought 
to  suggest  man's  struggle  with  the  elements  and  his  progress 
from  barbarism.  Thus,  as  you  advanced,  the  barbaric  warmth 
of  color  at  the  gate  yielded  to  milder  and  lighter  tints,  culmi 
nating  in  the  ivory  and  gold  of  the  Electric  Tower,  symbol  of 
man's  crowning  achievements.  Everywhere,  too,  you  detected 
the  note  of  Niagara  green.  Buffalo  revealed  what  rich  effects 
may  be  produced  by  appropriate  out-of-door  coloring.  We  saw 
— as  did  the  artists  who  built  the  great  Athenian  temples— 

887 


THE    UNITED    STATES    IN    OUR    TIME 

that  in  exterior  decoration  cheerful  colors  may  well  supplant 
the  more  usual  somber  of  gray  and  brown. 

At  Buffalo  statues  were  not  placed  in  ceremonious  rows, 
but  grouped  naturally  amid  the  foliage  or  about  the  buildings, 
thus  teaching  another  of  the  many  lessons  which  the  sculpture 
at  Buffalo,  like  the  architecture  and  color,  had  for  the  appre 
ciative.  Much  of  the  sculpture  was  careless  in  execution  owing 
to  the  rapidity  with  which  it  was  necessary  to  create.  Artists' 
models  had  to  be  enlarged  by  machinery. 

Its  electrical  displays  were  the  features  wherein  the  Ex 
position  mainly  surpassed  all  its  predecessors,  outdoing  even  the 


TRIUMPHAL  BRIDGE  AND  ENTRANCE  TO  THE  EXPOSITION, 
SHOEING  ELECTRIC  DISPLAY  AT  NIGHT 

wonderful  display  at  Paris  in  1900.  No  steam  was  used  upon 
the  grounds.  From  Niagara  Falls  power  enough  was  taken 
to  do  the  work  of  half  a  million  men.  Niagara  circulated 
the  salt  water  in  the  aquaria  and  kept  it  at  proper  tempera 
ture.  It  operated  telephones,  phonographs,  soda-fountains, 
search-lights,  elevators,  machinery,  telegraphic  typewriters, 
moving  pictures,  and  the  shows  and  illusions  of  the  Midway. 
Never  before  had  telegraph  messages  been  registered  with  such 
speed  or  telephone  messages  been  sent  so  far;  never  before  had 
artificial  lighting  been  so  brilliant  or  covered  such  large  areas. 
A  number  of  wires  conducted  the  currents  from  Niagara 


THE    PAN-AMERICAN    EXPOSITION 

to  the  grounds,  where  a  water  rheostat  regulated  them,  at  the 
same  time  making  it  possible  to  turn  on  the  electrical  illumina 
tion  -gradually. 

Every  evening  when  the  moment  for  lighting  the  Expo 
sition  approached  music  and  merriment  were  hushed.  As  you 
watched  the  dim  mass  of  the  vast  piles,  all  their  lines  began 
gleaming  with  a  tracery  of  faintest  light,  that  waxed  to  a  pink 


THE  TEMPLE  OF  MUSIC  LIGHTED  ET  ELECTRICITY 

flush,  then  to  red,  then  to  a  luminous  yellow  splendor.  The 
center  of  radiance  was  the  tower,  suffused  with  the  loveliest 
glow  of  gold,  ivory,  and  delicate  green,  all  blending.  A  hun 
dred  beautiful  hues  glanced  from  the  fountains  or  flashed  like 
gorgeous  blossoms  from  the  depths  of  the  basin. 

At  one  side  were  all  the  riotous  fantasies  of  the  Midway. 
As  at  the  World's  Fair  of  1893,  "natives"  gathered  from 
every  strange  land.  The  Hawaiian  and  Philippine  villages 


THE    UNITED    STATES    IN    OUR    TIME 

were  centers  of  interest.  After  dining  in  Alt-Niirnberg,  you 
might,  for  less  money  than  would  carry  you  to  New  York, 
take  through  passage  on  an  air-ship  for  the  moon,  where  queer 
little  natives,  as  yet  unclassified  in  anthropology,  conducted 
you  to  his  Lunar  Majesty,  a  potentate  till  now  overlooked  by 
students  of  politics.  Darkness  and  Dawn  repeated  Dante's 
visit  to  the  Inferno,  with  modern  embellishments. 

Ten  acres  were  devoted  to  an  amphitheater  for  athletics, 
modeled   upon   the    marble   stadium   of   Lycurgus    at   Athens. 


SUNKEN    GARDEN    BEHIND    ELECTRIC    TOff  ER 

An  Athletic  Congress  celebrated  American  supremacy  in  ath 
letic  sports.  The  program  included  basket-ball  tournaments, 
automobile,  bicycle,  track,  and  field  championship  races,  la 
crosse  matches,  and  canoe  meets. 

Though  less  ample,  the  exhibits  at  Buffalo  naturally 
showed  advance  over  the  corresponding  ones  at  Chicago.  The 
guns  and  ammunition  of  the  United  States  ordnance  depart 
ment  excited  keen  interest.  A  picturesque  log  building  was 
dedicated  to  forestry.  The  Graphic  Arts  building  set  forth  the 

89o 


THE    PAN-AMERICAN    EXPOSITION 

great  strides  recently  made  in  printing  and  engraving.  In 
paper-making  the  United  States  was  found  to  be  fast  rivaling 
England.  A  model  dairy  was  operated  on  the  grounds.  South 
and  Central  America  contributed  a  fine  collection  of  food 
plants,  Mexico  a  small  coffee  plantation  and  some  vanilla  vines. 
South  Carolina  sent  eight  different  kinds  of  tea-plants. 

Nearly  every  country  in  Spanish-America  was  represented. 
Cuba,  San  Domingo,  Ecuador,  Chile,  Honduras,  Mexico,  and 
Canada  had  buildings.  Exhibits  from  our  dependencies  occu 
pied  sections.  Each  of  the  greater  States  had  its  building. 


•THE    ELECTRICITY   BUILDING 


One  roof  sheltered  all  New  England,  but,  unfortunately,  it  was 
burned  before  the  Fair  closed. 

In  the  United  States  Government  edifice  class-room  songs 
and  recitations  were  reproduced  by  the  graphophone.  The 
biograph  showed  naval  cadets  marching  and  you  actually  heard 
the  music  of  their  band.  Pictures  were  sent  by  telegraph,  type 
set  by  electricity.  Every  day  a  crew  of  the  Life-Saving  Service 
gave  a  demonstration,  launching  a  life-boat  and  rescuing  a 
sailor.  Near  by  was  a  field  hospital  where  wounded  soldiers 
were  cared  for. 

Like  its  predecessors,  and  better  than  most  of  them,  the 
Pan-American  performed  an  invaluable  office  in  summarizing 

801 


THE    UNITED    STATES    IN    OUR    TIME 


The  -varied  indu<: 
THE    LOUISIANA 


our  modern  life,  so  vast  and  diverse,  so  vitally  dependent  part 
on  part,  and  so  swift  in  evolution. 

The  Pan-American  was  the  fourth  American  event  of  the 
kind  since  the  World's  Columbian  Exposition  at  Chicago,  ex 
positions  at  Atlanta,  Nashville,  and  Omaha  having  preceded. 
Plans  were  already  afoot  for  similar  fairs  at  Charleston  and 
St.  Louis. 

In  the  World's  Columbian  Exposition  and  in  that  of 
1900  at  Paris,  most  people  supposed  world's  fairs  to  have 
reached  their  utmost  development.  Not  so  the  St.  Louisans, 
who  prepared  to  celebrate  in  1904  the  centenary  of  the  Louisi 
ana  Purchase  by  an  exposition  which  should  eclipse  all  pre 
ceding  ones. 

The  lightning  progress  of  the  civilized  world  supplied 
each  year  with  wonders  unknown  a  twelvemonth  before. 
Among  many  other  things,  St.  Louis  could  display  a  great 
variety  of  automobiles,  even  automobile  chairs  replacing  the 
man-pushed  wheel-chairs  of  1893.  Through  pipe-line  con 
nections  the  Refrigeration  building  would  bridle  the  thermom- 

892 


THE    ST.    LOUIS    EXPOSITION 


tries  building 

PURCHASE    EXPOSITION 

eter  at  any  required  point  anywhere.  Smoke-consuming  de 
vices  and  artificial  fuel  briquettes,  cheap  and  smokeless,  were 
to  be  a  commentary  upon  the  smoke-nuisance  and  all  coal- 
strikes.  Air-navigation,  which  had  not  yet  left  the  tongue  of 
the  scoffer,  was  to  be  a  reality  of  the  Fair,  or  at  worst  a 
prophetic  dream,  for  air-ships  and  dirigible  balloons  were  to 
fly  a  prescribed  course  for  a  $1 00,000  prize.  Our  new  island 
possessions  and  Cuba  were  to  exhibit  lavishly.  Half  a  million 
dollars  were  to  go  for  the  Philippine  exhibit  alone,  as  much  or 
twice  as  much  more  for  one  from  Alaska. 

Such  were  the  wealth  and  prosperity  of  the  country  and 
of  the  Mississippi  Valley  in  1904  that  St.  Louis  could  easily 
outdo  Chicago  in  the  panic  year  1893.  Already  in  1903  $17,- 
000,000  had  been,  by  city,  State,  nation,  and  sister-States,  to 
say  nothing  of  foreign  nations  and  concessionaires,  appropri 
ated  to  the  uses  of  the  St.  Louis  enterprise.  An  available  ulti 
mate  total  of  $50,000,000  was  looked  for.  Foreign  countries 
cordially  responded,  United  States  friendship  being  supremely 
desired  by  them  all.  Only  the  Chinese  held  aloof,  resenting  the 

893 


THE    UNITED    STATES    IN    OUR    TIME 

Treasury  restrictions  and  surveillance  prescribed  to  carry  out 
the  Chinese  Exclusion  Act. 

The  city  of  St.  Louis  fenced  in  for  the  Fair  close  to  1,200 
acres,  twice  the  superficies  of  the  World's  Fair,  with  Forest 
Park  adjacent  covering  nearly  two-thirds  the  area  that  was 


EDUCATIONAL    BUILDING.     FIRST   COMPLETED    BUILDING, 

ST.    LOUIS    EXPOSITION 

enclosed.  Two  hundred  and  fifty  acres  were  to  be  under  roof, 
as  against  200  at  Chicago  and  125. at  Paris.  The  chief  exhibi 
tion  buildings,  twelve,  thus  more  numerous  than  at  any  such 
event  before,  were  also,  with  the  exception  of  the  Manufactures 
and  Liberal  Arts  building,  individually  larger  than  their  re 
spective  prototypes  at  Chicago.  Any  one  of  the  main  buildings 
at  St.  Louis  contained  within  its  four  walls  an  exhibit  area 
greater  than  that  which  the  entire  Pan-American  could  offer. 

The  Exposition  was  fittingly  staged  upon  a  landscape  just' 
sufficiently  removed  from  being  level.  Upon  a  terrace-crescent 
the  colonnade  of  the  States  curved  around  Festival  Hall,  at 
the  wings  of  the  colonnade  two  pavilions,  behind  it  the  Art 
Palace,  designed  for  permanence.  From  the  height  of  the 
terrace  three  crystal  cascades  leaped  downward  to  a  large  basin, 
whence  ramified  the  two  miles  of  artificial  water-ways.  From 
Festival  Hall  as  a  nucleus  radiated  fan-wise  the  whole  system 
of  vari-colored  buildings. 

The  St.  Louis  artists  excelled  not  alone  in  material  and 
utilitarian  magnificence.  They  aimed  to  fill  coarse,  unmanage 
able  matter  with  pulsating  life,  thought,  and  beauty.  They 

-894 


THE    ST.    LOUIS    EXPOSITION 

planned  for  kinetic  rather  than  static  display,  processes  more 
than  products,  activities  instead  of  actors.  Their  utterances 
were  to  be  in  verbs  rather  than  in  nouns.  A  coal-mine  was  to 
be  kept  in  full  operation,  and  the  actual  Olympic  games  were 
to  be  celebrated.  Excepting  heroic  statues  of  Jefferson  and 
Napoleon,  the  very  sculpture  was  to  be  symbolic  rather  than 
portraiture.  Half  a  million  dollars  were  provided  for  this 
feature — sculptured  art — alone.  An  equal  sum  went  for  music, 
the  largest  organ  in  the  world  being  one  expense  item.  Bands 
from  all  peoples  attended,  joinable  at  will  into  one  vast  orches 
tra  of  2,000  pieces. 

A  program  of  world's  congresses,  held  upon  the  grounds 
and  in  the  buildings  of  the  Washington  University,  essayed 
canvassing  the  tremendous  empire  of  human  knowledge,  pro 
curing  the  exposition  of  each  general  province  by  its  greatest 
living  master,  and  of  lesser  sections  by  eminent  specialists.  The 
idea  was  to  digest,  codify,  and  set  forth  the  conquests  of  the 
human  intellect  in  their  proper  correlation  as  had  never  yet 
been  done. 

In  a  pleasant  respect  the  St.  Louis  Fair-builders  affected 
catholicity  less  than  their  predecessors.  While  the  Chicago 


ELECTRICITY   BUILDING.     ST.    LOUIS    EXPOSITION,  i()04. 

Midway  harbored  whatever  ministered  to  men's  craving  for 
amusement  or  to  their  proverbial  desire  to  be  humbugged,  even 
to  be  a  little  demoralized,  the  St.  Louis  managers  proposed  a 
Midway  that  should  be  interesting  but  at  the  same  time  "  fake- 
less  "  and  strictly  moral. 


895 


CHAPTER    XXX 

McKINLEY'S    END    AND    THE    RISE    OF 
ROOSEVELT 

ASSASSINATION    OF'  PRESIDENT    MCKINLEY. DIRECTIONS    TO  THE  TAFT 

COMMISSION. THE      AMERICAN     ARMY    IN     CHINA. MCKINLEY*S    PRI 
VATE      CHARACTER. CZOLGOSZ      AND      THE      ANARCHISTS. THE    NEW 

PRESIDENT. OUR    POLICY    IN     THE    EAST. VICES    OF    CORPORATIONS. 

THE    NORTHERN     SECURITIES     MERGER. CARNEGIE    AND    THE    STEEL 

CORPORATION. CONFEDERATE      INDUSTRY      EFFICIENT. THE      GROSS- 
CUP    INJUNCTION. THE     COAL     STRIKE    OF     1902. THE    ELKINS    ACT. 

EFFORTS    FOR     REFORM     IN     CITIES. 

OEPTEMBER  5,  1901,  President  McKinley,  present  upon 
C5  invitation  at  the  Pan-American  Exposition  in  Buffalo, 
delivered  an  address  which  proved  to  be  his  last  public  utter 
ance.  It  was  memorable  both  as  a  sagacious  survey  of  affairs 
and  as  indicating  some  modification  of  his  well-known  tariff 
opinions  in  the  direction  of  freer  commercial  intercourse  with 
nations  under  other  flags. 

We  could  not,  he  implied,  forever  sell  everything  and  buy 
little  or  nothing.  The  period  of  exclusiveness,  he  said,  was 
past.  Reciprocity  treaties  were  in  harmony  with  the  spirit  of 
the  times,  measures  of  retaliation  were  not.  If  some  of  our 
tariffs  were  no  longer  needed  for  revenue  or  to  protect  home 
industries  why  should  they  not  be  employed  to  extend  and  pro 
mote  our  markets  abroad?  The  President  expressed  further 
the  conviction  that  in  the  same  commercial  interest  we  must 
encourage  our  merchant  marine  and  construct  both  a  Pacific 
cable  and  an  Isthmian  canal. 

These  projects  of  Mr.  McKinley's  statesmanship,  ap 
proved  by  nearly  the  entire  public,  he  did  not  live  to  put  in 

897 


THE    UNITED    STATES    IN    OUR    TIME 

execution.  On  his  second  da>]  at  Buffalo,  Friday,  September 
6th,  about  four  in  the  afternoon,  the  President  stood  in  the 
Temple  of  Music  on  the  Fair  grounds,  shaking  hands  with 
hundreds  as  they  filed  past.  A  boyish  workman  came  along, 
his  right  hand  in  a  handkerchief.  Mr.  McKinley  extended  his 
hand  to  the  youth's  unencumbered  left.  The  bandaged  right 
arm  quickly  rose,  two  shots  rang  on  the  air,  and  Mr.  McKinley 
staggered  back  into  the  arms  of  a  bystander,  grievously 
wounded.  The  President's  first  thoughts  were  for  others.  He 
requested  that  the  news  be  broken  gently  to  Mrs.  McKinley, 
and  expressed  fear  lest  the  occurrence  should  injure  the  Expo 
sition.  As  cries  of  "  Lynch  him!  "  arose  from  the  maddened 
crowd,  the  stricken  chief  begged  those  about  him  to  see  that 
no  hurt  befell  the  assassin.  The  latter  was  forthwith  taken  into 
custody  to  await  the  result  of  his  deed.  President  McKinley 
was  with  equal  dispatch  conveyed  to  the  Emergency  Hospital, 
where  his  wounds  were  probed  and  dressed. 

Spite  of  considerable  weakness  and  too  rapid  heart-action, 
the  symptoms  for  several  days  gave  strong  hope  that  the  patient 
would  recover.  At  the  home  of  Mr.  Milburn,  President  of  the 
Exposition,  whither  President  McKinley  had  been  carried, 
he  received  the  tenderest  care  and  the  most  skilful  treatment. 
The  Cabinet  officers  were  reassured,  and  left  Buffalo.  Vice- 
President  Roosevelt  retired  to  the  Adirondacks.  The  President 
himself,  vigorous  and  naturally  sanguine,  did  not  give  up  hope 
till  Friday,  a  week  from  the  date  of  his  injury. 

Then  his  condition  became  alarming.  Digestion  ceased, 
nourishment  even  by  injection  became  impossible,  traces  of 
septic  poison  appeared.  By  night  the  world  knew  that  Mc 
Kinley  was  a  dying  man.  In  the  evening  he  regained  con 
sciousness.  "  Good-by,  good-by,  all,"  he  said.  ;<  It  is  God's 
way;  His  will  be  done."  "  Nearer,  my  God,  to  Thee;  e'en  tho' 
it  be  a  cross  that  raiseth  me,"  he  murmured.  Before  the  dawn 
of  Saturday  the  soul  was  loosed  from  its  suffering  body. 

After  a  simple  funeral  at  the  Milburn  mansion  the  re- 

898 


APPRECIATION    OF    PRESIDENT    McKINLEY 

mains  lay  at  the  Buffalo  City  Hall  till  midnight,  then  for  a 
day  at  the  Washington  Capitol,  whence  they  were  borne  to  the 
old  home  at  Canton,  O. 

September  I9th,  the  day  of  the  interment,  was  feelingly 
observed  all  over  the  country  and  even  in  foreign  parts.  In 
no  considerable  American  town  could  one  building  hold  the 
mourning  concourse.  By  King  Edward's  orders  special  com 
memorative  services  were  held  in  Westminster  Cathedral. 


THE    OLD    HOME    OF    U'lLLlAM    McKIXLET   AT    <:.-/. \'-7'0\,    0///0, 
If--' HERE    HIS    REMAINS    If'ERE    TAKEN    FROM    If  ASHINGT'ON 

Messages  of  condolence  from  the  four  quarters  of  the  globe 
poured  in  upon  the  widow.  For  five  minutes  telegraph  clicks 
and  cable  flashes  ceased,  and  for  ten  minutes  the  wheels  upon 
many  lines  of  steam  and  street  railway  stood  still. 

It  was  too  early  to  determine  the  exact  altitude  at  which 
the  name  of  William  McKinley  would  stand  upon  the  roll  of 
America's  illustrious  men,  yet  all  but  the  narrowest  partisans  be 
lieved  that  it  would  be  high,  where  all  posterity  could  see  and 
read  it.  Ardent  eulogists  made  him  the  peer  of  Washington 

S99 


THE    UNITED    STATES    IN    OUR    TIME 

and  Lincoln.  Some  thought  this  extravagant,  but  few  if  any 
regarded  it  strange.  The  President  had  been  taxed  with 
opportunism,  with  inconsistency,  and  with  partiality  to  moneyed 
interests,  but  sober  review,  after  the  man  was  gone,  removed 
emphasis  from  these  charges.  Some  of  his  views  had  cer 
tainly  changed.  His  altered  attitude  concerning  silver  was 
much  remarked  upon,  but  this,  as  pointed  out  in  a  previous 
chapter,  was  apparent  only  and  not  a  modification  of  principle. 
If,  in  regard  to  protection,  he  at  last  swung  to  Elaine's  position 
favoring  reciprocity,  which,  as  the  author  of  the  McKinley 
Bill,  he  had  been  understood  to  oppose,  it  should  be  remem 
bered  that  the  United  States  had  meantime  become  a  mighty 
exporter  of  manufactured  products,  competing  effectively  with 
England,  Germany,  and  France,  the  world  over. 

Mr.  McKinley's  progressive  insight  into  the  tariff  ques 
tion  betrayed  his  mental  activity  and  hospitality,  as  his  final 
deliverances  thereupon  exhibited  fearlessness.  None  knew  bet 
ter  than  he  that  what  he  said  at  Buffalo  would  be  challenged 
in  the  name  of  party  orthodoxy.  Even  greater  firmness  \vac 
manifest,  when  at  an  earlier  date,  speaking  in  Savannah,  he 
ranked  Robert  E.  Lee  and  Stonewall  Jackson  as  among  Amer 
ica's  "  great  "  sons.  With  this  brave  tribute  should  be  men 
tioned  his  nomination  of  the  ex-Confederate  Generals  Fitz- 
Hugh  Lee  and  Joseph  Wheeler  as  Major-Generals  in  the 
United  States  Army.  Such  words  and  deeds  showred  skilled 
leadership  also.  Each  was  fittingly  timed  so  as  best  to  escape 
or  fend  criticism  and  to  impress  the  public.  \ 

Mr.  McKinley's  apparent  vacillation,  also  his  complai 
sance  toward  men  and  interests  representing  wealth,  was  due  in 
no  slight  degree  to  an  exquisite  finesse  in  virtue  of  which  he 
stooped  to  conquer.  He  led  by  seeming  to  follow,  or  by  yield 
ing  an  inch  took  an  ell.  He  possessed  by  inheritance  a  quick 
sense  of  the  manufacturer's  point  of  view,  for  his  father  and 
grandfather  had  been  iron-masters.  He  also  had  a  certain 
conservative  instinct,  characteristic  of  his  party,  which  deemed 

900 


DIRECTIONS    TO    THE    TAFT    COMMISSION 

the  counsel  of  broadcloth  wiser  than  the  clamor  of  rags,  and 
equally  patriotic  withal.  Notwithstanding  this,  history  cannot 
but  pronounce  McKinley's  love  of  country,  his  whole  Ameri- 


^ICE-PRESIDENT    THEODORE    ROOSEVELT 

Copyright  bj  Pack  Bros.,  New   York 

canism,  in  fact,  as  sincere,  sturdy,  and  democratic  as  Abraham 
Lincoln's. 

The  deceased  President's  power  and  breadth  as  a  states 
man  were  greatly  increased  by  the  responsibilities  of  the  presi 
dency.  Before  his  accession  to  that  office  he  had  helped  shape 

903 


THE    UNITED    STATES    IN    OUR    TIME 

but  one  great  public  measure,  the  McKinley  Bill,  and  his 
speeches  upon  his  chosen  theme,  protection,  were  more  earnest 
than  varied  or  profound.  But  witness  the  largeness  of  view 
marking  the  directions  of  April  7,  1900,  to  the  Taft  Philip 
pine  Commission:  'The  Commission  should  bear  in  mind 
that  the  government  which  they  are  establishing  is  designed 
not  for  our  satisfaction  or  for  the  expression  of  our  the 
oretical  views,  but  for  the  happiness,  peace,  and  prosperity 
of  the  people  of  the  Philippine  Islands,  and  the  measures 
adopted  should  be  made  to  conform  to  their  customs,  their 


ROO.M  IN  THE  HOUSE  OF  ANSLET  WILCOX  AT  BUFF ALO,  WHERE 
THEODORE  ROOSEVELT  TOOK  THE  OATH  OF  OFFICE 

habits,  and  even  their  prejudices,  to  the  fullest  extent  consis 
tent  with  the  accomplishment  of  the  indispensable  requisites  of 
just  and  effective  government." 

President  McKinley  judged  men  well.  His  appointments 
were  nearly  always  wise.  He  managed  discreetly  in  crises.  He 
saw  the  whole  of  a  situation  as  few  statesmen  have  done,  pene 
trating  to  details  amid  obscure  aspects  which  others,  even  ex 
perts,  had  overlooked.  During  the  Spanish  War  his  advice 
was  always  helpful  and  at  points  vital.  Courteous  to  all 
foreign  powers,  and  falling  into  no  spectacular  jangles  with 
any,  he  was  obsequious  to  none. 

904 


THE    AMERICAN    ARMY    IN    CHINA 


No  other  ruler,  party  to  intervention  in  China  during  the 
Boxer  rebellion  of  1900,  acted  there  so  sanely  or  withdrew 
with  so  creditable  a  record  as  the  President  of  the 
United  States.  Our  new  foothold  in  the  Orient  was 
opportune  in  enabling  our  forces  to  join  without  delay 
those  of  the  other  Powers  in  rescuing  foreign  residents  of 
Peking  from  Chinese  anti-foreign  fanatics,  members  of  a 
Buddhist  sodality,  and 
known,  from  a  loose 
rendering  of  their  fra 
ternal  name,  as  "  Box 
ers."  By  the  middle 
of  June  they  had 
penned  surviving  for 
eigners  and  native  con 
verts  from  the  prov 
inces  about  the  capital 
in  two  last  refuges, 
3,000  at  the  Pe-Tang 
Cathedral,  3,500  near, 
the  foreign  Legations, 
which  for  two  months 
were  pelted  with  shot, 
shell,  fire-pots,  and 
huge  iron  rockets. 
The  German  Minis 
ter,  Baron  von  Ket- 
teler,  on  his  way  to 
the  Tsung-li-Yamen  (Foreign  Office)  was  murdered  by  his  na 
tive  body-guard.  A  messenger  from  the  Cathedral  to  the  Lega 
tions  was  caught,  flayed  alive,  and  his  head  and  skin  hung  aloft. 
Food  grew  scarce,  even  dog-meat  became  a  luxury.  Many 
starved  to  death. 

Meantime  the  allied  forces  had  captured  the  Taku  forts, 
eighty  miles  distant,   and  relieved  Tien-tsin.      On  the   I3th  of 

905 


FOURTEENTH  UNITED  STATES  INFANTRY  L  EAT 
ING  PEKING  AFTER  HEROIC  RESCUE  IN  HA- 
TA-MEN  (NOlf  KETTELER)  STREET,  CHINA 

Copyright,  IQOI,  bf  Underwood   &  Underwood 


THE    UNITED    STATES    IN    OUR    TIME 

August  they  reached  Peking.  The  Russians  established  them 
selves  upon  the  city  wall  the  same  day.  Next  morning  the 
Americans  planted  thereon  the  first  foreign  flag.  They  would 
have  been  the  first,  too,  to  enter  the  inner  "  Imperial  City,"  had 
they  not,  lacking  support,  been  recalled  at  the  moment  of  suc 
cess.  The  besieged  were  speedily  succored. 


AMERICAN  FLAG  RAISED  OVER  BATTERED  REMNANTS 
OF  SOUTH  GATE  IMMEDIATELY  AFTER  CITY'S  CAP 
TURE.  BATTLE  OF  TlEN-T'SIN,  CHINA 

Copyright,  IQOI ',  by   Under-wood  $•?  Underwood 


The  Allies  regime  following  was  discreditable  to  Western 
civilization.  The  Empress-Dowager  and  her  Court  fled.  On 
August  28th  the  Allies  marched  in  triumph  through  the  in 
most  or  "  Forbidden  City."  Europeans  followed  the  Boxers' 
example  in  pillage  and  looting.  "  Punitive  "  expeditions  made 
sorties  into  the  surrounding  country.  Drastic  terms  of  quarter 
and  peace  were  dictated,  softened  somewhat  by  American  inter- 


McKINLEY'S    PRIVATE    CHARACTER 


cession.  Exemplary  damages  were  levied,  the  punishment  of 
conspicuous  Boxer  leaders  demanded,  as  also  the  erection  by 
China  of  monuments  to  victims,  especially  one  to  the  late 
Baron  von  Ketteler,  and  the  dispatch  of  a  penitential  embas- 
sage  to  Berlin.  China  was  bidden  to  remove  military  obstruc 
tions  between  coast  and  capital,  forego  for  a  term  replenishing 
her  armories,  and  permit  the  Legations  to  be  fortified. 

Our  Government's  soberness  throughout  this  international 
melee  gave  us  not  only  China's  good-will,  assuring  us  increased 
influence  and  trade  there,  but  prestige  with  the  thoughtful 
everywhere.  Not  alone  our  di 
plomacy  was  praised;  it  inured  to  the 
credit  of  the  President,  of  General 
Chaffee,  who  commanded  our  land 
forces  in  China,  and  of  the  entire 
American  people,  that  in  so  novel 
and  trying  an  emergency,  the  conduct 
of  our  officers,  soldiers,  and  sailors 
there  was  blameless  in  almost  every 
detail. 

The  certainty  that  Mr.  McKin- 
ley's  name  would  be  forever  remem 
bered  with  honor  was  not  due  merely 
or  mainly  to  the  fact  that  his  admin 
istration  marked  a  great  climacteric  in  our  national  career.  His 
intimates  in  office  and  in  public  life  unanimously  testified  that  in 
shaping  the  nation's  new  destiny  he  played  an  active  and  not  a 
passive  role.  He  dominated  his  Cabinet,  diligently  attending  to 
the  advice  each  member  offered,  but  by  no  means  alwrays  follow 
ing  it.  Party  bosses  seeking  to  lead  him  were  themselves  lead, 
oftenest  without  being  aware  of  it,  to  accomplish  his  wishes. 

As  a  practical  politician,  in  the  better  sense  of  the  word, 
McKinley  was  a  master.  Repeatedly,  at  critical  junctures,  he 
saved  his  following  from  rupture,  letting  the  opposition  become 
an  impotent  rout.  What  contrast  in  American  political  warfare 

907 


MAJ.-GEN.  CHAFFEE,  RESCUER 
OF  THE  LEGATION  AT  PE 
KING,  CHINA 

Cofrright,  1QO1,  hi   Underwood  $-f 
Underwood 


THE    UNITED    STATES    IN    OUR    TIME 

more  striking  than  the  pitiful  demoralization  of  the  Democracy 
at  the  end  of  the  1900  campaign,  compared  with  the  closed  ranks 
and  solid  front  of  the  Republican  party !  Anti-imperialists  like 
Carnegie  and  Hoar,  silver  men  like  Senator  Stewart,  low-tariff 
Repubicans  of  the  West,  all  kept  step  and  held  aloft  the  Mc- 
Kinley  banner. 


THE    LAUNCHING    OF   THE   "M4INE,"    JULY  27,  igoi 

The  discipline  proceeded  from  the  candidate's  influence, 
from  his  harmonizing  personal  leadership,  exercised  not 
through  oratory,  for  he  had  none  of  the  tricks  of  speech,  not 
even  the  easy  knack  of  story-telling,  but  by  the  mere  force  of 
his  will  and  his  wisdom. 

Mr.  McKinley's  private  character  was  exemplary.  His 
life-long  devotion  to  an  invalid  wife,  his  fidelity  to  friends, 
the  charm,  consideration,  and  tact  for  his  demeanor  toward 
every  one,  and,  above  all,  the  Christian  sublimity  of  his  last 
days,  created  at  once  a  foundation  and  a  crown  for  his  fame. 

The  assassin,  Leon  Czolgosz,  was  promptly  indicted, 
placed  on  trial,  convicted,  sentenced,  and  executed,  all  without 

908 


CZOLGOSZ    AND    THE    ANARCHISTS 

any  of  the  unseemly  incidents  attending  the  trial  of  Guiteau 
after  Garfield's  assassination.  These  rapid  but  perfectly  or 
derly  and  dispassionate  proceedings  were  a  great  credit  to  the 
State  of  New  York. 

The  murderer  was  born  in  this  country,  of  Russian-Polish 
parentage,  in  1875.  He  received  some  education,  was  appren 
ticed  to  a  blacksmith  in  Detroit,  and  later  employed  in  Cleve 
land  and  in  Chicago.  It  was  said  that  at  Cleveland  he  had  heard 
Emma  Goldman  deliver  an  anarchist  address,  and  that  this  in 
spired  his  fell  purpose.  No  accessories  were  found.  Nor  did 
the  dreadful  act  betoken  that  anarchism  was  increasing  in  our 
country,  or  that  any  special  propagandism  in  its  favor  was  on. 
To  all  appearance,  so 
far  as  America  was 
concerned,  the  assas 
sination  was  an  unre 
lated  deed.  A  far 
more  serious  symptom 
was  the  lawless  pas 
sion  of  those  who,  THE  NEW  BATTLESHIP  "MAINE" 

,          ,  r  Copyright,  1Q03,  hi  Jf'illiam  H.  Ran 

some    or    them    from 

pulpits,  fulminated  anarchy  as  bad  as  that  of  the  anarchists  by 

demanding  that  Czolgosz  be  lynched. 

The  murderer's  heart  had  caught  fire  from  the  malignant, 
red  type  of  anarchy  abroad,  which  had  within  seven  years 
struck  down  the  President  of  France,  the  Empress  of  Austria, 
the  King  of  Italy,  and  the  Prime  Minister  of  Spain.  In  their 
fanatic  diabolism  its  devotees  impartially  hated  government, 
whether  despotic  or  free.  They  were  no  less  hostile  to  one 
than  to  the  other  of  our  political  parties.  The  murder  had  no 
political  significance,  though  certainly  a  tragic  rebuke  to  virulent 
editorials  and  cartoons  in  papers  wont  to  season  political  debate 
with  too  hot  personal  condiment.  President  McKinley.had  suf 
fered  from  this  and  so  had  his  predecessor. 

Upon  such  an  occasion  orderly  government,  both  in  the 

909 


THE    UNITED    STATES    IN    OUR    TIME 

States  and  in  the  nation,  reasonably  sought  muniment  against 
any  possible  new  danger  from  anarchy.  McKinley's  own  State 
leading,  States  enacted  statutes  denouncing  penalties  upon  such 
as  assailed,  either  by  speech  or  by  act,  the  life  or  the  bodily 
safety  of  any  one  in  authority.  The  Federal  Government  fol 
lowed  with  a  similar  anti-anarchist  law  of  wide  scope. 

\yice-President  Theodore  Roosevelt  took  over  the  presi 
dency  with  as  little  jar  as  a  military  post  suffers  from  changing 
guard. 

Theodore  Roosevelt  was  born  in  New  York  City,  October 
27,  1858.  He  graduated  from  Harvard  at  the  age  of  twenty- 
one.  When  twenty-three  he  entered  the  New7  York  State  As 
sembly,  where  he  served  with  great  credit  six  years.  Ill-health 
took  him  West,  \vhere  for  two  years  he  "  roughed  it  "  as  a 
"  cow-boy."  Afterward  he  was  a  member  of  the  United  States 
Civil  Service  Commission  and  president  of  the  New  York  City 
Police  Board.  In  1897  he  became  Assistant  Secretary  of  the 
Navy,  holding  his  position  long  enough  to  indite  the  dispatch 
which  took  Dewey  to  Manila.  He  then  raised  the  United 
States  Volunteer  Cavalry,  commonly  spoken  of  as  ".Rough 
Riders,"  and  went  to  Cuba  as  their  Lieutenant-Colonel,  de 
clining  the  colonelcy  in  favor  of  Leonard  Wood.  Gallantry 
at  Las  Guasimas  raised  Colonel  Wood  to  be  Brigadier-Gen 
eral  and  gave  Roosevelt  command  of  the  regiment.  Return 
ing  from  war,  Colonel  Roosevelt  soon  found  himself  Governor 
of  his  State. 

He  here  continued  his  course  as  a  conservative  reformer. 
He  urged  compulsory  publicity  for  the  affairs  of  monopolistic 
combinations,  and  was  prominently  instrumental  in  the  enact 
ment  of  the  New  York  Franchise  Tax  Law.  Mere  politicians 
began  to  account  Roosevelt  "  dangerous."  Party  managers  in 
the  1900  convention  hoped  by  making  him  Vice-President  to 
remove  him  from  competition  for  the  presidency  in  1904;  but 
the  tragic  death  of  President  McKinley  foiled  their  calculations. 

The  new  chief  magistrate  was  no  less  honest,  fearless,  or 

QIC 


THE    NEW    PRESIDENT 


Alabama.    Hall,    Teach,, 


and    Girls'    Dormitc 


public-spirited  than  the  recent  one;  it  only  remained  to  be  seen 
whether  he  was  equally  astute  and  cautious.  Coming  to  the 
office  unfettered  as  he  did,  might,  in  one  of  so  frank  a  tempera 
ment,  prove  a  danger.  He  was  popular.  Though  highly  edu 
cated  and  used  to  the 
best  associations,  the 
people  found  him  more 
approachable  than  any 
of  his  predecessors.  At 
a  public  dinner  which 
he  attended  one  round 
of  cheers  was  given 
him  as  "  The  Presi 
dent  of  the  United 
States,"  another  as 
;'  Roosevelt,"  and  a 
third  as  "Teddy." 
Had  McKinley  been 
in  his  place  a  corre 
sponding  variation 
would  have  been  un 
thinkable. 

President  Roose 
velt's  temper  and 
method  were  in  point 
ed  contrast  to  Mc- 
Kinley's.  McKinley 
seemed  simply  to  hold 
the  tiller,  availing  him-, 
self  of  currents  that 

j          .  1  ,  Dorothy    Hall,   Girls'    Trades   Building 

deviously,  perhaps,  yet 

.,  ,     .         .     t  ,  TUSKEGEE  INSTITUTE,  ALA. 

easily    and    inevitably, 

bore  him  to  his  objective.  Roosevelt  strenuously  plied  the  oar, 
recking  little  of  cross  currents  or  head  winds,  if,  indeed,  he  did 
not  delight  in  such.  Mr.  Depew  aptly  styled  McKinley  "  a 

911 


Huntington    Hall,   a    Girls'    Dormitory 


H| 


Western  man  with  Eastern  i'deas  *;  jRpose,velt  u  an  Eastern 
man  with  Western  ideas";  Roosevelt  was  the  first  President 
since  William  Henry  Harrison  to  bring  to  his  office  the  fresh 
ness  of  the  frontier,  as  he  was,  anomalously,  the  first  city-born 
or  wealthy-born  incumbent^ 

\jOnly  at  the  South  was  the  President  for  a  time  positively 
disliked.  Soon  after  his  accession  he  invited  Booker  T.  Wash 
ington  to  dine  with  him  at  the  White  House.  Washington  was 
the  ablest  and  most  interesting  colored  man  in  the  country. 

He  first  saw  day  on  a  Vir 
ginia  plantation  about 
1859.  After  the  war  his 
mother  took  him  to  West 
Virginia,  where  he  dug  in 
a  coal  mine.  Overhear 
ing  miners  speak  of  Hamp 
ton  Institute  as  a  place 
where  a  black  boy  would 
be  welcome  and  might 
work  his  wyay,  he  deter 
mined  to  go  there.  Sav 
ing  so  as  to  lay  by  a  small 
sum,  he  started  for  Hamp 
ton,  walking  most  of  the 
way.  Stranded  at  Rich 
mond,  penniless  and  friend 
less,  he  wrought  at  un- 
c.pjrigbt^swibVnt.rwHdvunderw**  loading  iron  ore  from  a 

vessel,  sleeping  in  a  hole  under  a  board  side-walk. 

Graduating  from  Hampton  in  1881,  he  made  his  way  to 
Tuskegee,  in  the  heart  of  the  Alabama  Black  Belt,  determined 
to  devote  his  life  to  the  uplifting  of  his  race.  A  leaky  cabin 
was  his  first  school-house,  where  on  rainy  days  the  oldest  of 
his  thirty  pupils  would  stand  and  hold  an  umbrella  over  the 
teacher.  Later  an  abandoned  hen-house  was  annexed.  Thence- 


PRESIDENT  McKJNLET,  GOF.  JOSEPH  E. 
JOHNSTON  AND  BOOKER  T.  U  ASKING- 
TON^  TUSKEGEE,  ALA. 


QI2 


OUR    POLICY    IN    THE    EAST 

forth,  spite  of  dire  discouragements,  Booker  Washington's  In 
stitute  advanced,  step  by  step,  till  in  1902  it  was  free  from 
debt,  with  over  two  thousand  acres  of  land,  twenty-six  build 
ings,  put  up  by  the  pupils  themselves,  who  even  made  the  bricks 
for  the  chapel,  117  instructors,  teaching  1,400  pupils  in  over 
6oJ)ranches  of  industrial  training. 

jSoutherners  admitted  the  man's  strength  and  deserts;  never 
theless,  as,  in  their  belief,  the  social  recognition  of  him  by  the 
head  of  the  nation  made  negroes  in  general  feel  that  whites 
were  trampling  their  rights  and  wantonly  rendering  their  lot 
hard,  the  President's  act  was  taken  by  the  South  as  a  snub. 


GUGLIELMO    MARCONI 


At  the  North,  as  well,  many  deemed  it  unwise,  "  one  of  Teddy's 
breaks.'^ 

The  new  administration  followed  President  McKinley's 
course  in  the  Philippines,  vigorously  hunting  down  "  la- 
drones  "  and  punishing  rebellious  Moros.  In  1902  the  un 
happy  archipelago  endured  the  three-fold  tribulation  of  war, 
famine,  and  pestilence.  The  rinderpest  destroyed  ninety  per 
cent,  of  the  carabaos,  while  the  plague  carried  off  83,282 
human  beings.  Congress  voted  liberal  relief,  and,  under  the 
able  direction  of  Governor  Taft,  much  was  done  to  repair 
these  ravages  and  to  prevent  their  recurrence. 

It  was  obvious  that  the  United  States  had  become  a  Pacific 

913 


THE    UNITED    STATES    IN    OUR    TIME 

Ocean  power.  After  the  Boxer  rebellion,  Great  Britain  being 
busy  with  her  South  African  War,  Russia,  having  joined  the  ice- 
free  harbor  at  Port  Arthur,  at  the  southern  extremity  of  Man 
churia,  to  St.  Petersburg  by  6,500  miles  of  railway,  thought 
not  only  to  appropriate  this  province  of  China,  an  aim  sure  to 
succeed  in  time,  but  also  to  make  the  trade  thereof  a  snug  Musco 
vite  monopoly.  (^Leading  all  other  Powers  in  promptness  and 
positiveness,  our  State  Department  ckmii£ce4,  demanding  that 
some  of  Manchuria's  doors  be  left  open  to  general  commerce. 
China,  as  yet  titular  sovereign  there,  did  not  object  save  as  in- 


MARCONI  TRANSATLANTIC.  STATION  AT  SOUTH  WELL- 

FLEET',    I'.APK    COD,    MASS. 

spired  by  Russia.  After  causing,  at  Peking,  long  delay  in  the 
preparation  of  our  treaty  with  China,  the  Czar's  Government 
yielded.  Q|n  June,  1903,  we  were  informed  that  China  would 
order  the  ports  of  Mukden  and  Ta  Tung  Kao  kept  open  to  the 
trade , of  the  world,  and  that  Russia  would  acquiesce. 

)  It  was  through  the  new  President's  urgency  that  the  first 
national  irrigation  law  was  passed,  and  a  national  system  of 
afforestation  actually  launched,  r^th  calculated  to  spread  fer 
tility  over  vast  areas  in  the  West/)  He  stood  for  liberal  reci 
procity  with  Cuba,  being  in  accord  with  Mr.  McKinley's  final 

914 


VICES    OF    CORPORATIONS 

views  on  the  tariff.  As  to  the  easing  of  custom-house  levies, 
however,  Roosevelt's  administration  soon  frankly  avowed  itself 
unable  to  proceed  further  than  high-protectionists  would  allow. 

\  Mr.  Roosevelt  signalized  his  accession  by  effort  to  make 
the  Federal  Anti-Trust  Law  something  more  than  a  cum- 
berer  of  the  statute-book.  In  his  inaugural  addres^and  in  num 
berless  speeches  boldly  handling  the  trust  evil(  he  called  for 
the  regulation  of  capitalistic  combinations  in  the  interest  of 
the  public?)  As  with  Marconi's  wireless  telegrams  now  begin 
ning  to  be'used,  the  mere  air  of  the  commercial  world  instantly 
announced  everywhere  this  attitude  of  our  new  Executive. 

Appreciation  of  the  President's  policy  on  this  subject 
may  be  assisted  by  some  notice  of  the  then  threatening  vigor 
and  universality  of  the  movement  toward  industrial  combina 
tion^;  Mr.  Beck,  Assistant  Attorney-General  of  the  United 
States,  declared  in  1892: 

"  Excessive  capitalization  of  corporations,  dishonest  man 
agement  of  their  executive  officers,  the  destruction  of  the  rights 
of  the  minority,  the  theft  of  public  utilities,  the  subordination 
of  public  interests  to  private  gain,  the  debauchery  of  our  local 
legislatures  and  executive  officers,  and  the  corruption  of  the 
elective  franchise,  have  resulted  from  the  facility  afforded  by 
the  law  to  corporations  to  concentrate  the  control  of  colossal 
wealth  in  the  hands  of  a  few  men.  I ...  The  question 
presses  ever  more  importunely  for  decision  whether  these  mar 
vellous  aggregations  of  capital  can  be  subordinated  to  the  very 
lawsjyhich  created  them." 

L_Charles  Francis  Adams  had  long  before  noted  the  sub 
version  of  stockholders'  corporate  democracy  as  threatening  the 
overthrow  of  civic  democracy.  He  lamented  the  want  of  a 
word  to  name  this  growing  sway  of  wealth,  as  "  democracy  " 
and  "  aristocracy  "  expressed  other  regimes.;  In  response  to  the 
demand  soon  came  the  now  familiar  vocarJTe,  "  plutocracy." 

\Commodore  Vanderbilt  led  in  the  centralizing  movement 
when  he  pieced  a  dozen  or  more  short  lines  into  the  New  York 

915 


THE    UNITED    STATES    IN    OUR    TIME 

Central  and  Hudson  River,  which  was  soon,  in  effect,  extended 
to  Chicago,  via  both  the  Lake  Shore  and  the  Michigan  Central. 
A  great  number  of  other  trunk  lines  and  systems  were  founded, 
among  which  there  developed  a  wild  warfare  of  competition, 
alternating  with  truces  of  exhaustion,  and  ending  in  the  ab 
sorption,  by  lease  or  by  purchase,  of  all  but  the  strongest  rivals^ 

These,  tired  of  rate-cutting,  open  and  secret,  more  and 
more  sought  amity  in  management.  Pooling  agreements  pre 
vailed  for  a  time,  but  were  rendered  insecure  by  State  and 
Federal  legislation.  The  "  community  of  interest  "  plan  came 
next,  by  which  heavy  owners  of  competitive  lines  acquired  hold 
ings  in  each  other's  stock.  Or,  again,  either  dominant  indi 
vidual  stockholders  of  a  railroad,  or  the  company  in  its  cor 
porate  capacity,  obtained  control  of  the  stock  of  one  or  more 
parallel  or  co-terminal  lines. 

The  Union  Pacific  acquired  large  holdings  from  Collis 
P.  Huntington's  estate,  and  controlled  the  Southern  Pacific. 
The  power  behind  the  Southern  Railway  placed  its  hand  upon 
nearly  all  the  other  southern  railways,  including  the  Atlantic 
Coast  Line,  the  Plant  System,  and  at  last  even  the  Louisville 
and  Nashville.  The  New  York  Central  dominated  the  other 
Vanderbilt  roads.  The  Pennsylvania  secured  decisive  amounts 
of  Baltimore  and  Ohio  stock,  as  well  as  weighty  interests  in  the 
Chesapeake  and  Ohio  and  the  Norfolk  and  Western,  and  so  on. 

Great  banking  establishments,  foremost  among  them  the 
house  of  J.  P.  Morgan  &  Co.,  took  to  financing  these  schemes. 
Morgan  reorganized  the  Northern  Pacific,  and  it  would  forth 
with  have  pooled  issues  with  the  Great  Northern  but  for  oppo 
sition  by  the  State  of  Minnesota.  James  J.  Hill  was  master 
of  the  Great  Northern,  and  confidence  existed  between  him 
and  Morgan. 

They  wished  ample  outlet  for  the  products  of  the  North 
west,  and,  in  particular,  access  to  Chicago  over  a  line  of  their 
own,  such  as  the  Chicago,  Burlington  and  Quincy  would  offer. 
Purchase    of   shares    in    this    corporation   was    quietly    begun. 

916 


THE    NORTHERN    SECURITIES    MERGER 

Soon   the   Burlington   road  was   apparently   in   hand.      Shares 
rose  in  value. 

In  this  campaign  by  the  two  northern  lines  the  Union 
Pacific  control  perceived  a  menace  to  its  northwestern  and  Pa 
cific  coast  connections.  The  Union  Pacific  leader  resorted  to 
a  strategic  coup.  He  attempted  to  purchase  the  Northern 
Pacific,  Burlington  and  all.  A  mysterious  demand  set  North 
ern  Pacific  shares  soaring.  The  stock  reached  $1,000  a  share, 


J.    P.    MORGAN  JAMES    J.    HILL 

Coftright,  1QOI,  hi   P<ich  Bros.,  N.    T.  Copyright,  JQO2,  hi   Pack  Bros.,  N.    Y. 

and  none  was  obtainable.  Panic  arose;  brokers  who  were  in 
volved  faced  ruin. 

The  two  sides  now  declared  a  truce.  The  Northern  Se 
curities  Company  was  created,  with  a  capital  approaching  a 
billion  dollars,  to  take  over  the  Burlington,  Northern  Pacific, 
and  Great  Northern  stocks.  It  was  a  scheme  to  provide  a 
single  stock  control  of  several  railroad  systems  naturally  rivals. 
The  logical  sequence  of  this  seemed  almost  in  sight.  The 
control  of  two  or  more  securities  companies  might  easily  fall 
into  the  hands  of  a  third,  which,  governed  by  a  mere  major 
ity  of  its  own  shares,  would  make  a  small  coterie  of  men  the 
railway  kings  of  the  continent. 

The  States  of  Minnesota  and  Washington,  unable  in  their 

917 


THE    UNITED    STATES    IN    OUR    TIME 


own  courts  to  thwart  the  Northern  Securities  merger,  sought 
the  intervention  of  the  United  States  judiciary.  Their  suit  was 
vain  till  the  Administration  came  to  the  rescue.  At  the  in 
stance  of  the  Attorney-General  an  injunction  was  issued  for 
bidding  the  Securities  Company  to  receive  the  control  of  the 
roads  and  the  holders  of  the  railroad  stocks  involved  to  give 
it  over. 

LSi.de  by  side  with  this  railway  development  arose  another 
class  of  combinations,  "  trusts  "  or  "  industrials,"  .holding  to 
manufactures_the  same  relation  as  the  railways  held  to  trans 
portation.  Secret  railway  rebates  to  large  shippers,  motived 


Judge  Henrr  Clay 
Caldwell 


Judge  Halter  H. 
Sanborn 


Judge  Willis  Van 
Dcvantcr 


Judge  Amos  J. 
Tbarcr 

Presiding  Justice 
THE    FOUR    CIRCUIT    JUDGES    It  HO    TRIED    THE    NORTHERN    SECURITIES'    CASK 

by  railway  competition,  gave  tremendous  impulse  to  industrial 
monopoly.  )  The  same  evolution  as  with  railways  was  observ 
able  here;  the  primitive  trust  agreement,  the  parceling  among 
competitors  of  exclusive  distributing  territory,  "  the  gentle 
man's  understanding,"  yielded  to  the  more  compact  plan  of  a 
single,  giant  corporation,  quite  as  efficient  as  the  old  combine 
and  less  vulnerable  in  law. 

The  number  of  establishments  engaged  in  97  important 
industries  out  of  about  342  in  all,  actually  decreased  from 
1890  to  1900.  \  In  1902  over  1,600  industrial  corporations 
were  absorbed  or  controlled  by  larger  corporate  aggregates/, 

918 


CARNEGIE    AND    THE    STEEL    CORPORATION 


The  process  of  confederation  was  conspicuous  in  the  iron 
and  steel  trade.,  In  rapid  succession  the  National  Steel  Com 
pany,  the  American  Sheet  Steel  Company,  and  the  American 
Tin  Plate  Company  were  each  created  out  of  numerous  smaller 
plants.  Each  of  these  corporations,  with  a  capital  of  $12,- 
000,000  to  $40,000,000,  owned  the  mines,  the  ships,  and  the 
railways  for  hauling  its  products,  the  mills  for  manufacturing, 
and  the  agencies  for  sale.  Numerous  wire  and  nail  works  were 
combined  into  the  American  Steel  and  Wire  Company.  The 


ANDREIf     CARNEGIE    IN    HIS    LIBRARY    DICTATING    TO   HIS 
SECRET AR T 

Copyright,  f'andtr  U'eide,  New   York 

Federal  Steel  Company,  the  American  Bridge  Company,  the 
Republic  Iron  and  Steel  Company,  all  huge  and  complete, 
were  dictators  each  in  its  field. 

The  Carnegie  Steel  Company  long  remained  independent. 
Andrew  Carnegie,  the  great  Scotch-born  iron-king,  distrusted 
combination  save  as  the  constituent  concerns  were  individually 
strong.  "  You  can  not  make  a  giant,"  he  said,  "  by  tying  to 
gether  a  score  of  invalids."  He  fortified  his  position.  He  ob 
tained  a  fleet  of  ships  upon  the  Lakes,  purchased  mines,  under 
took  to  construct  tube  works  at  Conneaut,  Ohio,  and  planned 

919 


THE    UNITED    STATES    IN    OUR    TIME 


Pittiburi'b,  Pa. 


for  railroads.  A  bat 
tle  of  the  giants,  with 
loss  and  possible  ruin 
for  one  side  or  the 
other,  impended. 

Carnegie  was 
finally  willing  to  sell. 
Hence,  the  United 
States  Steel  Corpora 
tion,  a  securities-hold 
ing  corporation  like 
the  Northern  Securi 
ties  Company,  capital 
ized  for  a  billion  dol 
lars.  It  purchased 
ninety-nine  per  cent,  of 
the  stocks  of  ten  sub 
sidiary  corporations, 
which  operated  149 
steel  works,  78  blast 
furnaces,  and  over  18,- 
ooo  coke  ovens,  and 
owned  71,000  acres 
of  coal  lands,  30,000 
acres  of  surface  coke 
lands,  125  lake  vessels, 
and  over  seventy  per 
cent,  of  the  Lake  Su 
perior  iron  ore.  Car 
negie  and  his  partners 
got  about  $144,000,- 
ooo  in  bonds  of  the 

new  corporation,  secured  by  first  lien  upon  the  stocks  of  the 
subsidiary  corporations.  A  creditable  portion  of  what  came 
to  Mr.  Carnegie  he  gave  to  erect  popular  educational  institu- 

Q2O 


Washington,  D.  C. 


iii^iii^firtfiF* 
A  ft  ft  |  ft  ft  ft 

•»       mm      r-  ~|       ||        n 


CARNEGIE    FREE    PUBLIC    LIBRARIES 


CONFEDERATE    INDUSTRY    EFFICIENT 

tions.  Noble  public  library  buildings  paid  for  by  him  arose  in 
numbers  in  all  parts  of  the  United  States.  Bond-holders  of  the 
Carnegie  Company  received  dollar  for  dollar  of  similar  bonds, 
$160,000,000  in  all,  while  the  other  trusts  and  the  promoters 
absorbed  the  stock  for  their  properties  and  services.  The  under 
writing  syndicate  probably  realized  $25,000,000. 

^The  trust  creators  extended  their  operations  abroad^  In 
1901  J.  P.  Morgan  and  associates  acquired  the  Leyland  line 
of  Atlantic  steamships.  British  nerves  had  not  recovered  when 
a  steamship  combination  was  announced,  embracing  not  only 
American  and  British,  but  also  German  lines,  likewise  ship 
building  firms  at  Belfast  and  on  the  Clyde.  Of  the  great  At 
lantic  companies,  only  the  Cunard  line  remained  independent, 
with  war  in  prospect  between  it  and  the  combination. 

One  effect  of  this  organization  at  home  was  to  place  the 
Ship  Subsidy  Bill,  which  passed  the  Senate  in  1901,  for  the 
time,  at  least,  on  the  table.  The  sentiment  of  the  country, 
especially  of  the  Middle  West,  would  not  permit  the  payment 
of  public  money  to  a  concern  commercially  able  to  defy  Britan 
nia  on  the  sea. 

The  ship-building  industry  followed  the  same  trend,  but 
with  unfortunate  consequences.  The  new  combine  found  itself 
in  the  hands  of  a  receiver.  This  threatened  serious  complica 
tions,  as  the  Government  had  several  war-ships  building  with 
the  Trust,  one  of  which  private  creditors  attempted,  through 
a  State  court,  to  subject  to  their  claims. 

:  The  efficiency  of  confederate  industry,  for  the  time,  could 
not  be  denied.  We  prospered  at  home;  we  sent  products 
abroad  as  never  before.  /'American  material  supplied  in  large 
part  the  Russian  Trans-Siberian  Railroad.  American  food 
stuffs  and  meats  wakened  agrarian  frenzy  in  Germany.  Ger 
man  cartoons  figured  Morgan  as  a  huge  feline  reaching  a  long 
predatory  paw  into  the  "  Vaterland."  The  island-hive  of 
England  buzzed  with  jealous  foreboding  lest  America  capture 
her  world-markets.  From  an  average  of  close  to  $163,000,000 

921 


THE    UNITED    STATES    IN    OUR    TIME 

annually,  1887  to  1897,  United  States  exports  of  manufactured 
products  reached  in  1898  over  $290,000,000,  in  1899  over 
$338,000,000,  in  1900  nearly  $434,000,000,  and  in  1901 
$412,000,000.  The  United  States  led  Britain  as  a  coal-pro 
ducer,  American  tin-plate  reached  Wales  itself,  American  loco 
motives  the  English  colonies  and  even  the  mother-country, 
while  boots  and  shoes  from  our  factories  ruled  the  markets  of 
Australia  and  South  Africa.  For  bridge  and  viaduct  con 
struction  in  British  domains  American  bids  heavily  under 
cut  British  bids  both  in  price  and  in  time  limit.  The  Yankee 
peril  confronted  Uondoners  when  they  saw  American  capital 
securing  control  of  their  proposed  underground  transit  system 
and  were  daily  forced  to  eat  products  sold  them  by  American 
food-trusts. 

During  1903  Carnegie's  skepticism  about  the  concentrat 
ing  movement  considerably  infected  the  public.  Industrial 
stocks  showed  lassitude.  Bankers  complained  about  "  undi 
gested  "  securities. 

'The  tendency  to  combine  had  been  carried  beyond  its 
legitimate  purpose.  Corporations  had  been  organized  with 
an  inflated  capitalization  based  upon  an  assumed  earning  power 
which  could  prove  successful  only  in  case  of  absolute  control 
by  some  particular  branch  of  the  industry  to  the  exclusion  of 
others  legitimately  entitled  to  their  shares.  These  inflated  or 
ganizations  must  depend  for  their  existence  and  for  their  ability 
to  pay  dividends  on  the  stock  as  issued  upon  a  suppression  of 
the  trade  and  upon  the  taking  of  it  into  their  own  hands,  to 
the  exclusion  of  others  entitled  to  it.  Such  institutions  succeed, 
if  they  succeed  at  all,  but  temporarily,  and  upon  a  basis  of 
control  repugnant  to  the  American  people.  A  certain  class  of 
the  labor  element  had  combined  upon  precisely  the  same  prin 
ciple,  suppressing  production  to  increase  artificially  the  price 
of  the  article  created,  in  this  case  labor.  The  result  had  been 
to  raise  the  price  of  many  of  the  commodities  of  life  so  that  the 
middle  class  were  put  to  a  greater  cost  of  their  living  without 

922 


THE    GROSSCUP    INJUNCTION 


proportionately  sharing  the  profits. 
This  middle  class,  the  great  major 
ity,  resented  the  arbitrary  increase 
in  the  cost  of  living.  :£J 

Partial  failure  of  the  corn  crop 
in  1900,  with  diminution  of  free 
pasture  on  Government  lands,  sent 
up  the  price  of  beef,  till  in  1902 
complaints  became  loud  and  general. 
This  drew  forcibly  to  view  the  con 
trol  held  by  six  slaughtering  con 
cerns  acting  in  unison  through  a  cipher  code  of  communi 
cation. 

The  President  ordered  an  investigation,  and,  as  a  result, 
proceedings  under  the  Sherman  Act  to  restrain  the  great 
packers  from  continuing  their  alleged  combination.  An  in- 


JUDGE    PETER    S.   GROSSCUP 


MACHINE    If -HIGH    REAPS,    THRESHES,    AND    BAGS    GRAIN    AT    THE 
SAME    TIME 

junction  was  granted,  the  slow  machinery  of  chancery  working 
out  a  decree.     At  the  same  time,  though  the  packers'  plans 

*  Abridged  from  a  statement  by  the  eminent  corporation  lawyer,  James  B.  Dill. 

923 


THE    UNITED    STATES    IN    OUR    TIME 


"  for  a   more   perfect  union  "   tarried,  and   they  were  not  ob 
served  zealously  to  compete  in  the  old-fashioned  way,  meat 

did  not  materially  de 
cline  in  price. 

If  the  public  suf 
fered  from  these  pha- 
lanxed  industries  while 
they  ran  smoothly,  it 
endured  peculiar  evils 
from  the  periodical 
conflicts  between  the 
capital  and  the  labor 
in  them,  for  every 
where  labor  unionized 
as  capital  combined. 
!  The  steel  strike 


PARADE    OF    THE    STRIKERS    AT   SHENANDOAH, 
PA.,    DURING    THE    COAL    STRIKE    OF   ic,O2 


n 


of  1901  was  a  fight  over  the  union 
izing  of  certain  hitherto  non-union 
plants  in  the  United  States  Steel 
Corporation.  It  resulted  in  defeat 
for  the  strikers  and  in  the  disunion- 
izing  of  plants.  For  the  consuming 
public,  this  strike  had  no  such  con 
sequence  as  attended  the  anthracite 
coal  strike  of  1902,  which  was  more 
bitterly  fought  in  -  that  it  was  a  con 
flict  for  wages  and  for  the  recogni 
tion  of  the  United  Mine  Workers  of 

America,  John    Mitchell    at   their    head.      The    strike    began 
May  12,  1902,  when  147,000  miners  went  oufTj   Though  the 

924 


ONE   OF  THE  MINERS  ARGUING 
HIS   SIDE    OF   THE    STRIKE 


THE    COAL    STRIKE    OF    1902 


record  was  marred  at  places,  they  behaved  well  and  retained 
to  a  large  degree  public  sympathy.  When  the  price  of  an 
thracite  rose  from  about  $5  a  ton  to  $28  and  $30,  the  parts 
of  the  country  using  hard  coal  began  to  realize  a  fuel  fam 
ine.  For  the  five  months  ending  October  I2th,  the  strike 
was  estimated  to  have  cost  over  Si  26,000,000.  The  op 
erators  stubbornly  refused  to  arbitrate  or  to  recognize  the 
union.  The  miners  with  equal  constancy  held  their  ranks 
intact. 

The  problem  of  protecting  the  public  pressed  for  solution 
as  never  before.  The  only  suggestion  at  first  discussed  was 
arbitration.  Enforced  arbitration  could  not  be  eftected  without 
infringing  the  workingman's  right  to  labor  or  to  decline  to  do 
so;  without  reducing  him,  in  case  of  adverse  decision  by  arbi 
tration,  to  a  condition  of  involuntary 
servitude.  It  looked  as  if  no  solution 
could  be  reached  till  State  or  nation 
condemned  and  acquired  ample  por 
tions  of  the  mining  lands  to  be  worked 
under  its  own  auspices  and  in  a  just 
manner.  This  radical  course  was  not 
likely  to  be  adopted  by  Congress  or  by 
the  Pennsylvania  Legislature  should 
these  powers  deal  with  the  problem. 

*\On  October  jd  President  Roose 
velt  called  the  coal  operators  and  Presi 
dent  Mitchell  of  the  United  Mine 
Workers  to  a  conference  at  the  White 
House,  urging  them  to  agree.  After 
much  parley  each  side  consented  to  intrust  its  case  to  an  im 
partial  commission  to  be  appointed  by  the  President.]  Such 
was  soon  created,  and  it  gave  long  weeks  to  investigation  and 
hearings.  Not  sparing  strictures  upon  the  belligerents,  and 
declining  to  require  recognition  of  the  union,  it  finally  decreed 
a  substantial  minimum  wage-advance  for  a  term  of  years,  with 

925 


JOHN   MITCHELL,    PRESIDENT 
UNITED    MINE    U  ORKERS 


THE    UNITED    STATES    IN    OUR    TIME 

a  sliding-scale  arrangement  whereby  wages  should  be  further 
advanced  should  the  trade  justify  it. 

The  coal  strike,  with  the  Government's  action  against  the 
Northern  Securities  Company  and  the  Beef  Trust,  prompted 
William  R.  Hearst  to  attack  before  the  Interstate  Commerce 
Commission  the  combination  of  hard-coal  railroads,  which  prac 
tically  monopolized  the  mining  as  \vell  as  the  transportation 
of  anthracite.  It  appeared  that  by  manipulating  freight  rates 


Carroll   D.          T.  H.   If'atkins  Judge  Grar,        E.  If.  Parker     E.  E.  Clark         Bishop  Sfalding 

bright  Presiding   Officer 

Gen.  J.  M.  If'ilson 

COAL    STRIKE    ARBITRATORS    7A'    SESSION 

Copyright,  /90J1,  by   George  Grantham  Bain 

they  at  will  reduced  ostensible  mining  profits  to  the  vanishing 
point,  which  afforded  convenient  excuse  for  raising  prices  to 
the  consumer.  Mr.  Hearst's  onset  was  balked  by  the 
limited  powers  allowed  the  Commission  by  the  courts.  Sus 
tained  for  this  reason  in  their  refusal  to  testify,  the  hard-coal 
managers  were  left  in  an  unenviable  light,  since  they  had  based 
their  recalcitrancy  upon  another  ground,  viz.,  that  their  testi 
mony  would  tend  to  incriminate  them. 

The   President's  energy  in  executing  the  Sherman  Anti- 

926 


THE    ELKINS    ACT 

trust  Act  was  supplemented  by  his  efforts  for  additional  legis 
lation  upon  the  subject,  and  rewarded  by  the  Elkins  Anti-trust 
Act  of  the  LVIIth  Congress,  short  session,  the  mildest  of  sev 
eral  measures  proposed,  but  probably  the  most  radical  which 
could  pass  the  Senate.  This  law  abolished  the  more  drastic 
penalties  against  railroad  rebates,  denounced  against  shipper 
as  well  as  carrier  those  which  remained,  and  expedited  legal 
procedure.  The  Elkins  Act  also  created  the  Department  of 
Commerce  and  Labor,  absorbing  the  old  Labor  Bureau.  The 
new  branch  embraced  a  Bureau  of  Corporations  for  the  official 
collecting  and  publishing  of  authentic  information  concerning 
these  entities. 

If  laws  fell  short,  the  industrial  world  at  points  volunta 
rily  adopted  some  of  the  innovations  which  radical  reformers 
would  have  imposed;  and  this  result,  again,  was  no  doubt  due 
in  part  to  the  known  sympathy  of  the  President.  The  greatest 
of  the  trusts  often  scaled  wages  up,  to  attract  and  maintain  a 
high  grade  of  labor.  As  yet,  the  way  stood  open  from  the 
ranks  to  the  highest  positions.  The  Standard  Oil  Company, 
the  Carnegie  Company,  and  its  successor,  the  Steel  Corporation, 
introduced  a  species  of  profit-sharing  by  which  employees  were 
encouraged  to  invest  in  stock  of  the  employing  enterprises.  The 
Pennsylvania  Railroad  and  the  Illinois  Central  provided  old- 
age  pensions  for  their  workmen. 

Captains  of  industry  often  sought  to  fortify  their  securi 
ties  by  scattering  them  as  widely  as  possible.  To  invite  invest 
ment  they  gave  their  balance-sheets  complete  publicity.  Street- 
railway  and  other  municipal  monopolies  sheltered  their  interests 
under  the  aegis  of  widely  distributed  holdings.  The  argument 
for  a  fifty-year  franchise  in  Cincinnati  was  pushed  in  the  name 
of  widows,  orphans,  and  other  small  investors.  In  Philadel 
phia,  when  a  large  hall  was  filled  to  overflowing  with  remon 
strants  against  some  street-railway  proposal,  a  u  magnate  "  ob 
served,  "  Our  stockholders  in  this  town  would  fill  half  a  dozen 
such  halls." 

927 


THE    UNITED    STATES    IN    OUR    TIME 


Venice   and    East    Madison    Streets  where   buildings   were   completely   submerged   and   swept   auiai 

E4ST   ST.    LOUIS    DURING 

Some  large  concerns  gave  workmen  voice  upon  the  vital 
questions  of  wages,  discharge  and  reinstatement  among  em 
ployees.  Others  made  their  establishments  "  co-operative  n  in 
every  essential  particular. 

All  this  appeared  to  be  enlightened  policy  forestalling  the 
inevitable.  ^It  was  increasingly  clear  that  labor  worth  having 
about  a  modern  factory  would  insist  upon  living  wages,  the 
more  so  that  employers  made  the  wish  for  such  wages  the  basis 
of  their  plea  for  protective  tariffs.  Good  laborers  were  also 
bound  to  insist  upon  hearings  in  cases  of  "  hiring  and  firing." 
The  American  workingman  felt  a  proprietary  tenure  in  his 
job  and  respected  this  in  another's.  "  Strike-breakers  "  were 
loathed.  Social  ostracism,  suggested  by  President  Hadley  as 
a  weapon  against  piratical  capitalists,  was  in  labor-circles  wield 
ed  with  tremendous  effect  against  the  "  scab."  Unfortunately 
for  union  labor,  upon  "  strike-breakers  "  for  whom  taboo  had 
no  terrors,  the  secular  arm  of  violence  sometimes  descended 
heavily. 

!  Hideous  misgovernment  cursed  many  American  cities. 
The  trail  of  this  serpent — crime  and  vice  tariffed  for  revenue 
to  public  officers  and  for  protection  to  offenders,  blackmail,  fran 
chise-looting,  and  manifold  other  iniquities — would  be  too  long 
for  our  space.  Greater  New  York,  which  had  narrowly  escaped 

928 


EFFORTS    FOR    REFORM    IN    CITIES 


Showing  flooded    streets   and   boats,  with   occupants 
THE     FLOOD*    Of    IQOJ 

the  radicalism  of  Henry  George  only  to  suffer  from  an  unre- 
generate  Tammany  management,  was,  under  her  second  reform 
administration,  that  of  Mayor  Low,  dissatisfied  still,  yet  aware 
that  the  moral  level  of  her  government  was  slowly  rising.  Min 
neapolis  succeeded  in  smashing  a  notorious  machine.  St.  Louis, 
by  the  help  of  her  great  champion,  Circuit-Attorney  Folk, 
hoped  to  do  the  same,  working  on,  nothing  daunted  by  the 
unprecedented  floods  of  1893,  to  complete  her  preparations  for 
the  Louisiana  Purchase  Exposition.  Cincinnati  and  Pittsburg 
were  ring-ridden,  abiding  the  ringsters  \vhile  decrying  the  rings. 
Philadelphia,  expecting  relief  by  concentrating  vast  powers  in 
the  Mayor's  hands,  found  this  arrangement,  like  the  former 
one,  compatible  with  desperate  corruption,  and  lit  her  lantern 
in  search  of  a  man.  In  Mayor  Weaver  her  quest  seemed 
rewarded. 

Tendencies  radical  for  conservative  America  appeared  in 
municipal  politics.  '  In  many  cities,  as  San  Francisco  and  Hart 
ford,  labor-unionists  became  mayors.  Even  in  New  England 
socialists  were  elected  to  that  office.  Some  very  large  munici 
palities  committed  themselves  to  radical  leadership.  Under 
Mayor  Harrison,  Chicago  set  sail  for  the  municipal  ownership 
of  public  utilities.  Four  times  in  succession  Toledo  elected  the 
unique  Mayor  Samuel  M.  Jones,  who  eschewed  all  political 

929 


THE    UNITED    STATES    IN    OUR    TIME 

parties  and  defied  a  unanimous  newspaper  opposition.  He  con 
ducted  a  campaign  much  as  an  evangelist  would  a  revival,  lead 
ing  oft  with  songs,  proclaiming  the  Golden  Rule,  and  favoring 
a  co-operative  commonwealth.  Cleveland  twice  elected  Mayor 
the  single-taxer,  Tom  L.  Johnson,  upon  a  platform  calling  for 
three-cent  fares  on  city  street  railways,  with  ultimate  public 
ownership. 

Flagrant  corruption  hung  about  many  a  State  capital, 
suspicions  of  it  about  most  of  them.  In  a  few  States  rotten  bor 
oughs  made  it  easy  for  a  skilled  manager  with  money  to  com 
mand  legislative  majorities  on  notification.  The  legislative  elec 
tion  of  Federal  Senators  debauched  Montana  and  Delaware. 
In  Delaware,  owing  partly  to  its  large  negro  vote,  mere  brute 
money  was  able  for  years  to  obstruct  if  not  quite  to  conquer  the 
opposition  of  decency  to  its  claims. 

In  1903  notorious  scandals  were  uncovered  in  the  National 
Post-Office  Department,  connected  with  the  Rural  Free  Deliv 
ery  Service.  "  Rake-offs  "  had  been  accepted  upon  contracts 
for  supplies.  The  guilty  were  indicted  and  held  for  trial.  The 
probe  reached  back  even  to  the  McKinley  days,  when  dummies 
were  placed  upon  the  pay-roll,  moneys  illicitly  drawn,  extrava 
gant  expenditures  made,  one  person  sometimes  receiving  two 
salaries  and  a  fictitious  expense  allowance. 

Like  President  Grant,  years  before,  President  Roosevelt 
determined  to  "  let  no  guilty  man  escape;"  and  he  found  in  Mr. 
J.  L.  Bristow,  Fourth  Assistant  Postmaster-General,  an  aide 
worthy  the  name  borne  by  the  destroyer  of  the  Whisky  Ring. 


930 


INDEX 


INDEX 


ABBOTT,  Josiah  G.,  on  Electoral  Commission, 
218. 

ABERDEEN,  Duchess  of,  636. 

Acapulco,  The,  576. 

ACKERMAN,  Amos  T.,  succeeds  Hoar  as  Attor 
ney-General,  55. 

ACT  OK  AMNESTY,  The,  removes  political  disa 
bilities  imposed  by  the  Fourteenth  Amend 
ment,  40. 

ADAMS,  Hon.  Charles  Francis,  his  warning-  to 
the  English  Government  about  the  Flor 
ida,  88  ;  his  opinion  of  Grant's  second  ad 
ministration,  235. 

Adams,  David  J.,  seizure  of,  510. 

ADAMS,  John  Quincy,  deplores  the  position  of 
the  Democratic  party,  36;  declines  the 
nomination  for  Vice-President,  70. 

ADAMS,  President  John  Quincy,  his  idea  for  a 
Panama  Conference,  409  ;  on  Cuba,  800. 

Adler,  The,  in  Samoan  hurricane,  606. 

AFRICA,  United  States  connection  with,  391  ; 
Stanley  in,  392  et  seq.;  United  States  criti 
cised  for  her  connection  with,  395. 

Age,  The  New  York,  its  sensible  utterances  on 
the  negro  question,  767. 

AGRICULTURE,  public  lands  donated  for  training 
schools  of,  283  ;  Hatch  Act  authorizing  ex 
periments  in,  284  ;  colleges  of,  diverted  to 
political  ends,  285  ;  increase  in,  between 
1870  and  1880,  351  ;  lags  between  1880  and 
1890,  664. 

AGUINALDO,  Don  Emilo,  842  et  seq.;  capture, 
848. 

ALABAMA,  State  of,  admitted  to  representation 
in  Congress,  20  ;  illiteracy  in,  in  1874,  114  ; 
ignorance  of  negro  law-makers  in,  121  ;  in 
crease  in  public  debt  of,  from  1868  to  1874, 
124;  exaggerated  tales  of  violence  in,  129  ; 
constitutional  changes  in,  537  ;  Populists 
in,  633  ;  represented  at  Atlanta  Exposition, 
754  ;  iron  and  coal  in,  762  ;  timber  and 
mineral  wealth  of,  763  ;  asphalt,  marble, 
and  building  stones  in,  764  ;  decrease  of 
negroes  in  country  portions  of,  770. 

Alabama,  The,  claims  for  depredations  by,  88. 

ALABAMA  CLAIMS,  The,  46  ;  nature  of,  87  ;  re 
ferred  to  a  tribunal  of  arbitration,  46,  90 ; 
sustained  in  part  by  Geneva  Tribunal,  92. 


Alarm,  The,  incendiary  utterances  of,  532. 

ALASKA,  still  unorganized  in  1870,  2  ;  Klondyke, 
Yukon,  Chilcoot,  Nome  gold  discoveries, 
790 ;  Governor  appointed,  791  ;  resources, 
792  ;  boundary  dispute,  793  ;  Joint  High 
Commission,  794  ;  sealing  dispute,  795. 

ALASKA  COMMERCIAL  Co.,  The,  515. 

ALEMANY,  Archbishop,  377. 

Alert,  The,  426,  439. 

ALEXANDER  II.  OF  RrssiA,  329. 

ALGER,  Russell  A.,  548,  750;  appointed  Secre 
tary  of  War,  787  ;  and  army  equipment, 
816. 

ALLEN,  Hon.  Charles  H.,  Civil  Governor  of 
Porto  Rico,  825. 

ALLEN,  129. 

ALLEN,  William,  211. 

Allianca,  The,  fired  on  by  Spanish  gun-boat, 
700. 

Alliance,  The,  419,  439,  521. 

ALLISON,  Wm.  B.,  announces  result  of  Tilden- 
Hayes  election,  220,  246  ;  his  connection 
with  Bland-Allison  Silver  Bill,  278. 

ALTGELD,  Gov.  John  P.,  pardons  Chicago  An 
archists,  534,  535  ;  protests  against  presence 
of  Federal  troops  during  Pullman  strike, 
730;  at  opening  of  Chickamauga  Mili 
tary  Park,  749. 

AMALGAMATED  STEEL  AND  IRON  WORKERS,  The, 
625  et  seq. 

AMBLER,  J.  A.,  352. 

AMBLER,  James  M.,  on  Jeannette  Expedition, 
418  ;  perishes  with  De  Long,  420  et  seq. 

AMENDMENT,  The  Fourteenth,  19. 

AMENDMENT,  The  Fifteenth,  ratified  in  spite  of 
opposition,  22  ;  question  of  its  expediency, 
37- 

AMERICAN  DEPARTMENT  OF  LABOR,  The.  See 
LABOR. 

AMERICAN  PARTY,  The,  formation  of,  560. 

AMERICAN  PROTECTIVE  ASSOCIATION,  The,found- 
ing  of,  714,  et  seq.:  its  claims  in  1894,  717  ; 
opposition  to,  717,  718. 

AMERICAN  RAILWAY  UNION,  The,  724  ;  officers 
of,  arrested,  729. 

AMES,  Adelbert,  proclamation  of,  after  attack 
on  Vicksburg,  144  ;  asks  for  United  States 
troops,  147 ;  his  opinion  on  the  Southern 


933 


INDEX 


situation,  151  ;  his  action  in  railway  mat 
ters,  152. 

AMES,  Oakes,  transfers  his  Mobilier  contracts 
to  trustees,  105  ;  accused  of  bribing  with 
Mobilier  money,  106 ;  his  defence,  107 ; 
censured  by  the  House,  108 ;  his  death, 
108. 

ANARCHISTS,  The,  in  Chicago,  530  et  seq. 

ANARCHY,  and-,  laws  passed,  909. 

ANDERSON,  Colonel,  631. 

ANDERSON,  T.  C.,  declared  incapable  of  serving 
on  the  Louisiana  State  Returning  Board, 
80. 

ANGELL,  President  James  B.,  on  Fisheries  Com 
mission  of  1887,  513. 

"ANTI-MONOPOLY  PARTY,"  The,  291. 

APACHES,  The,  wildness  of,  170 ;  massacres  by, 
in  Arizona,  172,  173. 

ARAPAHOES,    The,    "  Messiah  craze  "    among, 

591- 

A  rbeiter  Zeitung,  The,  532. 

Arctic  Moon,  The,  429. 

ARIZONA,  Territory  of,  unsettled  state  of,  in 
1870.  2  ;  organized  as  a  Territory  by  that 
date,  97  ;  Indian  depredations  in,  171,  172  ; 
massacre  at  Camp  Grant  in,  173. 

ARKANSAS,  State  of,  loyal  government  in,  re 
cognized  by  Lincoln,  18  ;  admitted  to  rep 
resentation  in  Congress,  20 ;  increase  in 
debt  of,  during  reconstruction,  125  ;  linger- 
ings  of  carpet-bag  government  in,  136 ; 
the  Brooks-Baxter  struggle  in,  136  et  seq.; 
poverty-stricken,  yet  with  "  fat  "  offices, 
139  ;  Poland  Committee  on  affairs  in,  140  ; 
constitutional  convention  in,  141  ;  its  long 
broil  ended,  142  ;  political  suppression  of 
negroes  in,  540,  541  ;  location  of  "  black 
belt"  in,  756;  success  of  prohibition  in, 
765- 

Armstrong,  General,  The,  650. 

ARMY,  U.  S.,  reduced  to  legal  number,  18  ; 
equipment  in  war  with  Spain,  805 ;  in 
Cuba,  807,  812  ;  "round-robin,"  812  ;  casu 
alties,  813 ;  reform,  816 ;  in  Philippines, 
846  ;  casualties,  848  ;  in  China,  905. 

ARTHUR,  Chester  A.,  removed  from  New  York 
Collectorship,  243  ;  declines  post  of  Con 
sul-General  at  Paris,  245  ;  nominated  for 
Vice-President,  311;  elected,  317;  at  the 
interview  between  Garfield  and  Conkling, 
323;  signr.  Civil  Service  Reform  Bill,  341  ; 
his  delicate  situation  during  Garfield's  ill 
ness,  343  ;  takes  the  inaugural  oath  at  New 
York  and  Washington,  344  ;  his  excellent 
qualities  as  President,  347  ;  his  unpopular 
veto  of  the  bill  restricting  Chinese  immi 
gration,  356  ;  at  Yorktown  Centennial,  386, 
387  ;  calls  attention  to  work  of  Interna 
tional  African  Association,  404 ;  thanks 
Greely  orally,  440 ;  opens  New  Orleans 


Exposition,  448  ;  a  candidate  for  reelection 
in  1884,  452  ;  his  work  in  building  up  the 
navy,  488  ;  at  Grant's  funeral,  522  ;  death 
ofi  579- 

ASTRUP,  Eivind,  on  Peary  Expedition,  442. 

ATKINS,  Elisha,  454. 

ATKINSON,  Governor,  (Georgia),  749. 

ATLANTA,  City  of,  Exposition  of  1881  at,  447  ; 
Great  Exposition  of  1895  at,  748,  751  et 
seq.;  its  Exposition  opened,  753  ;  its  feat  in 
carrying  through  the  Exposition,  754. 

Atlanta,  The,  488;  compared  with  the  Con 
stitution,  489. 

Augusta  Victoria,  The,  490. 

AUSTRALIA,  at  World's  Fair,  647. 

AUSTRALIAN  BALLOT  SYSTEM.  See  BALLOT  RH- 
FORM. 

AZTECS,  The,  spread  of  "  Messiah  craze,"  to, 
593- 

BABCOCK,  Orville  E.,  despatched  by  Grant  on 
a  mission  to  Santo  Domingo,  51  ;  returns 
with  draft  of  a  treaty,  52  ;  charges  against, 
240 ;  acquitted  and  dismissed  by  Grant, 
241. 

BADEAU,  General  Adam,  747. 

BADGER,  General  A.  G.,  in  the  political  troubles 
in  New  Orleans,  156. 

BAEZ,  Buenaventura,  his  efforts  to  turn  over 
Santo  Domingo  to  the  United  States.  51  ; 
denounced  by  Sumner  as  a  political 
jockey,  53. 

BALLOT  REFORM,  general  progress  of,  from  1888 
to  1894,  539  et  seq. 

BALMACEDA,  President,  574. 

BALTIMORE,  City  of,  riots  in,  in  1877,  305. 

Baltimore,  The,  sailors  from,  attacked  in  Val 
paraiso,  575. 

BANCROFT,  George,  argues  successfully  our 
claims  regarding  the  Northwestern  boun 
dary,  95  ;  his  brochure  on  the  legal  tender 
question,  273. 

BANKS,  Gen.  N.  P.,  his  hostility  to  Grant's  ad 
ministration,  59. 

BAR  ASSOCIATION,  The  New  York,  formation  of, 
during  the  Tweed  Ring  excitement,  14. 

BARLOW,  Francis  C.,  467. 

"  BARRUNDIA  AFFAIR,"  The,  575,  576. 

BARTHOLDI,  F.  A.,  his  Statue  of  Liberty,  523  ; 
unveils  the  statue,  527. 

BATE,  Senator,  750. 

BATEMAN,  Warner  M.,  308. 

BAXTER,  Elisha,  heads  the  Radical  Republicans 
in  Arkansas,  136  ;  proclaims  martial  law, 
139  ;  in  trouble  with  leaders  of  his  party, 
140 ;  refuses  nomination  for  Governor, 
142. 

BAYARD,  Thomas  F.,  his  opposition  to  the  Fif 
teenth  Amendment,  22  ;  on  Electoral 
Commission,  218,  348  ;  on  Fisheries  Com- 


934 


INDEX 


mission  of  1887,  513  ;  at  Grant's  funeral, 
520. 

Bear,  The,  426,  435,  439. 

BEARDSLEY,  J.  M.,  227. 

BEAUFORT,  Town  of,  apparent  permanent  de 
cay  of,  113. 

BECK,  Mr.,  78. 

BECK,  Assistant  Attorney-General  on  trusts, 
9'5- 

BEECHER,  Henry  Ward,  monument  raised  to, 
579- 

BELDEN,  Mr.,  connected  with  Fisk  in  Black 
Friday  transactions,  44. 

BELKNAP*  William  W.,  succeeds  Rawlinsas  Sec 
retary  of  War,  29 ;  impeachment  of,  201 
etseg.;  acquitted,  205. 

BELL  TELEPHONE,  The,  671. 

BELMONT,  Mr.,  his  quarrel  with  Blaine  over 
the  Peruvian  matter,  461. 

BENDER,  Private,  death  of,  on  Greely  Expedi 
tion,  433. 

BENNETT,  James  Gordon,  sends  Stanley  to  find 
Livingstone,  392 ;  equips  Jeannette  Ex 
pedition,  417. 

BERGMANN,  Alexander,  627. 

BERLIN  CONFERENCE,  The  United  States  repre 
sented  at,  391  ;  its  assembling  and  work, 
396  et  seq. 

BERNARD,  Mountague,  one  of  the  High  Com 
missioners  at  Washington  in  1871,  46. 

BERNER,  William,  Cincinnati  riot  on  acquittal 
of,  389. 

BICYCLES,  spread  of,  678  et  seq. 

BIERDERUECK,  on  Greely  Expedition,  441. 

BIGLER,  William,  227. 

BILLIEU,  Mr.,  162. 

"  BILLION  DOLLAR  CONGRESS,"  The,  564. 

BIMETALLISM,  783. 

BIRD,  Mr.,  espouses  Greeley's  cause,  70. 

BISMARCK,  Prince,  393  ;  opens  Berlin  Confer 
ence,  396  ;  dethrones  Malietoa,  606  ;  backs 
down  in  the  Samoa  matter,  609. 

BLACK,  Judge  J.  S.,  on  the  financial  condition 
of  Louisiana,  155,  455,  474. 

BLACK,  Mr.,  on  Chicago  Anarchists,  534. 

BLACK  BELTS,  The,  location  of,  755  et  seq. 

BLACKBURN,  Senator  J.  C.  S.,  750. 

"  BLACK  FRIDAY,"  44,  45  ;  a  second,  254. 

BLACK  HILLS,  The,  rumors  of  gold  in,  101  \ 
trespasses  by  gold-hunters  in,  174. 

BLACK  JIM,  hung  with  other  Modoc  chiefs,  181. 

BLAINE,  Ephraim  L.,  amusing  story  about,  477. 

BLAINE,  James  G.,  dubbed  "Plumed  Knight" 
by  Ingersoll,  208  ;  fails  to  get  the  nomina 
tion,  211  ;  criticises  Electoral  Commission, 
217  ;  Conkling's  opposition  to,  307 ;  de 
feated,  311  ;  appointed  Secretary  of  State, 
319;  delivers  oration  on  Garfield,  333; 
compared  with  Garfield,  334  ;  advises  Cab 
inet  to  call  Arthur  to  perform  presidential 


functions,  346;  leaves  Arthur's  Cahinrt. 
35°>  355;  his  connection  with  the  Nica 
ragua  Canal,  400,  401  ;  president  of  Pan- 
American  Conference,  416 ;  enthusiasm 
for,  452  ;  his  early  life,  453  ;  accusations 
against,  454  ;  Mulligan  letters  charges 
against,  454  et  seq.;  his  triumph  over  his 
accusers,  460  ;  his  career  as  Secretary  of 
State,  460  et  seq.;  his  foreign  policy,  462  ; 
wild  scene  at  his  nomination,  464  ;  oppo 
sition  to,  465  et  seq.;  his  view  of  politics, 

472  ;  personal  enthusiasm  for,  473  ; and 

the  Catholic  vote,  477  ;  defeated  by  Cleve 
land,  480,  548  ;  prominent  in  1880  cam 
paign,  549  ;  makes  charges  of  corruption 
in  1884,  556  ;  Harrison's  Secretary  of  State, 
562  ;  his  hostility  to  the  McKinley  and 
Fore*  '11s,  566  ;  his  able  treatment  of  the 
New  Orleans  Mafia  matters,  573  ;  in  the 
Chilian  complication  of  1891,  574  ;  his  mis 
taken  course  in  the  Barrundia  affair,  576, 
582,  714. 

BLAIR,  Austin,  espouses  Greeley's  cause,  70. 

BLAIR  EDUCATIONAL  BILL,  The,  503. 

Blake,  The,  622. 

BLANCO,  Ramon,  Captain-General  of  Cuba.  801. 

BLAND,  Richard  P.,  introduces  bill  to  remone- 
tize  silver,  278  ;  candidate  for  president, 
780. 

BLAND-ALLISON  ACT,  The,  279. 

BLISS,  Cornelius  N.,  Secretary  of  the  Interior, 
787. 

"  BLOCKS  OF  FIVE,"  557. 

"  BLOODY  SHIRT,"  waving  the,  313. 

BLOUNT,  James  H.,  special  commissioner  to 
Hawaii,  705. 

BOGUS  CHARLEY,  in  Modoc  War,  177  ct  seq. 

BOGY,  Louis  V.,  228. 

BOLIVAR,  Simon,  his  idea  for  a  Pan-American 
Congress,  419. 

"  BOODLE  ALDERMEN,"  The,  495. 

"  BOOMERS,"  in  Oklahoma,  587  ;  in  Dakota,  590. 

BOOTH,  Newton,  declines  Greenbacker  nomina 
tion  for  Vice-President,  291. 

BOOTH,  William,  686. 

BORIE,  A.  E.,  resigns  from  Grant's  Cabinet.  20. 

BOSTON,  City  of,  peace  jubilees  held  in,  4  ;  be 
ginning  of  its  great  fire,  9  ;  many  of  its 
buildings  blown  up  by  dynamite,  10  ;  dam 
age  done  to,  10  ;  exposition  in,  in  1883,  618. 

Boston,  The,  488  ;  at  Hawaii,  702  ;  704. 

BOSTON  CHARLEY,  in  Modoc  War,  180  ;  hanged, 
181. 

BOTELER,   A.   R.,  352. 

BOUTVVELL,  George  S.,  appointed  to  Treasury 
portfolio,  30  ;  Gould  urges  him  to  increase 
the  currency,  41  ;  his  opposition  to  Grant's 
Santo  Domingo  scheme,  52. 

BOYER,  B.  F.,  his  testimony  of  his  connection 
with  the  Credit  Mobilier,  107. 


935 


INDEX 


BOYLAN,  Mr.,  158. 

BRADLEY,  Justice,  his  appointment  to  Supreme 
Court,  67,  270  ;  dissents  from  decision  in 
"  Slaughter  House  Cases,"  112  ;  has  decid 
ing  vote  on  Electoral  Commission,  218  ; 
unduly  censured  for  his  vote,  221  ;  effect 
of  his  appointment  on  the  legal  tender  de 
cision,  67,  270. 

BRADY,  Judge  John  R.,  administers  inaugural 
oath  to  Arthur  in  New  York,  346. 

BRADY,  Thomas  W.,  his  connection  with  the 
Star  Route  frauds,  340. 

BRAGG,  General  Braxton,  his  memorable 
speech  about  Cleveland,  470. 

BRAPNARD,  David  L.,  rescued  on  Greely  Expe 
dition,  433  et  sey.;  promoted  for  his  ser 
vices,  441. 

BRAZZA,  Countess  di,  636. 

BRECKENRIDGE,  John  C.,  his  humorous  experi 
ence  in  North  Carolina  before  the  war,  1 15. 

BRECKENRIDGE,  W.  C.  P.,  554. 

BREWSTEK,  Benjamin  H.,  appointed  Attorney- 
General,  351. 

BRIDGES,  suspension  and  cantilever,  667. 

BRISTOW,  B.  H.,  disapproves  of  Grant's  action 
in  Louisiana  matter,  166 ;  movement  to 
nominate,  210,  211  ;  appointed  to  Treasury 
portfolio,  237  ;  attacks  the  Whiskey  Ring, 
237  ;  his  victory,  240  ;  forced  to  resign,  241  ; 
his  ideas  on  resumption,  264. 

BRODHEAD,  James  O.,  228. 

BROOKLYN,  City  of,  its  population  in  1870,  5  ;  its 
rank  in  size  in  1890,  664  ;  bridge  between  it 
and  New  York,  667. 

BKOOKE,  General  John  R.,  Military  Governor 
Porto  Rico  and  Cuba,  823. 

BROOKS,  James,  procures  a  judgment  of 
"  ouster  "  against  Baxter  in  Arkansas,  136  ; 
loses  twenty-five  men  in  a  skirmish,  139  ; 
Supreme  Court  decided  in  his  favor,  141  ; 
Grant  considers  him  legal  Governor  of 
Arkansas,  142. 

BROTHER-TONS,  The,  741. 

BROWN,  B.  Gratz,  elected  Governor  of  Missouri 
by  the  Liberals,  31  ;  nominated  for  Vice- 
President,  68  ;  ignored  by  the  public,  74  ; 
endeavors  to  stamp  out  the  spoils  system, 
231. 

BROWN,  James,  organizes  opposition  to  Fisk 
and  Gould  on  Black  Friday,  44. 

BROWN,  Henry  Armitt,  205. 

BROWNE,  Carl,  his  connection  with  the  "  Com- 
monwealers,"  722. 

BROWNING,  D.  M.,  739  (note). 

"  BROWNITES,"  The.  See  LIBERAL-REPUBLICANS, 
The. 

BRYAN,  William  J.,  silver  speech  Democrat  Con 
vention,  779;  nominated  for  President,  780; 
biography  780;  campaign  1896,  784;  1900, 
865  ;  second  defeat,  874. 


BRYANT,  William  Cullen,  condemns  Federal 
interferences  in  Louisiana  matters,  166; 
prominent  in  anti-Grant  movement  in  1876, 
205. 

BRYCE,  James,  his  chapter  on  "Rings  and 
Bosses,"  327. 

BUCKNER,  General  S.  E.,  at  Grant's  funeral,  521, 
522  ;  nominated  for  Vice-President  by  Gold 
Democrats,  782. 

BUFFALOES,  reckless  slaughter  of,  175. 

BUI.LOCK,  Alexander  H.,  prominent  in  the  anti- 
Grant  movement  in  1876,  205. 

BTLLOCK,  G.  E.,  216. 

BULLOCK,  Rufus  B.,  financial  operations  in 
Georgia  during  Governorship  of,  127,  752. 

BURCHARD,  Rev.  Stephen  D.,  his  "  Rum,  Ro 
manism  and  Rebellion  "  speech,  477  ;  its  ef 
fect,  478. 

BuRDETT-Coi'TTs,  Barone*,  contributes  to 
Johnstown  Relief  Fund,  597. 

BURLINGAME,  Anson,  negotiates  treaty  with 
China,  356,  359. 

BURT,  Silas  W.,  appointed  naval  officer  in  New 
York  City,  245,  246. 

BURTON,  A.  A.,  on  Santo  Domingo  Commission, 
56. 

BUTLER,  B.  F.,  his  influence  with  Grant,  236  ; 
nominated  for  President  by  Greenbackers, 
291  ;  advises  Arthur  to  assume  Presidential 
functions,  346  ;  on  the  "  Rebel  Flag  "  order. 
503- 

BUTLER,  Sergeant,  in  the  Custer  tight,  189. 

BUTTERWORTH,  Benjamin,  555. 


CALDWELL,  Josiah,  454,  459,  460,  474. 

CALHOUN,  Captain,  in  the  Custer  fight,  188. 

CALIFORNIA,  State  of,  seconds  Arizona's  appeal 
for  protection  against  Indians,  171  ;  the 
Chinese  problem  in  356,  359 ;  Denis 
Kearney  and  the  workingmen  in,  361  et 
seq.;  constitutional  convention  called  by 
Kearneyites  in,  374  ;  the  remarkable  con 
stitution  passed  by  that  party  in,  378  ;  at 
'  World's  Fair,  641  ;  effects  of  railway 
monopoly  in,  736;  its  cry  against  the 
"Octopus,"  737;  the  Reilly  Bill  in,  737; 
merchants  of,  endeavor  to  free  themselves 
from  the  railroad,  738  ;  apparent  necessity 
for  governmental  control  of  its  railroads, 
739 ;  Midwinter  Fair  in,  754  ;  represented 
at  Atlanta  Exposition,  754. 

Calliope,  The,  in  the  Samoan  hurricane,  606 
et  seq. 

CAMERON,  J.  Donald,  favors  Grant's  ncynina- 
tion  in  1880,  307. 

CAMPAIGN  OK  1896,  773  ;  vote,  787  ;  of  1900,  865  ; 
result,  878. 

CAMPBELL,  General,  in  Louisiana  troubles, 
162. 

CAMPBELL,  J.  E.,  554. 

936 


INDEX 


CAMPOBELI.O,  Island  of,  Fenians  attempt  to 
capture,  4. 

CANADA,  threats  of  war  with,  during  fisheries 
disputes,  510,  513. 

CANBV,  General  E.  R.  S.,  sent  against  Modocs. 
175  ;  murdered  by  Indians,  177  et  seq. 

CANOVAS,  Premier,  Sot. 

CAPTAIN  JACK,  heads  Modoc  wanderers,  175  ; 
retreats  to  Lava  Beds,  175 ;  induced  to 
turn  hostile,  177  ;  murders  Canby,  179 ; 
captured  and  hanged,  180,  181. 

CAREY,  Samuel  F.,  211  ;  nominated  for  Vice- 
President  by  Greenbackers,  291. 

CARLISLE,  John  G.,  at  Grant's  funeral,  520. 

CARNEGIE,  Andrew,  873,  919. 

CARNEGIE  STEEI.  COM  PAN  v,  The,  strike  at 
works  of,  625  et  seq. 

Carolina,  The,  515. 

CARPENTER,  Judge,  candidate  for  office  in  South 
Carolina,  123. 

CARPENTER,  Matthew  H.,  455. 

"CARPET-BAGGERS,"  The,  114;  honest  and  dis 
honest,  117  ;  their  well-meaning  incom- 
petency,  118;  their  bad  influence  on  the 
negro,  120 ;  general  downfall  of,  after 
1874,  129,  130  ;  their  raids  on  the  Treasury 
of  South  Carolina,  132. 

CAKRIGAN,  "  Powder  Keg,"  295. 

CARROLL,  John  Lee,  228. 

CARTER,  Speaker,  deposed  by  the  Warmoth 
faction  in  Louisiana,  80. 

CASEY,  Collector,  telegraphs  the  President  of 
the  capture  of  the  State  House  in  New 
Orleans,  83  ;  requests  troops  to  be  placed 
at  Governor  Pinchback's  disposal,  84. 

CATHOLICS,  proportion  of,  to  our  total  popula 
tion,  667 ;  opposition  to,  takes  form  of 
hostile  organizations,  714;  the  A.  P.  A. 
and  its  accusations  against,  715  et  seq.; 
their  dislike  of  our  common-school  system, 
324- 

CENSUS,  The  Eleventh,  663,  664  ;  Twelfth,  879. 

CENTENNIAL  OF  1876,  The,  196  et  seq.;  attend 
ance  at,  200. 

CENTRAL  PACIFIC  RAILROAD,  The  junction  of, 
with  Union  Pacific,  2  ;  advantages  of,  103. 

CENTRAL  TIME,  671. 

CEVERA,  Admiral  V.,  Spanish  squadron  in 
Cuban  waters,  807  ;  loses  ships,  810;  sur 
renders,  811. 

CHAFFEE,  General  AdnaR.,  Military  Governor 
of  Philippines,  859 ;  commander  land 
forces  in  China,  906. 

CHAMBERLAIN,  D.  H.,  elected  Governor  of 
South  Carolina,  135  ;  at  once  commences 
a  reform,  136  ;  defeated  on  account  of  his 
integrity,  224  ;  criticises  Hayes's  action  in 
removing  troops,  226. 

CHAMBERLAIN,  Joseph,  on  Fisheries  Commis 
sion  of  1887,  513. 

93: 


CHANDLER,  Win.  E.,  appointed  Secretary  of 
the  Navy,  351  ;  his  untiring  efforts  to 
rescue  Greely,  426  ;  at  reception  to  Greely 
survivors,  439  ;  urges  building  of  a  new 
navy,  488. 

CHANDLER,  Zachariah,  his  fierce  attack  upon 
Jeff.  Davis's  character,  582  et  seq. 

CHAPMAN,  J.  W.,  227. 

CHAPPAOCA,  75. 

CHARLESTON,  City  of,ruins  in, long  after  the  war, 
113  ;  destructive  earthquake  in,  491,  492  ; 
alarming  mortality  among  negroes  in,  770. 

Charleston,  The,  its  chase  of  the  Itata,  575. 

CHARLESTON  RIOT,  The,  615. 

CHASE,  Salmon  P.,  praises  Vallandigham's  ac 
tion,  36  ;  his  letter  to  the  Democratic- 
National  Committee,  37  ;  pronounces  legal 
tender  law  unconstitutional,  269  ;  dissents 
from  reversal  of  Hepburn  vs.  Griswold 
decisron,  272,  473. 

CHEN  LAN  PIN,  heads  Chinese  Embassy  in 
1878,  359. 

CHENEY,  George,  heroism  of,  in  Mill  River  dis 
aster,  183. 

CHEROKEES,  The,  condition  of,  in  1874,  169: 
treaty  with,  providing  for  severally  land 
holding,  740. 

CHEYENNES,  The,  cattle  raids  by.  181  ;  "Mes 
siah  craze  "  among,  591. 

CHICAGO,  City  of,  destroyed  by  fire,  5  et  seq.; 
the  people  of,  panic-stricken,  8  ;  estimate  of 
its  losses,  9  ;  riots  in,  in  1877,  305  ;  Anarchists 
in,  530  et  seq.;  World's  Fair  in,  618  et 
seq.;  growth  of,  618,  619  ;  second  in  popula 
tion,  664  ;  great  strike  of  1894  in,  722  etseq.; 
violence  in,  726  ;  many  criminals  left  in, 
after  World's  Fair,  727  ;  bloody  conflicts 
in,  728  ;  large  excursion  from,  to  Atlanta 
Exposition,  755. 

Chicago,  The,  488. 

CHIDISTER,  Deputy  Marshal,  shot  by  Common- 
wealers,  721. 

CHILE,  trouble  with,  in  1881,  461  ;  complica 
tions  with,  in  1891,  574  et  seq. 

CHINA,  Burlingame  treaty  with,  359  ;  first  resi 
dent  embassy  from,  to  United  States,  359  ; 
refuses  to  ratify  treaty  of  1888,  508  ;  Boxer 
rebellion,  905. 

CHINESE,  desire  for  restriction  of  immigration 
of,  313 ;  riot  against,  in  Denver,  328 
(note)  :  intense  feeling  against  in  West, 
358.  359  ;  Burlingame  treaty  modified  so  as 
to  restrict  immigration  of,  359  ;  number  of, 
in  this  country  by  1880,  360;  riots  against, 
by  strikers  in  California,  365  ;  ejection  of. 
a  tenet  of  the  workingmen  in  California, 
369 ;  laborers  excluded  without  distinc 
tion,  508 ;  still  more  drastic  measures 
against,  604  ;  in  Hawaiian  Islands.  797  ;  in 
the  Philippines,  839. 


INDEX 


CHIPP,  Lieutenant  C.  W.,  418  ;  loss  of  his  boat, 
421. 

CHOCTAWS,  The,  condition  of,  in  1874,  69. 

Chronicle,  The  San  Francisco,  its  connection 
with  Kearneyism,  370 ;  abandons  Kear 
ney,  378. 

CHURCH,  G.  E.,on  Nicaragua  Canal  traffic,  408. 

CHURCH,  James  B.,  681. 

CINCINNATI,  City  of,  floods  in,  388  ;  riot  in,  fol 
lowing  acquittal  of  Berner,  389,  390. 

CIPHER  DESPATCHES,  The,  215,  216. 

CIRCUMPOLAR  STATIONS,  establishment  of,  423. 

CIVIL  SERVICE,  The,  abuses  in,  59;  necessity 
for  reform  in,  230  ;  commission  appointed, 
231  ;  its  workings,  232  ;  reforms  in,  in  New 
York,  243  et  seg.;  improvements  in,  by- 
Hayes,  247  ;  Garfield's  death  calls  attention 
to  necessity  for  further  changes  in,  336  ; 
many  frauds  in,  336  et  seq.;  Reform 
League  and  its  Bill,  341,  342  ;  Congress 
nullifies  reform  by  refusing  appropria 
tions,  496  ;  on  a  party  basis  during  Cleve 
land's  first  administration,  497  ;  McKinley 
order,  789. 

CLARK,  Captain  Charles  E.,  U.  S.  battleship 
Oregon,  808. 

CLARKE,  Sidney,  227. 

CLAYTON,  Senator  Powell,  136,  140,  463,  464. 

CLAYTON-BULWER  TREATY,  The,  399 ;  modifi 
cation  of,  proposed,  400,  401. 

CLEVELAND,  Grover,  disapproves  of  Nicaragua 
Canal  scheme,  404  ;  beginning  of  his  fame, 
452  ;  early  life  of,  468  ;  the  "  Veto  Mayor," 
469  ;  nominated  for  President  in  1884,  471  ; 
contrasted  with  Blaine,  472,  473  ;  his  elec 
tion  in  doubt,  478,  479 ;  elected  President, 

480  ;  amusing  forebodings  at  his  election, 

481  ;  his  firm  and  efficient  administration, 

482  ;    marriage  of,  485  ;    Tammany's  sins 
laid  at  his  door,  494  ;  removes  Alabama 
District  Attorney,  495  ;  at  odds  with  Sen 
ate,  496  ;    censured  for  his  friendship  for 
Gorman,    497 ;    alienates    Democrats    by 
failing  to  turn  out  Republicans,  498  ;  vetoes 
pension  bills,  502  ;  his  unfortunate  "  Rebel 
Flag  "  order,  503  ;  recommends  tariff  re 
ductions,  506,  507  ;  his  dilemma  over  Chi 
nese  Exclusion  Act,  508  ;  releases  captured 
sealers,  515  ;  condoles  with  Mrs.  Grant  on 
her    husband's    death,    517  ;    at    Grant's 
funeral,  520,  522,  527  ;  the  inevitable  nom 
inee  in  1888,  547  ;  causes  of  his  defeat,  550  ; 
his  action  in  the  "  Murchison  letter  "  mat 
ter ,  553  ;  defeated  by  Harrison,  558,  620  ; 
elected  in  1892,  633  ;  opens  World's  Fair, 
633  ;  his  speech,  634  ;    convokes  a  special 
session  of  Congress  in  1893  to  secure  re 
peal  of  the  Silver  Purchase  Law,  692  ;  his 
admirable  civil  service  record  during  his 
second  term,  692  :  his  course  with  regard 


to  the  tariff,  694  et  seq.;  his  conflict  with 
Congress,  695,  696  ;  signs  the  Anti-Lottery 
Bill,  699  ;  criticism  of  his  foreign  policy, 
700  ;  his  policy  in  the  Hawaiian  affair,  704, 
705  ;  defeat  of  his  plans,  706  ;  his  startling 
Venezuela  message,  707 ;  its  effect,  707, 
708  ;  his  treatment  of  the  Pullman  strikers, 
729  ;  defends  his  action  in  sending  United 
States  troops  to  Chicago,  730  ;  his  message 
to  Atlanta  Exposition  officials,  752  ;  and 
Cuba,  801. 

CLEVELAND,  Marian,  753. 

CLIFFORD,  Justice  Nathan,  on  Electoral  Com 
mission,  218 ;  dissents  from  reversal  of 
Hepburn  -vs.  Griswold  decision,  272. 

CLOTURE,  in  1893,  562,  564. 

COAL  CREEK,  Town  of,  striking  miners  at,  629 
et  seq. 

COBURN,  John,  227. 

COCKBURN,  Sir  Alexander,  his  choleric  behavior 
at  the  settlement  of  the  Alabama  claims, 
92. 

COCKRELL,  Senator  F.  M.,  at  Grant's  funeral, 
520. 

COLE,  Senator  Cornelius,  accompanies  Babcock 
to  Santo  Domingo,  51. 

COLEMAN,  William  T.,  365. 

COLKAX,  Schuyler,  loses  nomination  for  Vice- 
President,  69. 

COLLIER,  Charles  C.,  751. 

COLLINS,  Jerome  J.,  on  Jeannette  Expedition, 
418. 

COLLYER,  Rev.  Dr.,  preaches  in  the  ruins  of 
his  former  church  at  Chicago,  8. 

COLOMBIA,  failure  of  canal  treaty  with,  400. 

COLONY,  Myron,  unearths  Whiskey  Ring 
frauds,  239. 

COLORADO,  State  of,  population  of,  in  1870,  2  ; 
organized  as  a  Territory  by  that  date,  97  ; 
mining  furor  in,  97  ;  admitted  as  a  State, 
351  ;  Populists  triumph  in,  633. 

Columbia,  The,  description  of,  489  ;  wonderful 
powers  of,  490. 

COLUMBUS,  Christopher,  Quadri-centennial  of 
landing  of,  620,  621. 

COLWELL,  Lieutenant,  rescues  Greely's  party, 
435,  436- 

COLYER,  Peace  Commissioner,  countermands 
Crook's  orders,  173  ;  futile  efforts  of,  for 
peace,  174. 

"  COME-OUTERS,"  The,  68. 

COMMERCE,  small  proportion  of  foreign,  car 
ried  in  American  vessels,  352  ;  U.  S.  de 
partment  created,  927. 

COMMITTEE  OF  CONCILIATION,  The,  324. 

COMMITTEE  OF  SEVENTY,  The,  appointed  to 
probe  Tweed  Ring  frauds,  15,  536  ;  in  1894, 


COMMONWEALERS,    The,    719 ;    lawlessness    of,. 
721  ;  dispersion  of,  722. 


938 


INDEX 


Conemaugh,  The,  614. 

CONGO  FREK  STATE,  The,  formation  of,  396  et 
seq.;  regulations  and  improvements  in, 

397,  398. 

CONKLING,  Roscoe,  his  influence  with  Grant, 
24  ;  his  vote  in  the  Belknap  matter,  592  ; 
mentioned  for  Presidential  nomination, 
600 ;  his  warm  championship  of  Grant, 
632  ;  his  fight  against  Hayes's  New  York 
removals,  635  ;  defeated,  635  ;  his  venom 
ous  attack  on  Curtis,  637  ;  favors  Grant 
in  order  to  defeat  Elaine  in  1880,  697  ;  his 
effort  to  bind  the  convention,  700 ;  de 
feated  by  Robertson's  bolt,  700  ;  his  wrath 
against  Robertson,  701 ;  takes  the  stump 
for  Garfield,  706  ;  his  anger  at  Garfield's 
appointments,  711,  712  ;  compares  ideas 
with  Curtis  on  the  subject  of  poetry,  712  ; 
his  remarkable  interview  with  Garfield  at 
the  Riggs  House,  715  ;  frenzied  by  Gar- 
field's  choice  of  Robertson  for  New  York 
Collectorship,  716  ;  refuses  to  yield  a  hair, 
719;  resigns  from  the  Senate,  719;  his 
permanent  disappearance  from  politics, 
719. 

CONNECTICUT,  State  of,  rejects  negro  suffrage 
amendment  in  1865,  119. 

CONNELL,  barely  rescued  on  Greely  expedition, 
434,  436,  441- 

Constitution,  The,  487  et  seq. 

CONTRACT  LABOR  LAW,  The.  See  IMMIGRA 
TION. 

CONTRACTION  OF  CURRENCY,  250  ;  opposition  to, 
in  West,  253  ;  labor  opposition  to,  290. 

CONVICT  LABOR  TROUBLES,  The,  in  Tennessee, 
629  et  seq. 

COOK,  F.  A.,  on  the  Peary  Expedition,  442. 

COOPER,  Peter,  nominated  for  President  by 
Greenbackers,  275  ;  accepts  nomination, 
291,  708. 

CORDILLERAN  PLATEAU,  The,  extent  of,  96  ;  ad- 
vent  of  the  Northern  Pacific  Railroad  in, 
103. 

COREA,  forts  of,  bombarded  by  United  States 
ships  in  1870,  18. 

CORNELL,  A.  B.,  243. 

CORNELL,  Ezra,  his  donation  for  Cornell  Uni 
versity,  284. 

CORRIGAN,  Archbishop  Michael  A.,  561. 

Corwin,  The  revenue  cutter,  419. 

CORWIN,  Thomas,  advocates  adoption  of  Eng 
land's  monetary  standard,  277. 

COTTON,  plantations  largely  abandoned  after 
war,  113  ;  Centennial  of  first  shipment  of, 
at  New  Orleans,  448  ;  fall  in  price  of,  760  ; 
manufactured  at  the  South,  761 ;  goods  from 
South  compete  at  Lowell  with  home  prod 
ucts,  761 ;  value  of  seed  of,  761. 

COTTON  STATES  AND  INTERNATIONAL  EXPOSI 
TION,  The.  See  ATLANTA,  CITY  OF. 


COUUERT,  Frederic  R.,  228. 

COUNCIL  OF  POLITICAL  REFORM,  The,  appointed 
during  Tweed  Ring  excitement,  14. 

Cox,  J.  D.,  Grant's  Secretary  of  the  Interior, 
29  ;  attends  anti-Grant  meeting  in  Cincin 
nati,  31 ;  his  account  of  Grant  in  the  Santo 
Domingo  matter,  52. 

Cox,  Judge,  in  the  Guiteau  trial,  335. 

COXEY,  "General,"  720  et  seq. 

CREDIT  MOBILIER,  The,  effect  of  scandals  in 
campaign  of  1872,  75  ;  scandals  relating 
to,  published  by  the  New  York  Sun,  95 ; 
contracts  with  the  Union  Pacific  to  go 
forward  with  its  construction,  104  ;  Ames's 
handling  of  its  stock,  105  ;  great  scandal 
over,  106  et  seq.  ;  popular  clamor  against, 
largely  unfounded,  108. 

CREEKS,  The,  condition  of,  in  1874,  169. 

CRESSWELL,  J.  A.  J.,  in  Grant's  Cabinet,  29. 

CRISP,  Speaker,  750. 

CRITTENDEN,  Governor,  exterminates  the  James 
gang,  381,  382. 

CRONIN,  E  A.,  case  of,  in  Tilden-Hayes  election, 
220. 

CROOK,  General  George,  enlists  Indians  against 
Indians,  172  ;  in  the  Sioux  War  of  1876,  186. 

CROSBY,  Dr.  Howard,  708. 

CROSBY,  Sheriff,  in  the  Mississippi  race  troubles, 
144. 

CROSS,  death  of,  on  Greely  Expedition,  432. 

CUBA,  Island  of,  rebellion  in,  in  1868,  47  ;  United 
States  refuses  to  acknowledge  belligerents 
in,  47  ;  crew  of  the  Virginius  put  to  death 
in,  48;  the  Allianca  affair  at,  700;  and 
Spanish  rule,  789,  801  ;  revolution  801 ;  re- 
concentradosand  U.  S.,8oi ;  U.  S.  battle-ship 
destroyed, 803 ;  war  between  Spainand  U.S. 
807,  8n  ;  U.  S.  military  government  estab 
lished,  827  ;  reform,  827  ;  constitutional 
convention,  828  ;  Platt  amendment  in  U.  S. 
Senate,  829  ;  republic,  830;  tariff  831. 

CUMBACK,  Will,  227. 

CURLEY,  the  only  survivor  of  the  Custer  mas 
sacre,  187. 

CURLY-HEADED  DOCTOR,  heads  Modoc  insurrec 
tion,  175. 

CURTIN,  A.  G.,  227,  529. 

CURTIS,  George  William,  his  views  on  the  nom 
inations  of  Grant  and  Greeley,  71,  211  ; 
President  of  Civil  Service  Commission, 
231  ;  Conkling's  fierce  attack  on.  247  ;  Win 
ter's  story  of  him  and  Conkling,  320;  his 
eulogy  on  Garfield,  334,  462 ;  protests 
against  binding  delegates,  463 ;  opposes 
Blaine,  465;  supports  Cleveland,  471. 

CURTIS,  James  L.,  nominated  by  American 
party,  560. 

GUSHING,  Caleb,  assists  in  apprehending  Tweed, 
16. 

CUSTER,  George  A.,  pursues  Sitting  Bull,  186 ; 


939 


INDEX 


/     his  whole  command  massacred.  187  ct  seq.; 
I       criticism  and  defence  of,  190  et  scq. 
CTSTER,  Captain  Tom,  arrests  Rain-in-the-Face, 

185  (note);  in  the  Custer  light,  189. 
CZOLGOSZ,  Leon,  908. 

DAKOTA,  Territory  of,  railroads  in,  in  1870,  2; 
organized  as  a  Territory  by  1870,  97. 

DANENHOWEK,  John  W.,  on  Jeannette  Expedi 
tion,  418. 

DAVENPORT,  George  W.,  144. 

DAVIS,  David,  elected  Senator  and  thereby 
misses  place  on  Electoral  Commission,  218; 
doubt  as  to  his  probable  course,  220 ;  de 
clines  labor  nomination,  286,  348  ;  holds 
the  balance  of  power  in  the  Senate,  355  ; 
projects  a  series  of  international  railroads 
to  Central  and  South  America,  411. 

DAVIS,  General  George  W.,  Military  Governor 
Porto  Rico  and  Cuba,  823. 

DAVIS,  Jefferson,  his  kind  words  at  time  of 
Grant's  death,  518  ;  angry  outbreak  over, 
581  et  seq.;  warmly  defended  by  Lamar, 
585  ;  feeling  of  the  South  toward,  765. 

DAVIS,  General  Jefferson  C.,  captures  Modocs, 
1 80. 

DAVIS,  Judge  Noah,  his  characterization  of 
Tweed,  n. 

DA  WES,  H.  L.,  on  Elaine's  acceptance  of  a 
cabinet  position,  319  ;  his  account  of  Conk- 
ling's  speech  before  the  Committee  of  Con 
ciliation,  324. 

DA  WES  ACT,  The,  741,  744. 

DAY,  William  R.,  Secretary  of  State,  787. 

DEBS,  Eugene  V.,  334  ;  sentenced  to  six  months 
imprisonment,  341. 

DELAWARE,  State  of,  few  constitutional  changes 
in,  536. 

DELO.ME,  Dupuy,  letter  when  Spanish  Minister 
to  U.  S.,  802. 

DELONG,  George  W.,  on.  Jeannette  Expedition, 
418  et  seq.;  reaches  the  mouth  of  the  Lena, 
returning,  420  ;  his  body  found  by  Melville, 
422. 

DEMOCRATIC  PARTY,  The,  bitterness  of,  in  1870, 
32;  terms  itself  the  "  Reform  Party,"  35; 
utter  weakness  of,  after  its  triumph  in 
1892/692  ;  violates  its  promises  in  1894,  696  ; 
Convention  1896,  778;  platform,  779;  in 
1900,  866,  875. 

DENBY,  Charles,  844. 

DENNISON,  William,  308. 

DENVER,  City  of,  railroads  to,  in  1870,  2  ;  its, 
great  increase  in  size  between  1880  and 
1890,  664. 

DEPENDENT  PENSIONS  BILL,  The,  502,  562,  564  ; 
in  campaign  of  1892,  632. 

DEPEW,  Chauncey  M.,  537  ;  a  Presidential  can 
didate,  548  ;  at  Inaugural  Centennial,  561, 
670. 


E,  Captain,  524. 

DESAUSSIER,  Dr.  Gourdin,  his  statistics  on 
negro  mortality,  770. 

Despatch,  The,  521,  523,  560. 

DEWEY,  George,  Commodore  of  Philippine 
fleet,  806  ;  Philippine  Commission,  844. 

DIEDERICH,  Admiral  von.  and  German  fleet  in 
Manila  harbor,  813. 

Dimitri  Donskoi,  The,  621. 

DiNCii.EY,  Nelson,  Tariff  bill,  7Q7. 

DISTRICT  OF  COLUMBIA,  The,  territorial  govern 
ment  granted  to,  and  afterwards  abol 
ished,  61  ;  State  militia  in,  731. 

DITTY,  C.  Irving,  227. 

DOLE,  Sanford  B.,  703,  705. 

"  DOLLAR  OF  OUR  FATHERS,"  The,  275. 

Dolphin,  The,  488. 

DOOLITTLE,  J.   R.,   228. 

DORSEY,  Senator  S.  W.,  136,  140,  142,  ^17;  ar 
raigned  in  connection  with  the  Star  Route 
frauds  and  acquitted,  341. 

DOUGLAS,  Fred.,  his  conversation  with  Grant 
in  relation  to  Sumner,  55. 

DOYLE,  Lieutenant,  in  Modoc  War,  180. 

DREW,  Governor,  218. 

DRUM,  Adjutant-General,  503. 

DUDLEY,  William  W>.,  his  "Blocks  of  Five" 
order,  557. 

DULUTH,  City  of,  eastern  extremity  of  Northern 
Pacific  R.  R.,  2. 

DUNBAR,  William,  on  Jeannettr  Expedition, 
418. 

DUNN,  Lieutenant-Governor,  death  of,  So. 

DURANT,  T.  C.,  ejected  from  the  Mobilier  man 
agement,  104  ;  seeks  to  ruin  that  concern, 
106. 

DURELL,  Judge  E.  H.,  issues  irregular  order  to 
take  possession  of  the  State  House  in  New 
Orleans,  83,  329. 

DUSKIN,  G.  M.,  495. 

DYAR,  Peace  Commissioner,  177,  178;  escapes 
from  Modocs,  180. 

DYER,  District-Attorney,  retirement  of,  241. 

EAGAN,  Charles  Patrick,  Commissary-General, 
816. 

EAGAN,  Patrick  S.,  his  unfortunate  course  in 
Chile,  574- 

EARLY,  Jubal  A.,  at  unveiling  of  Lee's  Monu 
ment,  580. 

EARTHQUAKE  of  1886.     See  CHARLESTON,  CITY 

OF. 

EAST  RIVER  BRIDGE,  The,  667. 

EASTERN  TIME,  671. 

EATON,  Dorman  B.,  appointed  to  Civil  Service 

Commission,  342. 

Eber,  The,  in  Samoan  hurricane,  606  et  seq. 
Economist,  The  London,  its  sceptical  opinion 

as  to  the  payment  of  the  American  debt, 

267. 


940 


INDEX 


EDISON,  Thomas  A.,  669,  670,  672,  673  ;  his  won 
derful  career,  674  et  seq. 

EDMUNDS,  George  F.,  on  Electoral  Commis 
sion,  218  ;  a  candidate  for  Presidential 
nomination  in  1880,  308  ;  again  in  1884,  452, 
462  ;  refuses  active  support  to  Elaine,  472  ; 
introduces  anti-polygamy  bill,  602. 

ELECTORAL  COLLEGE,  The,  rules  for  govern 
ment  of,  349,  350. 

ELECTORAL  COMMISSION,  The,  appointed,  217; 
personnel  of,  218  ;  efficiency  of,  in  1884, 
480. 

ELECTORAL  COUNT  BILL,  The,  221. 

ELECTRICITY,  wonderful  applications  of,  669 
et  seq.;  exposition  of,  in  New  York,  670, 
671  ;  lighting  by,  673  ;  transmitting  power 
by,  673  ;  applied  to  street  railways,  673  ; 
Edison's  achievements  in,  674  et  seq.; 
Tesla's  feats  in,  675  et  seq-;  power  sent 
from  Niagara  Falls  by,  678. 

ELISON,  on  Greely  Expedition,  431  ;  dies  after 
being  rescued,  439. 

ELKINS,  Stephen  B.,  463. 

ELLIS,  death  of,  on  Greely  Expedition,  433. 

EMORY,  Gen.  W.  H.,  receives  orders  to  pre 
serve  the  peace  in  Louisiana,  85 ;  in 
structed  to  recognize  the  Kellogg  govern 
ment,  157. 

ENDICOTT,  W.  C.,  503. 

ENGEL,  George,  hanged,  533. 

ENGLAND,  advantage  of  ship-builders  of,  over 
Americans  in  1870,  17  ;  fisheries  dispute 
and  Treaty  of  Washington  with,  46;  Sum- 
ner's  opinion  of  U.  S.  claims  against,  53  ; 
our  Alabama  claims  against,  allowed  in 
part  by  Geneva  Tribunal,  92  ;  the  German 
Emperor  decides  Northwestern  boundary 
dispute  with,  in  our  favor,  95  ;  strained  re 
lations  with,  over  fisheries  disputes,  508  ; 
sealing  dispute  with,  settled  by  Board  of 
Commissioners,  516 ;  resents  Cleveland's 
action  in  Sackville-West  matter,  553  ; 
troubles  with,  over  her  acts  in  Nicaragua, 
700;  talk  of  war  with,  in  Venezuela  dis 
pute,  707. 

ESTILLETTE,  Mr.,  elected  Speaker  in  Louisiana 
Legislature,  167. 

Etruria,  The,  puts  her  speed  to  good  use,  577. 

EVANS,  John  S.,  202. 

EVARTS,  William  M.,  condemns  Federal  action 
in  Louisiana  matter,  166  ;  delivers  oration 
at  Centennial,  198  ;  appointed  Secretary 
of  State,  224  ;  receives  Bartholdi  Statue. 
523- 

I-'alcon,  The,  445. 

Fannie  A.  Hyde,  The,  418. 

FARMERS'  ALLIANCE,  The,  600,  632. 

FARWELL,  C.  B.,  227. 

FAVA,  Baron,  573  ;  withdraws,  574. 


FEDERAL  ELECTIONS  BILL,  The,  562  et  seq. 

FENIANS,  The,  disturbances  by,  in  the  North 
speedily  quieted,  4. 

FENWICK,  Mrs.  Bedford,  636. 

FERRIS,  G.  W.  G.,  656. 

FERRY,  T.  W.,  216. 

FIELD,  Justice  Stephen  J.,  his  opinion  on  the 
constitutionality  of  greenbacks,  64  ;  dis 
sents  from  decision  in  "Slaughter  House 
Cases,"  112;  on  Electoral  Commission, 
218;  dissents  from  reversal  of  Hepburn  r-v. 
Griswold  decision,  272  ;  dissents  again  in 
Juillard  vs.  Greenman,  272. 

FIELDEN,    Samuel,    his   speech    in    Haymarkct 


Square,   Chicago,    530; 
imprisonment,  533. 


sentenced  to  life- 


FIFTEENTH  AMENDMENT,  The,  ratification  of,  a 
prerequisite  to  reconstruction,  21  ;  John 
Sherman's  belief  in  the  unwisdom  of,  37  ; 
limitations  of,  defined,  112. 

FILIPINOS,  insurgents,  813  ;  characteristics,  837. 
852,  856,  866. 

FILLEBROWN,  Commodore,  440. 

FISCHER,  Adolf,  hanged,  533. 

FISH,  improvements  in  methods  of  catching, 
680  ;  government  culture  of,  680. 

FISH,  Hamilton,  succeeds  Washburne  as  Secre 
tary  of  State,  29  ;  his  success  in  this  posi 
tion,  46  ;  restrains  Grant  from  acknowl 
edging  Cuban  belligerents,  47  ;  action  of,  in 
the  Virginius.  matter,  48  ;  protests  against 
Babcock's  trip  to  Santo  Domingo,  51,  52  ; 
resigns  but  retakes  his  place,  54  ;  the  suc 
cess  of  the  Alabama  claims  due  to  his  di 
plomacy,  87  ;  disapproves  of  Grant's  action 
in  Louisiana  matter,  146. 

FISHBACK,  George,  239. 

FISH  COMMISSION,  The,  U.  S.,  680. 

FISHER,  Warren,  454,  455,  474. 

FISHERIES  QUESTION,  The,  England  proposes  a 
Commission  to  settle,  46  ;  interminable 
dispute  with  England  over.  508  et  seq.  ; 
Commission  of  1887-88,  513  ;  its  treaty  not 
ratified,  513  ;  Americans  required  to  be 
licensed,  514  ;  a  more  peaceful  prospect  in 
1888,  515. 

FISK-,  James,  'character  of,  40  ;  persuades  the 
President  not  to  sell  gold,  43  ;  in  the  Black 
Friday  transactions,  44  ;  repudiates  his 
contracts,  45. 

Fisk'E  &  HATCH,  failure  of,  254. 

FLANAGAN,  Mr.,  his  memorable  speech  in  the 
Republican  convention  of  1880,  310. 

FLINT,  Charles  R.,  in  Pan-American  Confer 
ence,  415. 

FLOOD,  James,  738. 

FLOOD  ROCK,  blown  up  by  dynamite,  494. 

Flore,  The,  523. 

FLORIDA,  State  of,  admitted  to  representation 
in  Congress,  20  ;  increase  of  Legislature's 


941 


INDEX 


expenses  in,  between  1860  and  1869,  124; 
disputed  returns  from,  in  Tilden-Hayes 
election,  218;  negroes  practically  disfran 
chised  in,  540  ;  at  World's  Fair,  641  ;  loca 
tion  of  "  black  belt  "  in  756  ;  wonderful  re 
sources  of,  760  ;  phosphate  beds  in,  764. 

Florida,  The,  claims  for  depredations  by,  88. 

FOI.GEK,  Charles  J.,  offered  Treasury  portfolio, 
322  ;  appointed  Secretary  of  the  Treasury, 
351  ;  death  of,  351,  452. 

FOI.SOM,  Frances,  marries  President  Cleveland 
in  the  White  House,  485. 

FOI.SOM,  Oscar,  485. 

FORAKER,  J.  B.,  publishes  untrue  charges 
against  Campbell,  554,  555. 

"FORCE  BILL,"  The,  in  1870  and  1871,  39;  in 
1890,  563 ;  tells  against  Republicans  in 
1890,  577;  in  campaign  of  1892,  632. 

FOREIGNERS,  proportion  of,  to  total  population 
in  1870,  i. 

FORT  ERIE,  captured  by  Fenians,  4. 

FORTUNE  BAY  AFFAIR,  The,  509. 

Forward,  The,  pirate,  destroyed,  18. 

FOSTER,  Charles,  308  ;  blamed  by  Sherman  for 
his  defeat,  311. 

FOSTER,  Murphy  J.,  elected  on  anti-lottery 
ticket  in  Louisiana,  600. 

FOURTEENTH  AMENDMENT,  The,  ratification  of, 
a  prerequisite  to  reconstruction,  19  ;  John 
Sherman  on  efficacy  of,  37  ;  limitations  of, 
defined,  112. 

FOWI.KR,  Bishop,  621. 

FREDERICK,  Private,  on  Greely  Expedition,  431  ; 
wonderful  heroism  of,  432,  441. 

FRELINGHUVSKN,  F.  T.,  on  Electoral  Commis 
sion,  218  ;  appointed  Secretary  of  State, 
351  ;  his  connection  with  the  Nicaragua 
Canal  propositions,  401,  402  ;  recommends 
sending  a  commission  to  Central  and  South 
America,  411,  461. 

FKICK,  H.  C.,  625  ;  attempt  to  assassinate,  626. 

FRY,  Captain,  in  command  of  Virginias  when 
captured,  47. 

FRY.  General,  his  opinion  in  the  Custer  con 
troversy,  191. 

FRYE,  William  P.,  on  Wheeler  Adjustment 
Committee,  166,  459. 

FUNSTON,  General  Frederick,  captured  Agui- 
naldo,  848. 

GAGE,  Lyman  J.,  Secretary  of  the  Treasury,  787. 

GAKCELON,  Governor,  313. 

GARDINER,  Private,  Death  of,  on  Greely  Expe 
dition,  433. 

GARFIELD,  James  A.,  on  Electoral  Commission, 
218,  227,  275  ;  delegate-at-large  from  Ohio, 
308;  unexpectedly  nominated  for  Presi 
dent,  311  ;  accused  of  connection  with 
Credit  Mobilier,  313 ;  elected  President, 
317;  his  record,  318;  alienates  Conkling 


by  appointing  Blaine  and  Folger,  319,  320  ; 
his  remarkable  interview  with   Conkling, 

323  ;  his  irreparable  breach  with  Conkling, 

324  ;  assassination  of,  329  ;  his  death,  330  ; 
general   mourning   for,  333,   452  ;    his  ac 
count  of  the  "Mulligan  Letters"  scene, 460. 
naval  advisory   board   appointed   during 
his  administration,  98  ;   monument  raised 
to,  189. 

GARLAND,  A.  H.,  elected  Governor  of  Arkan 
sas,  142  ;  introduces  Presidential  Succession 
Bill,  348  ;  connected  with  Pan-Electric 
scandal,  498  ;  exonerated,  501  ;  his  indis 
creet  praise  of  Davis,  582. 

GARLAND,  A.  M.,  352. 

GARLINGTOX,  Ernest  A.,  sets  out  to  rescue 
Greely,  425  ;  his  failure,  425. 

GARRISON,  William  Lloyd,  Sumner's  letter  to, 
on  the  Santo  Domingo  question,  54. 

GARY,  Judge  Joseph  E.,  in  the  anarchist  trials, 
533 ;  his  opinion  of  the  prisoners,  534. 

GARY,  James  A.,  Postmaster  General,  787. 

GEARY  ANTI-CHINESE  ACT,  The,  604  ;  no  appro 
priations  for  enforcing,  605. 

GENERAL  MANAGERS'  ASSOCIATION,  The,  724. 

GENEVA  TRIBUNAL,  The,  Alabama  claims  re 
ferred  to  it,  90  ;  rules  for  its  guidance,  91  ; 
decisions  of,  92. 

GEORGE,  Henry,  his  Mayoralty  contest,  535 ; 
takes  the  stump  for  Cleveland,  556. 

GEORGIA,  State  of,  admitted  to  representation 
in  Congress,  20 ;  its  seats  vacated  and 
State  obliged  to  ratify  Fifteenth  Amend 
ment,  21  ;  Supreme  Court  holds  corpora 
tions  created  by,  during  the  war,  to  b,» 
legal,  112;  reckless  endorsement  of  rail 
road  bonds  in,  127  ;  political  suppression 
of  negroes  in,  540 ;  represented  at  Atlanta 
Exposition,  754. 

GHOST  DANCES,  592,  593. 

GIBBON,  General  John,  in  the  Sioux  War  of 
1876,  186,  187,  191  et  seq. 

GIBSON,  C.,  228. 

GIBSON,  Langdon,  on  Peary  Expedition,  44.'. 

GIDDINGS,  J.  R.,  Greeley's  precipitate  letter  to, 

77- 

GILLESPIE,  Neal,  453. 

GILMORE,  P.  S.,  his  idea  of  a  great  Peace  Jubi 
lee  carried  out  in  Boston,  3  ;  undertakes  an 
international  Peace  Jubilee,  5. 

GODFREY,  Captain,  his  account  of  the  Custer 
fight,  1 88,  et  seq. 

GOFF,  John  WT.,  his  work  in  the  Lexow  investi 
gation,  712. 

GOFK,  Judge,  declares  South  Carolina  Registra 
tion  Law  unconstitutional,  544. 

GOLD,  made  exclusive  full-tender  hard  money, 
275 ;  United  States  represents,  at  Paris 
Monetary  Conference,  277  ;  increased  value 
of,  278  ;  claim  of  its  advocates,  279. 


942 


INDEX 


GOLD  CONSPIRACY,  The,  40  et  seg. 

GOLD  DEMOCRATS,  convention,  782. 

GOLD  RESERVE,  The,  depletion  of,  693  ;  efforts  to 
replenish,  697-698. 

GOLD  STANDARD,  773. 

GOOCH,  Major  William,  383. 

GOODE,  Solicitor-General  John,  498,  501. 

GORDON,  General  John  B.,  at  Grant's  funeral, 
521,  522  ;  at  unveiling  of  Lee's  monument, 
580,  750,  751. 

GORMAN,  A.  P.,  497,  696. 

GOULD,  Jay,  his  dealings  in  gold  in  1869,  40; 
his  efforts  with  the  President  and  Bout- 
well,  43 ;  treachery  of,  toward  Fisk,  44 ; 
advises  Fisk  to  repudiate  his  contracts 
after  Black  Friday,  45  ;  checks  the  ruinous 
decline  of  stocks  in  1873,  260  ;  suspected  of 
withholding  election  returns,  479;  great 
strike  on  his  railway  system,  528. 

GOWEN,  Franklin  B.,  assists  in  suppressing 
Mollie  Maguires,  299  et  seq. 

GRACE,  Mayor,  523. 

GRADV,  Henry  W.,  death  of,  580;  popularity 
of,  at  North,  580. 

GKADY,  Thomas  F.,  470. 

GRAND  ARMY  OK  THE  REPUBLIC,  The,  its  protest 
against  Cleveland's  u  Rebel  Flag  "  order, 
503  ;  assembles  at  Louisville,  Ky.,  748. 

GRANGERS,  The,  rise  of,  281  ;  their  aims  282  ; 
sympathize  with  Kearneyites  in  California, 
374  ;  help  the  latter  to  control  the  Constitu 
tional  Convention,  378,  632, 

GRANT,  ULYSSES  S.,  his  shortcomings  as  Presi 
dent,  24  ;  his  lack  of  sympathy  with  the 
plan  of  reconstruction,  27  :  his  inexperience 
of  civil  life,  28  ;  his  queer  Cabinet,  29  ;  hos 
tile  meeting  of  Liberals  in  St.  Louis,  31  ; 
meeting  in  Cincinnati  of  opposition  to  his 
administration,  32  ;  puts  an  end  to  the  Ku- 
Klux-Klan,  39  ;  influenced  by  Fisk  and 
Gould,  43  ;  changes  his  mind  with  regard 
to  rebellion  in  Cuba,  47  ;  his  unfortunate 
negotiations  with  Santo  Domingo,  48  ; 
sends  Col.  Babcock  .to  report  upon  the 
country,  51  ;  his  Cabinet  set  against  his 
scheme,  52  ;  accused  of  violating  the  Con 
stitution,  53 ;  his  great  anxiety  to  secure 
ratification  of  the  treaty,  54  ;  his  resent 
ment  against  Sumner,  55  ;  removes  Motley 
from  British  mission,  56  ;  vain  efforts  to 
reconcile  him  with  Greeley,  58  ;  opposition 
to  his  reelection,  59;  unduly  blamed  for 
the  reversal  of  the  Hepburn  vs.  Griswold 
decision,  64  ;  renominated  by  acclamation, 
69  ;  Curtis  considers  him  foully  slandered, 

71  ;    severely  criticised   for  allowing  per 
sonal  influence  to  overrule  his  judgment, 

72  ;  his  supporters  plead  in  his  favor,  73  ; 
ridiculed  by  the  Greeley  press,  75  ;  his  im 
mense  majority  in  1872,   77  ;  inauguration 


of,  78  ;  his  action  in  the  Louisiana  quarrel, 
84,  85;  aided  in  campaign  of  1872  by  suc 
cess  of  Alabama  claims,  87;  recalls  Re- 
verdy  Johnson,  89  ;  his  satisfaction  at  set 
tlement  of  Northwestern  boundary,  95 ; 
Credit  Mobilier  scandal  used  against,  109 ; 
Southern  discontent  at  reelection  of,  in  ; 
South  Carolina  taxpayers  bring  their  com 
plaints  to,  132  ;  takes  issue  with  the  Po 
land  Committee,  142  ;  hesitates  to  inter 
fere  in  Mississippi  troubles,  147;  recognizes 
Kellogg  in  Louisiana,  157  ;  his  action  gen 
erally  condemned,  166  ;  asked  for  an  ex 
planation,  167 ;  his  treatment  of  the  In 
dians,  169  ;  declares  himself  averse  to  a 
third  term,  205 ;  his  administration  bit 
terly  arraigned  in  the  campaign  of  1876, 
207  ;  strengthens  military  force  at  Wash 
ington,  216  ;  his  civil  service  record,  232  ; 
weakness  of  his  second  administration,  235 
et  seg.'  his  action  in  the  Whiskey  Ring 
matter,  238;  his  "let  no  guilty  man  es 
cape"  endorsement,  240;  in  the  panic  of 
1873,  259;  vetoes  "inflation  bill,"  274; 
again  candidate  for  a  third  term,  307;  his 
remarkable  tour  around  the  world,  308: 

"  anything  to  beat ,"  309  ;  accompanies 

Conkling  in  his  stumping  tour  for  Garfield, 
317;  death  of,  518;  his  imposing  funeral, 
519  et  seg.;  monument  raised  to,  579;  de 
clared  to  be  a  member  of  an  anti-Catholic 
order,  714;  mausoleum  presentation  cere 
monies,  787. 

GRANVILLE,  Lord,  declines  to  modify  Clayton- 
Bui  wer  Treaty,  401. 
GRAVES,  D.  Collins,  heroism  of,  in  Mill  River 

flood,  183. 
GREAT  AMERICAN  DESERT,  The,  stories  of,  95  -, 

a  railway  planned  to  cross,  103. 
GREELEY,  Horace,  beginning  of  his  career,  57; 
founds  the  Tribune,  57,  58  ;  stands  bonds 
man  for  Jefferson  Davis,  58  ;  heads  the 
opposition  to  Grant,  58,  59 ;  nominated 
for  President,  68  ;  accepts  the  Baltimore 
nomination,  70;  admirable  traits  of  his 
character,  71  ;  personal  ridicule  of,  74  : 
Tammany  and  female  suffrage  tell  against 
his  cause,  75  ;  his  position  injured  by  his 
former  views  of  Democracy,  76  ;  his  de 
feat  and  death,  77  ;  reverence  and  admira 
tion  of  all  for  his  patriotism  and  character, 
77,  78  ;  monument  raised  to,  579. 
GREELY,  Lieutenant  A.  W.,  his  search  for  the 
Jeannette,  419  ;  his  expedition  sets  out, 
424  ;  public  indignation  at  failures  to  res 
cue,  426 ;  winters  at  Lady  Franklin  Bay, 
428,  429  ;  starts  southward,  429  ;  sad  condi 
tion  of  his  party,  430,  431  ;  survivors  of 
his  party  rescued,  435  et  seq.  ;  their  recep 
tion  at  Portsmouth,  439 ;  his  exploit  not 


943 


INDEX 


officially  recognized,  440 ;  made  chief 
signal  officer,  440  ;  praises  Peary,  445  ; 
World's  Fair  tableau  of  his  reception  of 
Lockwood,  653. 

GREEN,  John  T.,  nominated  for  Governor  of 
South  Carolina,  135. 

GREENBACKERS,  The,  rise  of,  275 ;  nominate 
Peter  Cooper  in  1876, 275,  290  ;  run  Weaver 
in  1880,  Butler  in  1884,  291. 

GREENBACKS,  first  issue  of,  268  ;  constitution 
ality  of,  270  ;  changes  in  number  of,  274  ; 
popularity  of,  275. 

GREENHALGE,  Governor  (Massachusetts),  749. 

GREER,  James  R.,  nominated  by  American 
party,  560. 

GREGORY,  John  M.,  appointed  to  Civil  Service 
Commission,  342. 

GRESHAM,  Walter  Q.,  appointed  Postmaster- 
General  and,  later,  Secretary  of  the  Treas 
ury,  351  ;  resigns,  351  ;  a  Presidential  can 
didate,  548  ;  death  of,  707. 

GRIER,  Justice  Robert  C.,  his  resignation  from 
Supreme  Court,  67 ;  its  effect  upon  the 
legal  tender  decision,  67,  270. 

GRINNELL,  District  Attorney,  533. 

GROSVENOR,  Congressman,  750. 

GUATEMALA,  complication  with,  in  Barrundia 
affair,  575,  576. 

GUITEAU,  Charles  J.,  assassinates  Garfield,  330  ; 
public  rage  against,  334  ;  his  plea  of  in 
sanity,  335  ;  execution  of,  336. 

HAHN,  Michael,  vacates  Louisiana  Speaker's 
chair,  167. 

HALE,  Eugene,  227. 

"  HALF-BREEDS,"  The,  327,  452. 

HALL,  A.  Oakey,  716. 

HALLET'S  POINT  REEK,  blown  up  with  dyna 
mite,  493. 

HALSTEAD,  Murat,  publishes  unfounded  charges 
against  Campbell,  555. 

HAMBURG  MASSACRE,  The,  225. 

HAMILTON,  W.  T.,  228. 

HAMPTON,  General  Wade  advises  the  blacks  to 
affiliate  with  the  whites,  116  ;  advocates  a 
qualified  suffrage  for  negroes,  119;  sup 
ported  by  whites  in  South  Carolina,  224, 
225 ;  at  Yorktown  Centennial,  387  ;  at 
Grant's  funeral,  521  ;  on  the  negro  ques 
tion,  543. 

HANCOCK,  Winfield  S.,  nominated  by  Demo 
crats,  312  ;  ridiculed  for  his  tariff  utter 
ance,  313  ;  carries  every  Southern  State, 
but  defeated,  317  ;  his  spotless  record,  318  ; 
at  Yorktown  Centennial,  387,  440  ;  at 
Grant's  funeral,  519  et  seq.  ;  death  of, 

579- 

HARLAN,  Justice  John'Marshall,  516. 
HARMON,  Attorney-General,  749,  751. 
Harper's  Weekly,  Tweed  Ring  attempts  to 


boycott,  14  ;  advocates  Grant's  reelection, 
59  ;  its  work  in  the  Greeley  campaign,  76. 

HARRIS,  Senator  Isham  G.,  at  Grant's  funeral, 
520. 

HARRISON,  Benjamin,  nominated  for  Presi 
dency,  548;  career  of,  548,  549;  elected 
President,  558  ;  his  inaugural  address,  =559  ; 
Inaugural  Centennial,  560  et  seq.,  507  ; 
signs  act  pardoning  former  polygamist 
marriages,  604,  620  ;  causes  of  his  defeat 
in  1892,  622  ;  defeat  of,  633 ;  disavows 
United  States  protectorate  in  Hawaii,  703  ; 
favors  annexation  of  the  islands,  704. 

HARRISON,  Carter  H.,  479;  assassination  of, 
661. 

HARRISON,  J.  S.  C.,  453. 

HATCH,  Consul,  700. 

HATCH  ACT,  The,  284. 

HATTON,  Frank, appointed  Postmaster-General, 
35i,  448. 

HAVEN,  S.  R.,  227. 

HAWAIIAN  ISLANDS,  The,  not  represented  at  the 
Pan-American  Conference,  415  ;  sons  of 
the  missionaries  in,  701  ;  United  States 
protectorate  established  in,  702,  70^  ;  pro 
tectorate  disavowed  by  Harrison,  703 ; 
movement  towards  annexing  by  United 
States,  704  ;  Cleveland's  change  of  policy 
towards,  705  ;  tinal  triumph  of  Provisional 
Government  in,  706  ;  annexation,  796  ;  ter 
ritorial  government,  797. 

HAWLEV,  Joseph  R.,  129 ;  condemns  Federal 
action  in  Louisiana  matters,  166  ;  a  Presi 
dential  candidate  in  1884,  452,  585. 

HAY,  John,  Ambassador  to  Kngland,  made 
Secretary  of  State,  787. 

HAYDEN,  Miss  Sophia,  682. 

HAYES,  Charles,  makes  unfounded  charges  of 
violence  in  Alabama,  129. 

HAYES,  J.  L.,  352. 

HAYES,  Rutherford  B.,  nominated  for  Presi 
dent,  21  r  ;  election  of,  in  doubt,  214;  de 
clared  elected,  220;  mistakenly  considered 
weak,  223  ;  withdraws  Federal  troops  from 
South  Carolina  and  Louisiana,  225  ;  criti 
cism  and  character  of,  226;  Sherman's  opin 
ion  of,  228,  229  ;  his  efficient  administration, 
230 ;  removes  prominent  New  York  offi 
cials,  243  ;  effects  of  his  bold  independence, 
247  ;  important  financial  operations  during 
his  administration,  249  ;  Bland-Allison  act, 
passed  over  his  veto,  279  ;  sends  troops  to 
Pennsylvania,  Maryland  and  West  Vir 
ginia  in  1877,  305  ;  proofs  of  the  excellence 
of  his  Southern  policy,  354  ;  his  formulation 
of  the  Monroe  Doctrine  in  the  Nicaragua 
Canal  matter,  400 ;  at  Grant's  funeral, 
522,  564- 

HAYGOOD,  Rev.  Dr.,  447. 

HAYMARKET  TRAGEDY,  The,  530  et  seq. 


944 


INDEX 


HAYT,  E.  A.,  advocates  Indian  lands  in  sever 
ally,  742  et  seq. 

HAZEN,  General  W.  B.,  censured  for  failure  of 
Greely  Relief  Expedition,  425  ;  at  recep 
tion  to  Greely  survivors,  439,  440. 

HEALTH  CONGRESS,  The  Chicago,  682, 

H  EATON,  Robert,  300. 

HELL  GATE,  obstructions  at,  removed,  103. 

HENDRICKS,  Thomas  A.,  placed  on  the  ticket 
with  Cleveland  in  1884,  471  ;  induces  Tam 
many  to  support  Cleveland,  478 ;  great 
popularity  of,  497,  498  ;  at  Grant's  funeral, 
522  ;  monument  erected  to,  579. 

HENNESSY,  David  C.,  murdered  by  Mafia,  567. 

HENRY,  Private,  shot  for  stealing  provisions  on 
Greely  Expedition,  433. 

HENRY,  General  Guy  V.,  Military  Governor, 
Porto  Rico  and  Cuba,  823. 

HENSON,  Matthew,  on  Peary  Expedition,  442. 

HEPBURN  -vs.  GRISWOLD,  famous  legal  tender 
case  of,  64,  270. 

HERBERT,  Hilary  A.,  749. 

HERBERT,  Victor,  751. 

HERRON,  Francis  J.,  member  of  the  Louisiana 
State  Returning  Board,  80;  Supreme 
Court  declares  him  an  intruder,  83. 

HEWITT,  Abram  S.,  elected  Mayor  of  New- 
York,  536,  716. 

HIGGINBOTHAM,  President,  661. 

HIGH  BUILDINGS,  669. 

HILL,  Senator  Benjamin  H.,  356. 

HILL,  David  B.,  at  Grant's  funeral,  520; 
his  opposition  to  Cleveland,  557;  elected 
Governor  by  trading  votes,  558,  622  ;  his 
opposition  to  the  Income  Tax,  697. 

HINCKLEY  FIRE,  The,  732  (note). 

HISCOCK,  Frank,  at  Grant's  funeral,  520. 

HITCHCOCK,  Ethan  Allen,  Secretary  of  the  In 
terior,  787. 

HOAR,  E.  Rockwood,  his  opinion  of  the  "  iron 
law"  of  March  2,  1867,  19  (and  note); 
Grant's  Attorney-General,  29  ;  one  of  the 
High  Commissioners  at  Washington  in 
1871,  46 ;  opinion  of,  in  the  Virginius  af 
fair,  48  ;  Grant  requests  his  resignation, 
55  ;  opposition  of,  to  the  Hepburn  vs.  (iris- 
wold  decision,  64  ;  his  summary  dismissal 
from  the  Cabinet,  235. 

HOAR,  George  F.,  chairman  of  the  Wheeler 
Adjustment  Committee,  167,  201  ;  on  Elec 
toral  Commission,  218,  582. 

HOBART,  Garret  A.,  nominated  for  Vice-Presi 
dent,  777. 

HOBSON,  Richmond  Pearson,  U.  S.  Naval  con 
structor,  sinks  Merrimac,  808. 

HOLCOMB,  Governor  (Nebraska),  749. 

HOLMES,  Oliver  Wendell,  487. 

HOMESTEAD  STRIKE,  The,  625  et  seq. 

HOOKER  JIM,  in  Modoc  insurrection,  176  et 
seq. 


HOOPKR,  Captain,  his  search  for  ihefeatinette, 
419. 

HOSMKR,  Consul-General,  576. 

HOUSTON,  Justice,  162. 

HOWARD,  arrested  for  his  part  in  the  Pullman 
strike,  729. 

HOWARD,  Gen.  O.  O.,  750. 

HOWE,  Julia  Ward,  in  charge  of  Woman's  De 
partment  at  New  Orleans  Exposition,  451. 

HOWE,  Dr.  Samuel  G.,  on  Santo  Domingo 
Commission,  56. 

HOWE,  Timothy,  O.,  appointed  Postmaster- 
General,  35!  ;  death  of,  351. 

HOWKI.I.S,  William  D.,  favors  clemency  to 
Anarchists,  534. 

HOWGATE,  Lieutenant,  423. 

HUBBELL,  340;  see  also  "  MY  DEAR  HUBHKLL" 

LETTER,  The. 

"HUDSON,  Mr.,  his  prophetic  fears  for  Garrleld's 
we,  329. 

HUGHES,  Colonel  R.  P.,  his  article  criticising 
Custer,  191  et  seq. 

HUNT,  Richard  M.,  640,  647. 

HUNT,  William  H.,  appointed  Secretary  of  the 
Navy,  328 ;  appoints  a  Naval  Advisory 
Board,  488. 

HUNTON,  Eppa.  on  Electoral  Commission,  218, 

459- 
Hr  RI.IH  T,  Stephen  A.,  460,  461. 

IDAHO,  organized  as  a  Territory  between  1860 
and  1870,  97  ;  Populists  triumph  in,  633  ; 
Pullman  strike  extends  to,  729. 

IDE,  Henry  C.,  858. 

IGORROTES  TRIBE,  835. 

ILLINOIS,  State  of,  transportation  problems  in, 
283  ;  at  World's  Fair,  641,  644  ;  arbitration 
board  appointed  in,  after  Pullman  strike, 
735  ;  represented  at  Atlanta  Exposition, 
754- 

Illinois,  The.  model  of,  at  World's  Fair,  640. 

IMMIGRATION,  restriction  of ,  289;  bad  results  of 
indiscriminate,  291;  necessity  for  checking, 
559 ;  limitation  of,  agitated  by  American 
Party,  560,  882. 

IMPERIALISM  and  anti-imperialism,  846,  856,860. 

INCOME  TAX,  law  authorizing  an,  passed  in 
1894,  694  ;  declared  unconstitutional,  697. 

"  INDEPENDENTS,"  The,  290. 

INDIA,  suspension  of  free  coinage  in,  691. 

INDIAN  TERRITORY,  still  unorganized  in  1870,  2; 
its  population  in  1874,  169  ;  demand  for 
opening  of  part  of,  to  settlers,  586  ;  "  Mes 
siah  craze  "  in,  591. 

INDIANA,  State  of,  constitutional  changes  in, 
536. 

Indiana,  The,  488,  614. 

INDIANS,  condition  of,  during  Grant's  adminis 
tration,  169  ;  systematically  swindled  by 
contractors,  170  et  seq.  ;  discontent  and 


945 


INDEX 


outbreaks  of,  171  et  seq.  \  bad  condition  of 
their  agents  in  Arizona,  173  ;  movement 
toward  severally  land  system  for,  739 ; 
earliest  severally  holdings  by,  741  ;  the 
Dawes  Act  regulates  land  holdings  by, 

744,   745- 

INDUSTRIALS,  The.    See  COMMONWEALERS,  The. 

INGALLS,  Senator  J.  J.,  at  Grant's  funeral,  520. 

INGERSOLL,  Robert  G.,  presents  Elaine's  name 
to  Republican  Convention,  208,  210. 

INJUNCTIONS,  alarm  at  uses  of,  after  the  Pull 
man  strike,  733. 

INTERNATIONAL    AFRICAN     ASSOCIATION,    The, 

392>  394- 

INTERNATIONAL  COPYRIGHT,  act  securing,  passed 
in  1891,  578. 

INTERSTATE  COMMERCE,  regulation  of,  by  Con 
gress,  282,  283  ;  Act  of  1887,  486  ;  — 

Commission  appointed,  97  ;  novel  con 
struction  of  laws  governing,  341. 

IOWA,  State  of,  few  constitutional  changes  in, 
537:  relief  from,  for  Russia.  614;  at 
World's  Fair,  64i. 

Iowa,  The,  488,  489. 

IRONS,  Martin,  529. 

IRRIGATION  LAW,  913. 

Isi-re.  The,  523. 

ISRAEL,  Sergeant,  death  of,  on  Greely  Expedi 
tion,  433. 

ITAJUBA,  Baron,  member  of  Geneva  Tribunal, 
90. 

ITALY,  trouble  with,  over  lynching  of  Italians 
in  New  Orleans,  570  et  seq. 

Itata.  The.  574,  575. 

JACKSON,  Captain,  takes  possession  of  State 
House  in  New  Orleans,  83. 

JACKSON.  Thomas  J.  (Stonewall),  monument 
raised  to,  579. 

JAMES,  Frank,  381. 

JAMES,  Jesse,  assassination  of,  381  ;  sympathy 
for.  381,  382. 

JAMES,  Thomas  L.,  enforces  competitive  ex 
aminations  in  New  York  Post-office,  336  ; 
determines  to  expose  Star  Route  frauds. 

340- 

JAY  COOKE  &  Co.,  effect  of  failure  of.  103  ;  fail 
ure  of,  254. 

Jean  Bart,  The,  622. 

JEANNETTE  EXPEDITION,  The,  417  et  seq.  ;  anx 
iety  over,  418  ;  fate  of  survivors  of,  421  et 
seq. 

''JELLY  FISH,"  The,  327. 

JENCKES,  Thomas  A.,  introduces  first  Civil 
Service  Bill,  231. 

JENKINS,  Governor  Charles  J.,  irregularities 
of.  in  Georgia,  127. 

JEWELL,  Marshall,  disapproves  of  Grant's  ac 
tion  in  Louisiana  matter,  166  ;  attacks  cor 
ruption  in  Post  Office  Department,  201  ; 


favors  Bristow's  nomination,  211  ;  story 
of  his  resignation,  235,  452. 

JEWELL,  Sergeant,  death  of,  on  Greely  Expe 
dition,  432,  440. 

JOHNSON,  Andrew,  Congress  disregards  his 
views  in  the  restoration  of  the  States.  19. 


JOHNSON,    Reverdy,     treaty 


rejected     by 


Senate,  46  ;  his  warm  reception  in  Eng 
land,  88  ;  opposition  to  his  treaty,  89. 

JOHNSON-CLARENDON  TREATY,  The,  46,  88. 

JOHNSTON,  General  Joseph  E.,  at  Grant's 
funeral,  521  ;  death  of,  579 ;  at  Lee's 
funeral,  580. 

JOHNSTOWN  FLOOD,  The,  593  et  seq.  \  generous 
contributions  for  sufferers  from,  597. 

JOLLY,  Deputy-Marshal,  shot  by  Common- 
wealers,  721. 

JORDAN,  Dr.  David  S.,  delegate  conference  fur- 
seal  experts,  795. 

JULIAN,  George  W.,  his  hostility  to  Grant's 
administration,  59  :  espouses  Greeley's 
cause,  70,  227. 

Kaiserin  Augusta,  The.  622. 

KALAKAUA,  King.  702. 

KANE,  Captain,  saves  his  ship  in  Samoan  hur 
ricane,  606  et  seq. 
KANGAROO  VOTING."     See  BALLOT  REFORM. 

KANSAS,  State  of,  admitted  to  statehood  be 
tween  1860  and  1870,  97  ;  rejects  negro  suf 
frage  amendment  in  1867.  119;  few  con 
stitutional  changes  in,  536;  Populists 
triumph  in,  633  ;  no  more  unoccupied  land 
in,  by  1890.  664. 

KASSON,  John  A.,  represents  U.  S.  at  Berlin 
Conference,  396. 

KEARNEY,  Denis,  career  and  character  of,  366  ; 
shrewdness  of.  373  ;  immense  influence  of, 
374  ;  his  downfall,  378. 

KEARNEYISM,  361  et  seq.,  "The  Chinese  must 
g°i"  373  i  inefficacy  of  anti-monopoly 
provisions  of,  737. 

Kearsarge,  The,  sinks  the  Alabama,  88. 

KEHOE,  Jack,  296. 

KELIHER.  arrested  for  his  part  in  the  Pullman 
strike,  729. 

KELLEY,  William  D.,  227. 

KELLOGG,  in  Custer  massacre,  187. 

KELLOGG,  W.  P.,  nominated  for  Governor  in 
Louisiana,  80;  his  prospects  clouded  for 
a  time,  83  ;  elected  Governor  without  the 
returns,  84;  declared  de  facto  Governor,  85; 
his  abdication  demanded,  155  ;  recognized 
by  the  Administration,  157;  his  explanation 
of  the  uprising,  159  ;  orders  members  of 
Legislature  forcibly  removed,  162:  signs 
certificate  of  Hayes  electors,  219. 

KELLY,  "General,"  in  the  "  Commonwealer '" 
movement,  720. 

KELLY.  John,  478. 


946 


INDEX 


"  KELLY  THE  BUM,"  296. 

KENNEDY,  Robert  P.,  577. 

KENNON,  Duncan  F.,  352. 

KENTUCKY,  State  of,  live  stock  in,  761  ;  lime 
stones  in,  764 ;  decrease  of  negroes  in, 
from  1880  to  1890,  770. 

KEOGH,  Captain,  in  the  Custer  fight,  188,  189. 

KERFOOT,  W.  D.,  his  pluck  after  the  great 
Chicago  fire,  8. 

KERNAN,  John  D.,  on  commission  to  investigate 
Pullman  strike,  734. 

KERR,  Michael  C.,  242. 

KEY,  David  M..  appointed  Postmaster-General. 
224. 

KIEL  CANAL,  The,  opening  of,  489. 

KILGCRE,  Mr.,  563. 

KIMBERLY,  Admiral  Lewis  A.,  606,  608. 

KINETOSCOPE,  The,  674. 

KIRKWOOD,  T.  J.,  Secretary  of  the  Interior,  328, 

355- 

KISLINGBURY,  Lieutenant  Frederick  F..  death 
of,  on  Greely  Expedition.  433. 

KLAMATHS,  The,  troubles  between,  and  the 
Modocs  in  Oregon,  175. 

KLONDYKE,  gold  discovery,  790. 

KNIGHTS  OF  LABOR,  The,  rapid  growth  of,  292  ;  j 
in  Southwestern  strike,  528  ;  in  the  Pull 
man  strike,  728. 

KNIGHTS  OF  ST.  CRISPIN,  The.  thriving  in  Mas 
sachusetts  by  1868,  285. 

KNOTT,  James  Proctor.  459,  460. 

KOLB,  Reuben  F.,  633. 

KU-KLUX-KLAN,  The,  its  methods  of  subduing 
the  negro,  38  ;  put  an  end  to  by  Federal 
marshals,  39,  142. 

KUNNIAKEA.  Prince,  of  Hawaii.  706. 

LABOR  (see  also  NATIONAL  LABOR  REFORM 
PARTY),  Congress  held  at  Louisville  in  1865, 
others  in  1867,  1868,  and  1870,  285  ;  demands 
for  a  Department  of,  286 ;  formation  of 
State  bureaus  of,  286  :  Federal  Department 
of,  287  :  collection  of  statistics  concern 
ing,  288,  289  ;  good  work  by  the  Depart 
ment  of.  288,  289  ;  damage  done  to  cause 
of,  by  anarchistic  doctrines,  291  ;  conflicts 
of,  with  trusts  and  corporations,  292 ; 
"  boycott"  and  "  black  lists"  used  by  and 
against,  292. 

LABOULAYE.  E.  R.  L.  de,  523. 

LACOMBE,  Admiral.  524. 

LADY  FRANKLIN  BAY.  circumpolar  station  estab 
lished  at.  424  ;  Greely's  party  winters  at, 
428  :  station  abandoned.  429. 

LAMAR,  L.  Q.  C..  exonerated  from  Pan-Electric 
scandal,  501  ;  defends  Jefferson  Davis,  585. 

Landsdoivne,  The.  510. 

LAMER,  Sidney,  his  cantata  sung  at  Phila 
delphia  Centennial,  198. 

LAPHAM,  E.  C.,  327. 


LAVA  BEDS,  The.  Modoc  Indians  hide  in,  175. 

LEA,  H.  C.,  577- 

LEE,  Fitzhugh.  387  ;  at  Grant's  funeral,  520, 
522  ;  at  unveiling  of  Robert  E.  Lee's 
monument,  580. 

LEE,  John  D.,  execution  of,  602. 

LEE,  Richard  Henry,  at  the  Philadelphia  Cen 
tennial,  198. 

LEE,  Robert  E.,  monument  raised  to,  579.  580. 

LEFKVRE,  M.,  527. 

LEGAL  TENDER,  the  — -  trials  :  Hepburn  vs. 
Griswold,  64,  270  ;  opposition  to  the  law  of 
1862.  269  ;  Juillard  vs.  Greenman,  270  :  the 
case  of  Parker  vs.  Davis.  272  ;  the  green 
back  held  constitutional.  272  ;  necessity  of 
the  law  making  the  greenback  a,  273. 

LEOPOLD  II.  OF  BELGII-M.  391,  393. 

LESSEPS,  Ferdinand  de.  399  ;  his  failure  at 
Panama,  403  ;  sentenced  to  imprisonment 
for  complicity  in  Canal  corruption,  404  ;  at 
unveiling  of  Bartholdi  statue,  527. 

LEWIS,  Dr.  Dio.  683. 

LEXOW  INVESTIGATION,  The,  711  et  set). 

LIBERAL-REPUBLICANS.  The,  hostility  of,  to 
Grant,  31  :  issue  a  call  for  a  national  con 
vention  in  1872.  58  ;  >-new  departure''  of, 
231. 

LIBERIA,  founded  by  Americans.  395. 

LIBERTY  ENLIGHTENING  THE  WORLD,  statue  of, 
523;  unveiled.  527. 

LiLiroKALAM.  Queen,  her  conf>  of  1893  in  Ha 
waii,  702  ;  treaty  of  annexation  provides 
for  an  allowance  to,  704  ;  her  stubborness, 
705  ;  her  utter  defeat,  706. 

LINCOLN,  Abraham,  his  signing  of  Educational 
Land  Bill,  283. 

LINCOLN.  R.  T..  appointed  Secretary  of  War, 
328 ;  retained  by  Arthur,  350 ;  mentioned 
for  presidential  nomination,  462  et  seq. 

LINGG,  Louis,  532  ;  commits  suicide.  533. 

LITTLE,  Dick,  382. 

LITTLE  ROCK,  City  of,  conflicts  between  Brooks 
and  Baxter  forces  in.  139. 

LITTLE  WOUND,  on  the   "Messiah  craze,"  502; 

LIVINGSTONE,  David,  Stanley's  expedition  to 
find,  393- 

LLOYD.  Henry  D..  534. 

LOCKWOOD,  Lieutenant  James  B.,  death  of.  on 
Greely  Expedition,  4^2;  World's  Fair  tab 
leau  of  his  reception  by  Greely  after  at 
taining  the  •'  farthest  north,"  653. 

LODGE,  Henry  Cabot,  prominent  in  the  anti- 
Grant  movement  in  1876.  205,  463  :  supports 
Blaine.  472,  5-2. 

LOGAN,  John  A.,  favors  Grant's  nomination  in 
1880,  307;  a  presidential  candidate  in  1884. 
452;  placed  on  the  ticket  with  Blaine.  464, 
473  ;  death  of.  579. 

LONG.  John.  Secretary  of  the  Navy,  787. 

LONG,  rescue  of.  on  Greely  Expedition.  434,  441. 


94; 


INDEX 


LONGFELLOW,  Henry  Wadsworth,  his  poem  on 
the  Custer  fight,  189. 

LONGSTREET,  General  James,  commands  Metro 
politans  in  New  Orleans,  156  ;  at  unveiling 
of  Lee's  monument,  580,  750. 

LOUISIANA,  State  of,  loyal  government  in,  recog 
nized  by  Lincoln,  18;  admitted  to  repre 
sentation  in  Congress,  20  ;  anarchy  in, 
during  the  election  of  1870,  80  et  seq.  ;  reck 
less  financiering  by  carpet-baggers  in,  125; 
peculiar  social  conditions  in,  152  ;  carpet 


bagger  depredations  in, 


confused  sit 


uation  in,  158  ;  methods  of  the  Returning 
Board  in,  160  ;  exciting  events  in,  in  1875, 
161  et  seq.;  General  Sherman  on  condition 
of,  165;  the  "Wheeler  Adjustment'1  in, 
167  •  returns  from,  in  Tilden-Hayes  elec 
tion,  219;  Federal  troops  withdrawn  from 
by  Hayes,  225:  negroes  practically  dis 
franchised  in,  540,  541  ;  held  wholly  re 
sponsible  for  murdered  Italians,  573  ;  lot 
tery  company  in,  598  etseq. 

LOUISIANA  LOTTERY  Co.,  The,  movement 
against,  598;  final  exile  of,  600;  its  use  of 
the  express  companies  declared  illegal,  699, 
7oo. 

LOUISIANA  PURCHASE  EXPOSITION,  892-895. 

LOUISVILLE,  City  of,  Exposition  of  1883  at,  447 
618. 

LOVE.  John,  227. 

LOWE,  Lieutenant,  on  Greely  Relief  Expedi 
tion,  435. 

LOWELL,  Mr.,  in  Louisiana  troubles,  162. 

LUCE,  Admiral  Stephen  B.,  at  reception  to 
Greely  survivors,  439. 

LYNCH,  J.  R.,  463. 

LYNCH,  John,  on  Louisiana  State  Returning 
Board,  80. 

LYNCH  LAW,  legislation  against  in  South  Car 
olina,  766. 

LYNN,  Sergeant,  death  of,  on  Greely  Expedi 
tion,  432. 

LYTLE,  General  William  Haines,  750,  751. 

MACDONALD,  Sir  John,  one  of  the  High  Com 

missioners  at  Washington  in  1871,  46. 
MACHINE  POLITICS,  in  the  election  of  1880,  317  ; 

557,  558. 
MACVEAGH,  Wayne,  Garfield's  Attorney-Gen 

eral,  329, 
MADDEN,  Sergeant  Mike,  in  the  Custer  fight, 

189. 

MAFIA,  The,  567  et  seq. 
MAHONE,  William,  career  of,  354;  his  course  in 


the  Senate,  355,  463. 

MAINE,  State  of,  Democratic  successes  in,  314. 

Maine,  U.  S.  battle-ship  destroyed,  802  ;  court 
of  inquiry,  804. 

MAI.IETOA  LAUPEPE,  605  ;  dethroned  by  Ger 
mans,  606;  restored,  609. 

948 


MANCHURIA,  913. 

MANDEKSON,  Senator  Charles  F.,  750. 

MANDJI.  Datto,  848. 

MANSON,  M.  D  ,  227. 

MARBLE,  Manton,  215. 

MARCONI,  wireless  telegraphy,  914. 

MARITIME  CANAL  COMPANY,  The.  See  NICA 
RAGUA. 

MARQUETTE,  Pere,  the  A.  P.  A.  opposes  a  statue 
to,  718. 

MARSH,  Caleb  P.,  testifies  against  Belknap,  202. 

MARSH,  Professor  Othniel  C.,  draws  up  charges 
against  Indian  agents,  170. 

MARSHALL,  John,  273. 

MARSHALL,  S.  S.,  on  Wheeler  Adjustment  Com 
mittee,  167  (cut). 

MARTINSBURG,  City  of,  strike  in,  in  1877,  304. 

MARYLAND,  State  of,  decrease  of  negroes  in 
country  portions  of,  770. 

MASO,  General  Bartolomo,  820. 

MASON,  Sergeant,  attempts  to  kill  Guiteau,  334; 
dismissed  and  imprisoned  for  eight  years, 
335- 

MASSACHUSETTS.  State  of,  early  labor  agitation 
in.  285.  286;  adopts  Australian  ballot  sys 
tem,  539  ;  at  World's  Fair,  641  ;  act  of, 
with  regard  to  severalty  land  system  for 
Indians,  739 ;  represented  at  Atlanta  Ex 
position.  754  ;  property  values  in,  in  1890. 
compared  with  the  South,  759  ;  committee 
from,  investigates  Southern  manufactures, 
761. 

Massachusetts,  The,  488. 

MATAAFA,  609. 

MATTHEWS,  Governor  (Indiana),  749. 

MATTHEWS,  Stanley,  prominent  in  the  anti- 
Grant  movement  of  1871,  31  ;  his  hostility 
to  Grant's  administration  in  1872,  59,  227, 
275- 

MAUCK,  A.  O.,  383. 

MCCARRON,  killed  by  "  Mollie  Maguires,"  295. 

MCCLURE,  John,  sides  with  Baxter  in  the  elec 
tion  of  1872,136;  presides  over  the  Arkansas 
Supreme  Court,  140. 

McCoMB,  Colonel  H.  S.,  his  connection  with 
the  Credit  Mobilier,  105. 

McCocK,  Rev.  H.  C.,  621. 

McCRARY,  G.  W.,  advocates  congressional  con 
trol  of  interstate  commerce,  282. 

McCuLLOCH,  Hugh,  on  the  Tilden-Hayes  elec 
tion,  214,  215  ;  recommends  retirement  of 
greenbacks,  274  ;  appointed  Secretary  of 
the  Treasury,  351. 

MCDONALD,  J.  E..  227. 


MCENERY,  John,  heads  a  fusion  ticket  in 
Louisiana,  80 ;  elected  by  a  majority  of 
7,000,  83  ;  takes  the  oath  of  office  in  spite 
of  opposition,  85 ;  retains  his  organiza 
tion  though  powerless,  152  ;  his  officials 
installed,  157  ;  Grant  refuses  to  recog- 


INDEX 


nize,  157  ;  nominated  on  pro-lottery  ticket, 
600. 

McGnEw,  W.  A.,  227. 

McHENRY,  Henry  D.,  227. 

McHuGH,  Dooley,  296. 

McKiNLEY,  William,  505,  554,  562  ;  foreign 
feeling  against,  577  ;  at  opening  of  Chick- 
amauga  Military  Park,  749,  751  ;  nomi 
nated  for  President,  777  ;  biography,  778  ; 
campaign,  783  ;  elected  787  ;  cabinet,  787; 
and  civil  service,  789  ;  and  Cuban  ques 
tion,  802  ;  campaign  1900,  865  ;  and  silver, 
876 ;  elected,  878  ;  at  Pan-American  Ex 
position,  897  ;  assassination,  898  ;  place  in 
history,  890  ;  as  a  politician,  906  ;  private 
character,  907. 

McKiNLEY  TARIFF  BILL,  The,  its  effect  upon 
the  Pan-American  Conference,  415,  505  ; 
policy  embodied  in,  566  ;  helps  to  defeat 
Republicans  in  1890,  577 ;  the  issue  in 
campaign  of  1892,  632. 

MCLEAN,  John  R.,  554. 

MCNEIL,  General  John,  31. 

MCPARLAN,  James,  299,  300. 

MEACHAM,  Peace  Commissioner,  shot  by  In 
dians,  179  ;  his  wonderful  escape,  180. 

MEADE,  General  George  G.,  routs  the  Fenians 
at  Campobello,  4. 

MEADE,  Captain  Richard  W.,  at  Yorktown 
Centennial,  387. 

MELVILLE  George  W.,  on  Jeannette  Expedi 
tion,  418  ;  wonderful  escape  of,  421  ;  his 
heroic  search  for  De  Long,  422  ;  accom 
panies  Greely  Relief  Expedition,  427,  439. 

MERCHANT  MARINE,  The,  decline  of,  in  America, 
'7,  35i<  352. 

MERRIAM,  Governor  (Minnesota),  610. 

Merrimac,  U.  S.  collier,  sunk  to  block  San 
tiago  channel.  808. 

MERRITT,  Edward  A.,  nominated  for  New  York 
surveyorship,  245  ;  confirmed,  246,  323. 

MERRITT,  General  Wesley,  in  the  Philippines, 
813. 

"  MESSIAH  CRAZE,"  The,  590  et  seq. 

MEXICO,  her  fine  exhibit  at  New  Orleans  in 
1884,  451. 

MICHIGAN,  State  of,  few  constitutional  changes 
in,  536. 

MILES,  General  Nelson  A.,  his  opinion  of  Cus- 
ter's  campaign,  190,  191  ;  his  opinion  of 
the  "  Messiah  craze,"  592,  621  ;  in  Porto 
Rico,  8u,  819;  in  the  Philippines,  850  ; 
report,  851. 

MILITIA,  great  increase  in  efficiency  of,  731  ; 
armories  of,  dubbed  "Plutocracy's  Bas- 
tiles,"  732. 

MILL  RIVER  DISASTER,  The,  183  ;  responsibility 
for,  184,  185. 

MILLER,  Justice  Samuel  F.,  on  Electoral  Com 
mission,  218. 


MILLER,  Warner,  327 ;  President  of  Nicaragua 
Canal  Co.,  405. 

MILLS,  Roger  Q.,  his  tariff  bill,  507,  550. 

MINNESOTA,  State  of,  rejects  negro  suffrage 
amendment  in  1867,  119;  few  constitu 
tional  changes  in,  537  ;  relief  from,  for 
Russian  famine  sufferers,  610  et  seq.;  Pop 
ulists  in,  633  ;  condition  of  militia  in,  731. 

MISSISSIPPI,  State  of,  slowness  of  reconstruc 
tion  in,  21  ;  more  fortunate  than  other 
States  in  its  reconstructionists.  118;  whites 
in,  unanimous  for  Fifteenth  Amendment. 
119  ;  carpet-baggers'  extravagance  in,  125, 
126  ;  race  hostilities  in,  142  et  seq.;  asks 
vainly  for  Federal  aid,  147  ;  carpet  baggers 
in,  148  et  seq.;  comparatively  good  finan 
cial  condition  of,  151  ;  Constitutional  Con 
vention  in,  537  ;  political  suppression  of 
negroes  in,  540  et  seq.;  evolves  the  "  Mis 
sissippi  Plan,"  542  ;  condition  of  militia 
in,  731  ;  location  of  "  black  belt  "  in,  756  ; 
live  stock  in,  761  ;  decrease  of  negroes  in 
northeastern  portion  of,  770. 

"  MISSISSIPPI  PLAN."  The,  40  ;  details  of,  542. 

MISSOURI,  State  of,  reenf  ranch  isement  of 
Southerners  a  burning  question  in,  31  ; 
the  James  gang  in,  381  ;  Constitutional 
Convention  in,  537. 

Missouri,  The,  carries  supplies  to  Russian 
famine  sufferers,  612  et  seq. 

MISSOURIS,  The,  "Messiah  craze"  among,  591: 
severally  holdings  by,  741. 

MITCHELL,  John,  924. 

MIZNER,  Mr.,  unjust  punishment  of,  in  Barrun- 
dia  affair,  576. 

MODOCS,  The,  outbreak  of,  175  et  seq.;  mas 
sacre  the  Peace  Commissioners,  179  et  seq  ; 
leaders  of,  captured  and  hung,  181. 

MOIETY  LAWS,  The,  62. 

"  MOLLY  MAGUIRES,"  The,  atrocities  by,  in 
Pennsylvania,  295  et  seq.;  their  complete 
control  in  Schuylkill  Co.,  296;  the  organ 
ization  stamped  out,  300. 

MONASTERIO,   567. 

MONROE  DOCTRINE,  The,  applied  to  United 
States  interests  in  Africa,  395  ;  again  comes 
to  the  fore  in  the  Nicaragua  Canal  ques 
tion,  9;  criticised  in  the  case  of  the  Walker 
filibustering  expedition,  20;  applied  to 
England's  occupation  of  Corinto,  310;  Ol- 
ney's  vigorous  proclamation  of,  317. 

MONTANA,  State  of,  organized  as  a  Territory 
by  1870,  97  ;  farming  population  of,  97 ; 
gambling  spirit  in,  98  ;"  land  sharks  "  in. 
ioi  ;  Pullman  strike  extends  to,  729. 

"  MOREY  LETTER."  The,  314, 

MORGAN,  Edwin  D.,  351. 

MORGAN,  J.  P.,  and  Northern  Pacific  merger 
916;  steamship  combination,  921. 

MORGAN,  Senator  John  T.,  411,  516. 


949 


INDEX 


MORMONS,  The.  rise  of,  600  ;  emigrate  to  Utah, 

601  ;   stamping  out  of  polygamy  among, 

602  et  seq. 

MORRILL,  Governor  (Kansas'),  749. 

MORRILL,  Justin  S.,  246;  at  Grant's  funeral, 
520  ;  introduces  anti-polygamy  bill,  602. 

MORRILL,  Lot  M..  hampered  by  ill-health  in 
Treasury  operations,  265. 

MOKRISSEY.  John,  secret  meeting  in  his  house 
to  oppose  the  Tweed  Ring,  14. 

MORRISON.  W.  R.  227. 

MORSE,  S.  F.  B.,  670. 

MORTON,  Levi  P.,  323 ;  nominated  for  Vice- 
President,  548,  621  ;  at  opening  of  Chick- 
amauga  Military  Park.  749. 

MORTON,  Oliver  P..  urges  the  adoption  of  the 
Fifteenth  Amendment,  21  ;  his  bitterness 
towards  the  South,  30,  31  ;  opposes  negro 
suffrage  as  late  as  1865,  119  ;  votes  against 
conviction  in  Belknap  trial,  202  ;  move 
ment  to  nominate,  210  ;  foresees  contested 
election  problems,  213  ;  on  Electoral  Com 
mission,  218. 

MORTON,  BLISS  &  Co.,  454. 

MOSES,  Bernard,  858. 

MOSES,  Governor  F.  J.,  defeated  by  Chamber 
lain  m  South  Carolina,  135  ; '  Governor 
Chamberlain  refuses  to  commission,  136. 

MOST,  Johann.  imprisoned,  535. 

MOTLEY,  John  Lothrop,  removed  by  Grant 
from  British  mission,  56,  90 ;  shares 
Sumner's  extreme  views  upon  the  British 
question,  89. 

MOUNTAIN  MEADOWS  MASSACRE,  The,  602. 

MOUNTAIN  TIME,  671. 

*•  MUGWUMPS.1'   The,  471. 

MULLIGAN,  James,  454;  in  the  "Mulligan  Let 
ters'"  episode  with  Elaine,  455. 

MUNICIPAL,  government,  928. 

"  MURCHISON  LETTER,"  The,  550  et  seq. 

"Mv  DFAR  HUBBELL"  LETTER,  The,  324,  340. 

MVER,  General  Albert  J.,  organizes  the  U.  S. 
Weather  Bureau,  18. 

NANSEN,  Dr.  F..  445. 

NASH,  Beverly,  advises  the  blacks  to  affiliate 
with  the  whites,  117  ;  his  rash  speech,  120. 

NAST,  Thomas,  his  Tweed  Ring  cartoons  in 
Harper's  Weekly,  14  :  one  of  his  caricatures 
used  in  identifying  Tweed  in  Spain,  16. 

NATIONAL  DEBT,  The,  amount  of,  after  the 
war,  16,  267  ;  rapid  reduction  of,  268  ;  de 
crease  of,  during  1870  and  1880,  351. 

NATIONAL  GREENBACK  LABOR  PARTY,  The.  See 
GREENBACKERS,  The. 

NATIONAL  GREENBACK  PARTY.  The.  See  GREEN- 
BACKERS,  The. 

NATIONAL  GUARD,  The,  731. 

NATIONAL  LABOR  GREENBACK  PARTY,  The.  See 
GREENBACKERS,  The. 


NATIONAL  LABOR  REFORM  PARTY,  The,  rise  of, 
286  ;  its  opposition  to  contraction  of  the 
currency,  290. 

NATIONAL  MILITARY  PARK,  The,  opening  of,  at 
Chickamauga  and  Chattanooga,  748  ;  de 
scription  of,  749  ;  opening  ceremonies  at. 
749  et  seq. 

NAVAL  RESERVE.  The.  731. 

NAVY,  The  U.  S..  poor  condition  of.  after  the 
war,  17;  building  up  of,  487  et  seq. 

NEBRASKA,  State  of,  admitted  to  statehood  be 
tween  1860  and  1870.  97;  constitutional 
changes  in,  537;  relief  from,  for  Russia. 
612  ;  settled  condition  of,  in  1890,  664. 

NEGRITOS,  tribe,  834. 

NEGROES,  proportion  of.  to  total  population  in 
1870,  i  ;  vote  of.  courted  by  both  sides.  40; 
in  collision  with  all  that  was  best  at  the 
South,  114  ;  their  votes  bought  as  they 
themselves  had  been,  116;  lose  their 
chance  for  affiliation  with  Southern  whites. 
117;  considered  an  inferior  race  by  South 
erners,  118;  suffrage  for,  originally  pro 
posed  at  the  South,  119;  attitude  of.  after 
the  war,  120;  incompetence  of.  121  et  seq.; 
in  the  South  Carolina  Legislature  of  1873. 
122;  often  maltreated  by  political  oppo 
nents  of  their  own  color.  129:  practically 
disfranchised  throughout  the  South.  540 
et  seq.;  good  effect  on,  of  severe  laws, 
542;  Northern  papers  agree  in  declaring 
suffrage  for,  a  mistake,  545  ;  Booker  T. 
Washington  on  progress  of,  752  ;  their  fine 
exhibit  at  the  Atlanta  Exposition,  754  ;  dis 
tribution  of,  throughout  the  South,  755 
et  seq.;  backward  condition  of.  in  "  black 
belts,"  756  ;  political  suppression  of.  766  ; 
unquestionable  evidences  of  brightness  of. 
767  ;  their  defects  of  character.  768  ;  their 
increase  less  rapid  than  that  of  the  whites, 
769  ;  alarming  mortality  among,  770  ;  mi 
grations  of,  770  ;  their  tendency  toward 
cities,  771 ;  the  future  of.  771  ;  find  their 
best  friends  in  their  old  masters.  772  ; 
population,  881. 

NELSON,  Bishop,  751. 

NELSON,  Lord,  404. 

NELSON.  Justice  Samuel,  one  of  the  High  Com 
missioners  at  Washington  in  1871,  46. 

Neptune,  The,  424. 

NEVADA,  State  of.  admitted  to  statehood  be 
tween  1860  and  1870,  97  ;  receives  an 
overflow  from  the  West,  98  :  Populists  in. 
633  ;  backward  condition  of,  in  1890.  664. 

"  NEW  DEPARTURE,"  The,  35,  231  ;  effects  of.  in 
the  South,  447. 

NEW  HAMPSHIRE,  State  of,  Constitutional  Con 
ventions  in,  537. 

NEW  JERSEY,  State  of,  few  constitutional 
changes  in,  536. 


950 


INDEX 


NEW  MEXICO,  Territory  of,  population  of,  in 
1870,  2  ;  Pullman  strike  extends  to,  729. 

NEW  ORLEANS,  City  of.  anarchy  in,  155  et  seq.; 
negroes  in,  on  the  side  of  peace,  159, 160;  the 
Democratic  coup  of  1875  in,  161  et  seq.;  vio 
lence  in  State  House  in,  162  ;  clergymen  of. 
appeal  to  public  opinion,  165  ;  Exposition 
of  1884  at,  447  et  seq.:  Mafia  in,  567  et  seq.; 
Italian  prisoners  murdered  in,  569  et  seq.; 
Lottery  Company  in,  598  ct  seq. 

New  South,  The,  747. 

NEW  YORK,  City  of,  its  population  in  1870,  5  ; 
the  Tweed  Ring  in,  ir  et  seq.;  the  Gold 
Conspiracy  and  Black  Friday  in,  43  et  seq.; 
excitement  in,  over  Tilden-Hayes  election, 
214;  Hayes  removes  prominent  officials  in, 
243;  Panic  of  1873  in,  254  et  seq.  ;  labor 
strife  in,  in  1886.  535  ;  Henry  George's 
Mayoralty  contest  in,  535,  536  ;  centennial 
of  Washington's  inauguration  in,  560  et 
seq.;  heads  relief  work  for  Russia,  612  ;  Ex 
position  of  1853  in,  617  ;  still  first  in  popula 
tion  in  1890,  664 ;  bridge  between  it  and 
Brooklyn,  667;  Salvation  Army  work  in, 686; 
Lexow  investigation  in,  711  ;  startling  ex 
posures  of  political  corruption  in,  712  et 
seq. 

NEW  YORK  CITY  GOVERNMENT,  928. 

NEW  YORK,  State  of,  rejects  negro  suffrage 
amendment  in  1868.  119  ;  Immigration 
Commission  in,  289,  290;  Conkling's  work 
for  Garfield  in,  314;  Conkling's  claim  to 
control  appointments  in,  323;  Conkling's 
final  defeat  in,  327;  excitement  in,  during 
election  of  1884,  479  ;  few  constitutional 
changes  in.  536;  Constitutional  Convention 
in,  537;  at  World's  Fair,  641;  a  Roman 
Catholic  "district,"  716;  fine  showing  of 
militia  in,  731;  represented  at  Atlanta  Ex 
position,  754;  property  values  in.  in  1870, 
compared  with  the  South.  759. 

New  York,  The,  at  opening  of  Kiel  Canal, 
489. 

NEWCOMB,  Raymond  L..  on  Jeannette  expedi 
tion,  418. 

NEWFOUNDLAND,  Island  of.  American  fishermen 
attacked  at,  509. 

NEWTON,  Sir  Isaac,  653. 

NEWTON,  General  John,  blows  up  obstructions 
in  Hell  Gate,  493. 

NIAGARA  SUSPENSION  BRIDGE,  The.  replaced  by 
a  cantilever,  667. 

NICARAGUA,  plans  for  a  canal  across,  399 ; 
Clayton-Bulwer  Treaty  with,  399  ;  the  Hise 
grant  to  United  States  by,  399:  canal 
schemes  in,  revived  after  the  Civil  War. 
400;  temporary  failure  of  the  canal  project 
in,  402;  it  reappears  upon  failure  of  Pan 
ama,  scheme,  404;  canal  construction  com 
pany  formed,  405;  route  of  canal  and  esti 


mate  of  its  earnings.  406  ei  seq.;  slowness 
of  work  on  the  canal,  408;  Great  Britain's 
occupation  cf  Corinto  in,  700;  the  Blue- 
fields  affair  with.  700. 

NICHOLLS,  Governor  F.  T..  Democratic  candi 
date  in  Louisiana,  225,  573  ;  vetoes  Lottery 
Bill,  599. 

Nina,  The,  654. 

NINDEMAN,  m\Jeannette  Expedition,  422. 

Nipsic,  The,  in  Samoan  hurricane,  6ofi  et  s,q. 

"  NOBS,"  The,  362,  373. 

NORMAN,  Lieutenant,  on  Greely  Relief  Expedi 
tion.  435. 

NOROS.  onjean/iette  Expedition,  422. 

NORTH  CAROLINA,  State  of.  admitted  to  repre 
sentation  in  Congress,  20 ;  free  negroes 
permitted  to  vote  in.  till  1835,  119;  reck 
less  financiering  by  carpet-baggers  in.  124  ; 
negroes  practically  disfranchised  in.  540; 
phosphate  beds  in,  764. 

NORTH  DAKOTA,  State  of,  "  Messiah  craze  ''  in. 
590;  Populists  in.  633;  Pullman  strike  ex 
tends  to,  729. 

NORTH  POLE,  expeditions  in  search  of,  41;  ct 
seq. 

NORTHERN  PACIFIC  RAILROAD.  The,  condition 
of,  in  1870,  2;  land  grant  to,  103. 

NORTHERN  SECURITIES  MERGER,  916;  govern 
ment  injunction,  gi8. 

NORTHWESTERN  BOUNDARY  QUESTION,  The,  dis 
pute  with  England  over,  92 ;  decided  by 
Emperor  William  of  Germany  in  favor  of 
the  United  States,  95. 

Northwestern  Miller,  The,  turns  public  interest 
to  Russian  famine  sufferers,  610. 

Nueve  de  Julio,  The,  622. 

GATES,  Governor  (Alabama1),  749. 

O'BRIEN.  Sheriff,  gives  the  Times  evidence 
against  the  Tweed  Ring,  14. 

G'CoNOR,  Charles,  appointed  to  prosecute 
Tweed,  15;  declines  nomination  for  Presi 
dent,  70  ;  nominated  by  Labor  Party,  286. 

"  OCTOPUS,"  The.     See  CALIFORNIA,  State  of. 

OGDEN,  General  Frederick  N.,  commands  citi 
zens  in  New  Orleans.  156. 

OHIO,  State  of,  rejects  negro  suffrage  amend 
ment  in  1867,  nq:  few  constitutional 
changes  in.  536;  its  iron  industry  corn- 
pared  with  that  of  Alabama.  763. 

OHIO  RIVER,  The  unprecedented  floods  along. 
388. 

OIL  CITY  FIRE.  The.     See  TITCSVILLE,  Town  of. 

OKLAHOMA,  opened  to  settlers,  586  et  seq.;  mar 
vellous  growth  of,  589. 

O'LEARY,  Mrs.,  639. 

O'LEARY.  Mayor  Richard,  his  proclamation 
after  attack  on  Vicksburg,  144. 

Olga.  The.  in  Samoan  hurricane  606  et  seq. 

OLIVER,  H.  W.,  352. 


951 


INDEX 


OLNEY,  Richard,  his  boldness  as  Secretary  of 
State,  707. 

OMAHA,  City  of,  its  great  increase  in  size  be 
tween  1880  and  1890,  664. 

Omaha,  The.  521. 

OMAHAS,  The,  severally  land  holdings  by,  741. 

ONE-EYED  JIM,  hung  with  other   Modocs,  181. 

Onward,  The.  515. 

ORDER  OF  CAUCASIANS,  The,  377. 

OREGON,  State  of,  Indian  troubles  in.  175  ;  dis 
puted  returns  from,  in  Tilden-Hayes  elec 
tion,  220 ;  few  constitutional  changes  in, 
537  ;  Populists  in,  633  ;  condition  of  militia 
in,  731. 

Oregon,  The,  448. 

Oregon,  U.  S.  battle-ship,  807,  Sir. 

Oreto,  The.     See  F:orida,  The. 

OSAGES,  The,  lk  Messiah  craze  "  among,  591. 

OSBORN  vs.  NICHOLSON,  case  of,  112. 

OSGOODBY,  George.  550. 

OTIS,  General  Elwcll  S.,  844. 

OTTENDORFEK,  Oswald,  228. 

OTTOES.  The,  741. 

PACIFIC  CABLE,  861. 

PACIFIC  TIME,  671. 

PACKARD,  S.  B.,  Republican  candidate  for  Gov 
ernor  in  Louisiana.  225. 

PACKARD, U.  S.  Marshal,  takes  possession  of  the 
State  House  in  New  Orleans.  83. 

PAINE,  Charles  J.,  789. 

PALMA,  Tomaso  Estrada,  first  President  Cuban 
republic,  830. 

PALMER,  Ex-Senator,  nominated  for  President 
by  Gold  Democrats,  782. 

PALMER,  John  M.,  227,  628,  75.1. 

PALMER,  Mrs.  Potter,  636. 

PALMER,  T.  W.,  618. 

PANAMA,  De  Lesseps'  attempt  to  cut  a  canal 
across,  399  ;  gross  mismanagement  in  con 
struction  of Canal.  403  ;  Canal  officials 

prosecuted  and  imprisoned,  404  ;  Prestan 
rebels  in,  482  ;  railway  across,  monopo 
lized  by  Southern  Pacific  Railway,  736  ; 
the  Railway  taken  up  by  San  Fran 
cisco  merchants,  738. 

PAN-AMERICAK  CONFERENCE,  The,  409  ct  seq.; 
slight  results  of,  416. 

PAN-AMERICAN  EXPOSITION,  885.  892. 

PAN-ELECTRIC  SCANDAL,  The,  498,  499. 

PAJ^IC  OF  1873,  The,  causes  of,  253  ;  a  second 
Black  Friday,  256  :  wild  scene  in  the 
Stock  Exchange,  257  ;  methods  of  allevia 
tion  adopted  by  New  York  Clearing  House, 
262  ;  universality  of,  262  ;  its  lingering 
effects,  263. 

PANIC  OF  1893,  The,  691  ct  seq. 

PARK,  Engineer,  warns  people  at  Johnstown. 


594- 
PARKHTRST,  Charles  H. 


joins   Society  for  the 


Prevention  of  Crime,  708  ;  his  brave  fight 
against  political  corruption  in  New  York, 
709  ;  universal  praise  of.  714. 

PARSONS,  Albert  R.,  hanged.  532,  533. 

PATERNALISM,  tendency  towards,  by  Federal 
Government.  503. 

"PATRONS  OF  HUSBANDRY."  The.  See  GRAN 
GERS,  The. 

PATTISON,  Robert  E..  577. 

PAVY,  Doctor  Octave  P..  death  of,  on  Greely 
Expedition.  433. 

PAYN,  David  L.,  588. 

PAYNE.  Henry  B..  on  Electoral  Commission. 
218. 

PAYNE.  John  Knowles,  621. 

PEACE  JUBILEE,  held  in  Boston  to  celebrate  the 
end  of  the  war,  4  ;  Mr.  Gilmore's  interna 
tional,  5. 

PEARSON,  Mr.,  appointed  Postmaster  in  New 
York  City,  328. 

PEARY,  Lieutenant  Robert  E.,  his  trip  across 
Greenland  in  1892,  441  et  seq  ;  forced  to 
turn  back  in  1894,  442  ;  his  brilliant  ex 
ploit  in  1895,  415. 

PEARY,  Mrs.  Robert  E.,  accompanies  her  hus 
band,  441  ;  her  valuable  observations,  442. 

PELTON,  Colonel,  215. 

PENDLETON,  George  H.,  introduces  Civil  Ser 
vice  Reform  Rill,  341. 

PENN,  D.  B.,  in  Louisiana  political  troubles, 
156  et  seq. 

PENNSYLVANIA,  State  of,  unsettled  condition  of 
its  western  part,  2  ;  labor  troubles  in 
mining  districts  of,  293;  "bosses"  and 
"  scabs  "  shot  down  in,  294  ;  Homestead 
strike  in,  625  ;  Titusville  fire  in,  238  ;  at 
World's  Fair,  641  ;  fine  showing  of  militia 
in,  731  ;  represented  at  Atlanta  Exposition. 
754  ;  its  property  values  in  1890,  compared 
with  the  South,  759;  its  coal  and  iron 
wealth  compared  with  that  of  Alabama, 

763- 

PENNSYLVANIA  FISCAL  AGENCY,  The.  See  CREDIT 
MOBILIER,  The. 

PENSIONS,  used  as  a  campaign  slogan  in  iCSo. 
313 ;  great  corruption  in  allotting,  501  ; 
Cleveland's  attempt  to  check  indiscrimi 
nate,  502  :  alarming  increase  in.  564, 

565- 

PERU,  complication  with,  in  1881,460;  the  Pe 
ruvian  Co.  in,  461. 

PETROLEUM,  rapid  increase  in  production  of. 
after  the  war,  2. 

PHELAN,  James  D..  738. 

PHELPS.  William  Walter,  472. 

PHELPS,  DODGK  &  Co.,  terrorized  by  revenue 
agents,  62. 

PHILADELPHIA,  City  of,  its  population  in  1870,  5  ; 
Centennial  Exposition  in,  196  et  seq.,  227; 
its  ancient  buildings,  196,  197;  Exposition 


952 


INDEX 


of  i86s  in.  617-  its  rank  in  population  in 
1890.  664  ;  Salvation  Army  lands  at.  686. 

PHILIPPINE  ISLANDS,  833  ;  products,  834  ;  tribes. 
835  ;  and  Spanish  rule,  839 ;  the  religious 
question,  841-  secret  orders.  841-  independ 
ent  republic,  844  commission  of  concilia 
tion,  844-  Congress,  847 :  Shurman  Com 
mission,  852  •  U.  S.  Senate  resolution.  853  ; 
U.  S.  Supreme  Court  decision,  855 ;  Taft 
Commission.  858  ;  and  U.  S.  Congress,  859; 
Pacific  cable,  861  ;  education,  862,  913. 

PHILLIPS,  Wendell,  candidate  for  Governor  in 
Massachusetts  on  a  fusion  ticket,  286. 

PHONOGRAPH.  The,  674. 

PIERREPONT,  Edwards,  refuses  Ames's  petition 
for  Federal  aid,  147. 

PINCHBACK,  P.  B.  S.,  his  election  to  the  Louisi 
ana  Senate  declared  illegal,  80  ;  succeeds 
Warmoth  as  Governor  for  the  unexpired 
term,  84  ;  recognized  by  the  President  as 
lawful  executive  of  Louisiana,  85. 

PINGREE.  Mayor  Hazen  S.,  725. 

PINKERTONS,  The.  at  Homestead,  625  et  seq. ; 
investigation  of  employment  of.  627. 

Pinta,  The,  654. 

PITTS,  Captain,  576. 

PITTSBURG,  City  of,  great  riots  in,  in  1877,  304 
et  seq.;  loss  of  life  and  property,  305,  306. 

PLAISTED,  Harris  M.,  314. 

PLATT,  Thomas  C.,  at  the  interview  between 
Garfield  and  Conkling.  323  ;  resigns  from 
Senate,  327,  463,  622. 

PO-KA-GON,  Simon,  639. 

POLAND,  Judge  Luke  P.,  242. 

POLITICAL  CLUBS,  growth  of,  by  1888,  549. 

POLYGAMY,  gradual  stamping  out  of,  602  et  seq. 

POPULATION,  centre  of,  in  1870,  i  ;  size  of,  i  ; 
increase  between  1870  and  1880,  351 ;  its 
tendency  toward  the  cities,  664  ;  resume  of 
increase  in,  664 ;  centre  of,  in  1890,  664  ; 
census.  1900,  880. 

POPULISTS,  The,  strength  of,  in  1892,  632.  633, 
773.  781- 

PORK,  removal  of  foreign  embargo  on  American, 
566. 

PORTER,  Admiral  David  B.,  at  Grant's  funeral, 
522  ;  death  of,  579. 

PORTO  Rico  and  the  U.  S.  occupation,  812,  822, 
827  ;  civil  government  proclaimed,  824 ; 
tariff  bill,  870. 

POSTAL  UNION  CONGRESS  AND  TREATY,  789. 

POST-OFFICE  DEPARTMENT  SCANDAL,  930. 

POTTAWOTOMIES,  The,  chiefs  of,  at  World's  Fair, 

639- 

POTTER,  Bishop  Henry  C.,  561. 

POWDERLY,  Terence  V.,  529. 

Pmuhatan,  The,  521,  522. 

PRATT,  Commissioner,  retirement  of,  241. 

PRESIDENTIAL  SUCCESSION,  The,  questions  con 
cerning,  brought  up  during  Garfield's  ill 


ness,  343,  344  :  legislation  on  the  subject. 
348,  349  ;  all  contingencies  in,  provided  for. 
350. 

'l  PRESS-GAG  LAW,"  The,  242. 

PRINCE,  L.  B..  245. 

PROFIT  SHARING.  927. 

PROHIBITIONISTS,  The,  fuse  with  the  Labor 
Party  in  Massachusetts  in  1870,  286. 

PROTECTION,  various  claims  as  to  its  effect  upon 
shipbuilding,  17;  nothing  bolder  than  inci 
dental,  urged  in  1870,  30 ; — -to  home  indus 
tries  more  or  less  discussed  in  campaign  of 
1880, 313;  adroit  management,  by  advocates 
of,  in  the  House,  353  ;  widespread  demand 
for  extreme,  504 ;  the  Republican  watch 
word  in  1892,  632  ;  contended  for  by  mem 
bers  of  both  parties,  694. 

Proteus,  The,  424,  435  et  seq. 

PROVOST,  Bishop  Samuel,  561. 

PUBLIC  LANDS,  grants  of,  for  agricultural  col 
leges,  283. 

PULLMAN,  George  M.,  724. 

PULLMAN,  Town  of,  722,  723. 

PULLMAN  STRIKE,  The,  723  ct  seq.;  caused  by 
company's  refusal  to  arbitrate,  725 ;  Sov 
ereign  orders  abandonment  of,  728  ;  effects 
of,  729 ;  questions  arising  from  sentences 
of  leaders  in,  733,  734 ;  public  sympathy 
for.  in  California.  735. 

PUTNAM,  William  L.,  on  Fisheries  Commission 
of  1887.  513. 

QUAY,  Matthew  S.,  charges  against,  577,  622. 
"  QUILLS,"  The,  n. 

QUINTANA,  Senor,  separates  from  members  of 
Pan-American  Conference,  412. 

RAILROADS,  mileage  of,  doubled  during  1860-70, 
2  ;  regulation  of,  by  States,  538  ;  increase 
of,  between  1880  and  1890,  664  ;  elevated, 
668  ;  Boston  underground,  669  ;  reckless 
legislation  for,  759  :  mergers,  916. 

RAIN-IN-THE-FACE,  in  the  Custer  fight,  189. 

RALSTON,  Sergeant,  death  of,  on  Greely  Expe 
dition.  433. 

RANDALL,  Samuel  J.,  227 ;  at  Grant's  funeral, 
130,  520. 

Ranger,  The,  576. 

RANSOM,  Senator  Matthew  W.,  at  Grant's 
funeral,  520. 

RAWLINS,  General  John  A.,  death  of,  29. 

REA,  Alexander,  murdered  by  "  Mollie  Ma- 
guires,"  296. 

READING,  City  of,  riots  in,  in  1877.  3°5- 

"  READJUSTERS,"  The,  354. 

REAL  ESTATE  CONGRESS,  The  Chicago,  682. 

"  REBEL  BRIGADIERS,"  The.  joy  of,  over  Cleve 
land's  election.  479. 

"  REBEL  FLAG  "  ORDER,  The,  503  ;  used  against 
Cleveland,  550. 


953 


INDEX 


RECIPROCITY,  credit  for,  due  to  Elaine,  661  ;  in 
the  McKinley  Tariff  Bill.  566. 

RECONSTRUCTION  (see  also  under  separate 
States),  constitutional  questions  concern-  ; 
ing,  18  ;  loyal  governments  recognized  I 
in  all  seceding  States  by  end  of  1865,  18  :  i 
Congress  assumes  charge  of,  19  ;  the  iron 
law  of  March  2,  1867,  19  ;  Congress's  work 
towards,  20;  all  States  again  represented  in 
Congress,  22  ;  unwise  methods  of,  resorted  i 
to  by  Congress,  36;  influence  of  the  Ku- 
Klux  Klan  on,  38,  39;  general  restoration 
of  franchise  to  whites,  40:  political  disabil 
ities  of  Southerners  removed  by,  79:  Fed 
eral  supervisors  appointed  in  all  election 
precincts,  79;  necessarily  carried  out  by 
those  living  in  the  South,  114;  not  agents, 
but  system  of,  to  be  condemned,  118;  Union 
and  Loyal  Leagues  during,  121 ;  extrava 
gant  expenditures  in  South  Carolina  dur 
ing.  122:  reckless  financial  operations  dur 
ing,  124  et  seq.;  Governor  Ames's  opinion 
on,  151. 

RED  CLOUD,  visits  Washington,  170;  protests 
against  white  trespassers  in  Black  Hills, 
174;  declares  Indians  are  ''succeeding 
backwards,"  186:  his  views  on  the  "Mes 
siah  craze."  592. 

RED  CROSS  SOCIETY,  The,  work  of,  in  Russian 
famine,  614. 

REED,  Thomas  B.,  at  Grant's  funeral,  520;  his 
novel  rulings  as  Speaker  of  the  House, 
562,  563,  797. 

'"  REFORM  PARTY,"  The,  the  Democrats'  nom 
dc  guerre,  35. 

REID,  Whitelaw,  caricatures  of,  74. 

Reina  Regente,  The,  622. 

REITER,  Commander,  unjust  punishment  of.  in 
Barrundia  affair,  576. 

RELIGIONS,  World's  Parliament  of,  682. 

RENO,  Major  Marcus  A.,  fails  to  support  Custer, 
187,  188:  his  responsibility  for  the  defeat, 

REPUBLICAN  PARTY,  The,  in  full  power  in  1870, 
23;  strife  among  its  members,  24;  its  lack 
of  positive  policy,  30;  first  signs  of  split  in, 
31  ;  strong  influence  of  Horace  Greeley 
upon,  58  ;  split  in,  in  1884,  467:  crushing 
defeat  of,  in  1890.  577;  ''tidal  wave"  in  i 
favor  of,  two  years  later,  615  ;  Convention 
of  1896, 773;  platform,  774:  bolt  of  silverites, 
777:  campaign  1900,  865. 

"  RESTORATION,"  supposed  at  first  to  cover  the 
ground  in  case  of  the  seceding  States, 
18. 

RESUMPTION  OF  SPECIE  PAYMENTS,  an  issue  in 
campaign  of  1876,  263:  passage  of  the  Act, 
264:  Sherman's  resolute  pushing  of,  265; 
opposed  by  Democrats,  265;  absolute  suc 
cess  of,  266. 


REVELS,  Hiram  R.,  his  letter  on  the  Mississippi 
troubles.  148. 

REVENUE  LAWS,  necessity  for  reform  in,  62. 

RICE.  Sergeant,  death  of,  on  Greely  Expedition, 
432. 

RICH,  Governor  (Michigan),  749. 

RICHARDSON^W.  A.,  his  irregular  contracts  with 
Sanborn,  236  ;  resigns.  237;  in  the  panic  of 
1873,  259:  his  failure  to  act  promptly.  260. 

RICKS,  Judge,  his  contract-labor  decision,  735. 

RIDDLE,  his  wonderful  escape  from  the  Mo- 
docs,  177,  180. 

RIZAL.  Dr.,  841. 

ROBERTSON,  William  H.,  defeats  Conkling's 
plans,  310;  appointed  New  York  Collector, 
323- 

ROBESON,  George  M.,  succeeds  Borie  as  Secre 
tary  of  the  Navy,  29. 

ROCHAMBEAU,  Marquis  de,  at  Yorktown  Cen 
tennial,  386. 

ROF.BLING,  John  A.,  667. 

ROEBLING,  Washington  A..  667. 

ROGERS,  in  Pan-Electric  scandal,  498. 

Rogers,  The,  419. 

ROLLINS,  454. 

ROOSEVELT,  Theodore,  nominated  for  New 
York  Collectorship,  245,  462:  supports 
Blaine,  472;  nominated  for  Vice-President. 
865;  President,  909;  biography,  909:  ad 
ministration,  913  ;  coal  strike,  925. 

ROOT,  Elihu,  Secretary  of  War.  787. 

ROOT,  John  W.,  639. 

ROSE,  William  R.,  681. 

ROSECRANS,  General  W.  S..  750. 

"ROUGHS,"  The,  u. 

ROWLANDS,  John.     See  STANLEY,  Henry  M. 

RUDINI,  Marquis  di.  demands  indemnity  for 
murdered  Italians,  573. 

RUSSIA,  great  famine  of  1891  in,  609;  American 
relief  for,  610  etseq.:  her  friendly  feeling 
for  the  United  States,  614;  unpopular  ex 
tradition  treaty  with.  700. 

SACKVILLE-WEST,  Sir  Lionel,  on  Fisheries  Com 
mission  of  1887,  513;  his  indiscreet  letter 
in  1888,  552;  his  recall  asked  for,  553. 

SAFE-BURGLARY  FRAUDS,  The,  237. 

SAFFORD,  Governor  A.  P.  K.,  his  letter  on  the 
Indian  troubles  in  Arizona,  172. 

ST.  ARMAND,  Town  of,  occupied  by  Fenians,  4. 

ST.  GAUDENS,  Augustus,  647. 

ST.  JOHN,  John  P.,  479. 

ST.  Louis,  City  of,  its  population  in  1870.  5  ;  in 
1890.  664. 

St.  Louis,  The,  490. 

ST.  PAUL,  City  of,  great  increase  in  its  size  be 
tween  1880  and  1890,  664. 

SALOR,  Private,  death  of.  on  Greely  Expedi 
tion,  433. 

SALVATION  ARMY,  The,  686,  687. 


954 


INDEX 


SAMOA,  Island  of,  United  States  interests  in, 
605  ;  terrible  hurricane  in,  606  etseq.;  an 
archy  in,  609;  United  States  agreement,  821. 

SAMPSON,  Rear-Admiral,  W.  T.,  United  States 
navy  in  Cuban  waters,  807  ;  controversy 

SANBORN,  John  D.,  irregular  Treasury  contracts 
with,  236,  237. 

SAND-LOT  MEETINGS,  The,  370. 

SANFORD.  Henry  S.,  392,  394. 

and  court  of  inquiry.  814, 816. 

SAN  FRANCISCO,  City  of,  Kearneyism  in,  369  et 
seq.;  extortionate  transportation  rates  to  i 


SCONCHIN,  hung  with  other  Modocs,  181. 

SCOTT,  Captain,  seizes  the  David J.  Adams  in 
Digby  Harbor,  510. 

SCOTT,  R.  K.,  extravagance  in  South  Carolina 
during  Governorship  of,  128. 

SCOTT,  Thomas  A..  454,  474. 

SCRANTON,  City  of,  riots  in.  in  1877,  305. 

Sea  King,  The.     See  Shenandoah. 

SEAL  FISHERIES,  The,  dispute  over,  515  et  seq.  ; 
ratification  of  a  treaty  concerning,  516;  re 
port  of  Board  of  Commissioners  on  the 
dispute  over,  516.  795. 


and  from,  736  ;  merchants  of,  form  a  traffic    SEAL-LOCK  FRAUDS,  The,  237. 


association,  738. 

SANGER,  Thomas,  murdered  by  "  Mollie  Ma- 
guires,"  300. 

Santa  Maria,  The,  654. 

SANTO  DOMINGO,  Island  of,  efforts  of  President 
Grant  to  annex,  48  et  seq.;  failure  of  the 
treaty  with,  53,  54  ;  a  Commission  reports 
favorably  on  annexation  of,  56. 

SARGENT,  Senator  A.  A.,  369. 

SATOLLIJ  Cardinal,  716. 

SATURDAY  CLUB,  The,  protests  against  Grant's 
removal  of  Motley,  56. 

"  SCALAWAGS,"  The.  antecedents  and  character 
of,  504,  505  ;  outrages  committed  by,  506. 

SCAR-FACED  CHARLEY,  in  Modoc  War,  176  et 
seq. 

SCHECHOFFSKY,  Princess,  636. 

SCHENCK,  Robert  C.,  one  of  the  High  Commis 
sioners  at  Washington  in  1871.  46;  intro 
duces  bill  to  contract  currency,  250. 

SCHLEY.  Winfield  S.,  commands  Greely  Re 
lief  Expedition,  427.  440 ;  Commodore 
United  States  Navy  in  Cuban  waters,  807  ; 
controversy  and  court  of  inquiry,  814.  816. 

SCHNAUBELT,  Rudolph,  532. 

SCHNEIDER,  Private,  death  of,  on  Greely  Expe 
dition,  433. 

SCHOFIELD,  General  J.  M.,  retained  by  Grant  as 
Secretary  of  War,  29 :  at  Inaugural  Cen 
tennial,  561.  750. 

SCHURMAN,  Jacob  G.,  Philippine  Commission. 
844,  852. 

SCHURZ,  Carl,  prominent  in  Missouri  politics, 
31  ;  his  open  opposition  to  the  reelection 
of  Grant,  59  ;  appointed  chairman  at  the 
convention  of  "  Come-Outers,"  68  :  carica 
tures  of,  during  campaign  of  1872,  74  ; 
condemns  Federal  action  in  Louisiana 
matters,  166 ;  prominent  in  anti-Grant 
movement  in  1876,  205  ;  appointed  Secre 
tary  of  the  Interior,  224,  275  ;  enforces 
competitive  examinations  in  the  Interior 
Department.  336,  471. 

SCHWAB,  Michael,  sentenced  to  life-imprison 
ment,  533. 

SCLOPIS,  Count,  member  of  Geneva  Tribunal, 
90. 


SEDGWICK,  John,  espouses  Greeley's  cause,  70. 

SEMINOLES,  The,  condition  of,  in  1874,  169,  586  ; 
"  Messiah  craze"  among,  591. 

SEVERALTY  LAND  SYSTEM,  The,  applied  to  Indian 
tribes.  739  et  seq. 

SEWARD,  W.  H..  anxious  to  settle  the  "  Alabama 
Claims,"  88 ;  causes  the  United  States  to 
be  represented  at  Paris  Conference  as  a 
gold  country,  277. 

SH AFTER,  Major-General  William  R..  United 
States  Army  in  Cuba,  800. 

SHANDLEY,  Justice,  illegal  registration  from 
house  of,  in  1868,  12. 

SHARPE,  George  H.,  243. 

SHARPE,  Jacob,  prosecuted  for  bribery,  495. 

SHEARD,  Titus,  462. 

Shenandoah.  The,  claims  for  depredations 
by.  38. 

SHEPHERD,  appreciation  of  his  services  as  Gov 
ernor  of  District  of  Columbia,  62. 

SHERIDAN,  Philip  H.,  in  command  of  the  Mili 
tary  Department  of  the  Gulf.  161  ;  his  re 
port  on  the  Louisiana  situation,  162  it  seq.: 
vainly  prohibits  trespassing  in  Black 
Hills,  174,  440  ;  at  Grant's  funeral.  5:2  ; 
death  of.  579. 

SHERMAN,  John,  his  opinion  of  Grant's  admin 
istration,  24,  27 ;  his  opinion  of  the  Fif 
teenth  Amendment,  37.  38  ;  his  severe 
criticism  of  Greeley,  68  ;  his  letter  to  his 
brother  on  the  political  situation.  71  ;  his 
vote  in  the  Belknap  trial,  202  ;  suggests 
Hayes's  nomination,  211 ;  appointed  Sec 
retary  of  the  Treasury,  224,  227 .  on  the 
Hayes-Tilden  election,  228  ;  his  opinion  of 
Hayes's  character,  229  ;  his  account  of  the 
New  York  Civil  Service  removals,  244. 
245  ;  his  opinion  on  resumption,  249  ;  his 
financial  ability,  264  ;  pushes  through  re 
sumption,  265  et  &eq.;  requests  addition  of 
"Allison  tip"  to  the  Bland  Bill,  278; 
Sherman  silver  purchasing  law  passed  in 
1890.  but  repealed  in  1893,  279  ;  mentioned 
as  a  Presidential  candidate  in  1880,  308  : 
blames  Foster  for  his  defeat,  311,  329,  411. 
452  ;  at  Grant's  funeral,  520,  548 :  un 
founded  charges  against,  554 ;  censures 


955 


INDEX 


Foraker,  555  ;  declares  Jefferson  Davis  a 
traitor,  585  ;  appointed  Secretary  of  State, 
787  ;  and  sealing  question,  795. 

SHERMAN,  General  W.  T.,  his  fears  for  Grant, 
28  ;  surprised  at  the  nomination  of  Grant 
and  Greeley,  70  ;  urges  that  political  power 
should  be  given  to  "  the  young  men  who 
served  in  the  rebel  army,"  131  ;  his  views 
on  the  situation  in  the  South,  132  ;  on  the 
Indian  troubles,  171  ;  his  letter  to  his 
brother  in  the  Belknap  matter,  201 ;  re 
moves  to  St.  Louis  to  be  free  from  Bel- 
knap,  202  ;  at  Yorktown  Centennial,  387  ; 
on  the  "Rebel  Flag"  order,  503;  at 
Grant's  funeral,  522  ;  death  of,  579  ;  his 
criticism  of  Jefferson  Davis,  584,  585. 

SHERWOOD,  Lieutenant,  killed  by  Modocs,  180. 

SHIELDS,  General  James,  582. 

SHIPBUILDING,  American,  at  a  low  ebb  after  the 
war,  17. 

SHIP  SUBSIDY  BILL,  921. 

••SHIPTON,  Mother,"  prophecy  of,  309. 

SICKLES,  General  Daniel  E.,  demonstration 
against,  in  Madrid  during  the  Virginius 
excitement,  48. 

SILVER,  demonetization  of,  275 ;  legislation 
concerning,  before  1873,  276  ;  grievance  of 
advocates  of,  277  ;  Congress  hesitates  to 
authorize  free  coinage  of.  278  ;  purchases 
of,  under  Bland- Allison  Act.  279;  increased 

purchase  of bullion  under  Sherman 

Law  of  1890,  279  ;  end  of  acquisition  of,  by 
United  States  in  1893,  279  ;  free  coinage 
of,  suspended  in  India,  691  ;  no  longer 
purchased  by  United  States,  693,  773  ;  and 
Republican  party,  774 ;  and  Democrat 
party,  779 ;  as  a  campaign  issue,  782  ; 
envoys  to  the  Powers  appointed,  789  ;  in 
campaign  1900,  866,  875. 

SIMMONS,  Mr.,  236. 

SINCLAIR,  Captain,  386. 

Sioux,  The,  insurrection  of,  186  et  seq.;  open 
ing  of  their  reservation  in  South  Dakota 
to  settlers,  590;  ''Messiah  craze"  among, 
59o. 

SITTING  BULL,  averts  a  massacre,  182 ;  turns 
hostile,  186  ;  death  of,  593. 

"SLAUGHTER-HOUSE  CASES,"  The,  in  Louisiana, 

III,    112. 

SLOLOX,  hung  with  other  Modocs,  181. 

SMITH,  Charles  Emory,  distributes  American 
supplies  in  Russia,  613  ;  Ambassador  to  St. 
Petersburg,  made  Postmaster-General. 
787. 

SMITH,  Edward  P.,  advocates  Indian  lands  in 
severally,  741. 

SMITH,  General,  court-martialed,  in  the  Philip 
pines,  849. 

SMITH,  George  B.,  228. 

SMITH.  Hoke.  749. 


SMITH,  John  Q.,  advocates  Indian  lands  in 
severally,  742. 

SMITH,  Joseph,  death  of,  601. 

SMITH,  W.  R..  227. 

SMITH,  GOULD,  MARTIN  &  Co.,  firm  of,  40. 

"  SOAP,"  political,  317,  557. 

SOCIETY  FOR  THE  PREVENTION  OF  CRIMJ:,  The, 
New  York  City,  708. 

SOLOMON,  Hardy,  215. 

SONS  OF  CONFEDERATE  VETERANS,  The,  assemble 
at  Knoxville,  748. 

SOUTH,  The,  belief  at  the  North  in  incorrigible- 
ness  of,  30 ;  sentiment  in  favor  of  reen- 
franchisement  of,  31  ;  acceptance  by,  of 
the  facts  of  the  war,  35  ;  evils  caused  in, 
by  reconstruction,  36 ;  impossibility  of 
permanent  military  government  in,  38  ; 
removal  of  political  disabilities  reduces 
rancor  of,  against  the  North,  78  ;  Federal 
supervisors  of  election  in,  79;  race  troubles 
in,  79  :  bitterness  towards  the  North,  m  ; 
desolation  of,  113;  moral  and  social  stag 
nation  in,  114  ;  determination  in,  to  keep 
down  the  negro,  118  ;  constant  race  con 
flicts  in,  121  ;  reckless  extravagance  of  re- 
constructionists  throughout,  iz^etseq.;  ex 
aggerated  reports  of  violence  in,  after  1874. 
129  ;  left  to  itself  after  Hayes's  administra 
tion,  354;  feeling  in,  towards  disfranchising 

negroes,  540;  the  New  ,  748  et  seq.: 

Atlanta  Exposition  proves  universal  prog 
ress  of,  except  in  "  black  belts,"  755  ;  phe 
nomenal  increase  of  values  in,  from  1880 
to  1890,  759  ;  manufactures  at,  761  ;  flour 
and  pig  iron  from,  762  ;  apparently  un 
limited  resources  of,  763  ;  development  of. 
due  to  Southerners.  764  ;  loyalty  at,  764. 
765  ;  serious  treatment  of  liquor  question 
at,  765  ;  the  great  problem  presented  by 
the  negroes  in.  766  ;  decrease  of  the  blacks 
in,  771  ;  feeling  of  old  slaveholders  at,  for 
their  former  slaves,  772  ;  immense  white 
immigration  to,  772. 

SOUTH  CAROLINA,  State  of,  admitted  to  re 
presentation  in  Congress,  20  ;  voices  the 
"New  Departure"  in  its  Convention  of 
1870,  35  ;  writ  of  habeas  corpus  suspended 
in,  79  :  negro  legislators  in,  after  the  war. 
122  ;  illiteracy  of  officials  in,  124  ;  reckless 
extravagance  in,  128, 129  ;  terrible  financial 
condition  of,  132;  taxpayers  of,  appeal  to 
the  President,  132;  Chamberlain's  adminis 
tration  in,  135  ;  returns  from,  in  Tilden- 
Hayes  election.  219;  Constitutional  Con 
vention  in,  537 ;  political  suppression  of 
negroes  in.  540,  541 ;  Convention  of  1895 
in,  542  et  seq.;  the  "Mississippi  plan" 
adopted  in,  546;  the  Tillman  movement 
in,  633;  location  of  "  black  belt"  in,  756: 
phosphates  in.  764 :  its  dispensary  system 


956 


INDEX 


for  the  sale  of  liquor,  765  ;  its  stringent 
legislation  against  lynchings,  766. 

SOUTH  DAKOTA,  State  of,  Sioux  reservation  in, 
opened  to  settlers,  590  ;  "Messiah  craze" 
in,  590  et  seq.;  condition  of  militia  in,  731. 

SOUTHERN  PACIFIC  RAILROAD,  The,  its  strong 
monopoly  in  California,  736  et  seq.;  pro 
posal  to  refund  its  debts,  737. 

SOUTHWESTERN  STRIKE,  The,  528. 

SOVEREIGN,  James  R.,  728. 

SPAIN,  barbarities  of,  in  Cuba,  47  ;  trouble  with, 
from  Virginius  affair,  48 ;  Spain  and 
United  States,  804  ;  naval  battle  in  Manila 
bay,  806;  campaign  in  Cuba,  807,811; 
peace  protocol,  812;  treaty  of  peace,  820; 
and  the  Philippines,  839,  844. 

SPEAKMAN,  Mr.,  murdered  by  Spaniards  in 
Cuba,  47. 

SPEER,  Judge  Emory,  751. 

SPEYERS,  Albert  R.,  Fisk's  broker  in  Black 
Friday  transactions,  44. 

SPIES,  Augustus,  532  ;  hanged,  533. 

SPRAGUE,  Charles,  320. 

STAEMPFLI,  Jacques,  member  of  Geneva  Tribu 
nal,  90. 

STALLO,  J.  B.,  228. 

"STALWARTS,"  The,  327. 

STANLEY,  Henry  M.,  his  African  explorations. 
392,  393  ;  honors  paid  to,  393. 

STANWOOD,  Jacob,  454. 

•'  STAR  ROUTE  FRAUDS,  The,"  336  et  seq.;  only 
one  man  ever  punished  for,  341. 

STATE  CONSTITUTIONS,  general  revision  of,  536 
et  seq. 

••  STATE  SUICIDE,"  the  question  of,  18. 

STATES'  RIGHTS,  important  decisions  concern 
ing,  III,  112. 

STEAMBOAT  FRANK,  in  Modoc  War,  179. 

STEARNS,  Governor  (Florida),  218. 

STEARNS.  Mr.,  670. 

STEUBEN,  Baron  von.  at  Yorktown  Centennial, 
386. 

STEVENS,  Minister  John  L.,  his  actions  in 
Hawaii,  702. 

STEVENS,  Thaddeus,  his  extreme  views  on  re 
construction,  18  ;  one  of  the  first  in  the 
North  to  advocate  negro  suffrage,  119. 

STEVENSON,  Vice-President  Adlai,  749 ;  nomi 
nated  for  Vice-President  1900,  865  ;  special 
envoy,  789. 

STEVENSON,  Job  E.,  227. 

STEVENSON,  J.  W.,  227. 

STEWART,  A.  T.,  proposed  for  the  Treasury, 
portfolio,  29 ;  liable  to  a  heavy  revenue 
forfeiture,  62. 

STOCKBRIDGES,  The,  741. 

STOUGHTON,  E.  W.,  227. 

STRIKE  OF  1877,  303  et  seq.;  results  and  end  of, 
306 ;  Kearneyism  in  California  a  reflex  of, 
362. 


STRIKE  OF  1894.     See  PULLMAN  STRIKE. 

STRIKES,  public  sympathy  with,  292  ;  perma 
nent  commission  to  investigate,  recom 
mended,  735;  steel,  924;  coal,  925;  com 
mission  appointed,  926 ;  labor  problems. 
928. 

STRONG,  Justice  William,  appointed  to  Supreme 
Court  and  votes  to  reverse  Hepburn  vs. 
Griswold  decision,  67,  270 ;  on  Electoral 
Commission,  218. 

STRONG,  William  L.,  elected  Mayor  of  New 
York  on  a  fusion  ticket,  714. 

SUFFRAGE  (see  also  WOMAN'S  SUFFRAGE),  re 
constructed  States  agree  never  to  revoke 
universal,  20 ;  Chief  Justice  Chase  on 
Congressional  restriction  of,  36,  37  ;  res 
toration  of,  to  disfranchised  Southerners, 
40  :  granted  to  negroes  up  to  1835  in  Ten 
nessee  and  North  Carolina,  119;  tendency 
to  widen  in  North  and  West,  540  :  negro 
generally  admitted  a  failure,  545. 

SUGAR,  bounty  on,  566  ;  its  prominence  in  cam 
paign  of  1892,  632  ;  again  in  1894.  694,  695. 

SUGAR  TRUST,  The,  695,  698,  699. 

SUMNER,  Charles,  his  extreme  views  on  recon 
struction,  18  ;  condemns  Grant's  foreign 
policy,  32 ;  his  opposition  to  Grant's  scheme 
for  the  annexation  of  Santo  Domingo,  53  ; 
quarrels  with  Grant,  54  et  seq.  ;  Grant's 
opinion  of,  55  ;  declares  Grant's  course  is 
leading  to  a  t- dance  of  blood,'*  56:  op 
poses  Grant's  reelection,  59  ;  in  favor  of 
radical  measures  in  the  South,  69  ;  Curtis 
considers  his  speech  unpardonable.  71  : 
applies  to  the  President  Lord  Durham's 
letter  to  Brougham,  75  ;  his  feelings  grow 
more  lenient  to  Southerners,  78  ;  famous 
speech  of,  on  Johnson-Clarendon  Treaty, 
89  ;  one  of  the  first  in  the  North  to  advo 
cate  negro  suffrage,  119. 

SUMNER,  W.  G.,  228. 

Sun,  The  New  York,  publishes  Credit  Mobilier 
story  during  campaign  of  1872,  05,  106. 

SURPLUS.  The,  financial  problem  on  account  of, 
505,  506 ;  Republican  treatment  of,  564  ; 
great  growth  of,  566. 

Swatara,  The,  521. 

SWAYNE,  Justice  Noah  H..  dissents  from  Su 
preme  Court's  decision  in  li  Slaughter- 
House  Cases.''  112. 

TAFT.  William  H..  Philippine  Commission.  858: 
civil  governor,  859. 

Tallapoosa,  The.  386. 

TAMAS'ESE,  elevated  to  Samoan  throne  by  Ger 
mans.  606 ;  deposed,  609. 

TAMMANY  HALL,  hostile  members  kept  out  of. 
by  Tweed  policemen,  n  ;  its  support  in 
jures  Greeley  in  1872.  75  :  corruption  of, 
708. 


95: 


INDEX 


TAMPA.  Fla.,  army  embarks.  809. 

TARIFF,  The.  not  a  party  policy  in  1870,  30 ; 
small  influence  of,  in  campaign  of  1880, 
312  ;  Commission  appointed.  332  ;  re 
duction  in,  recommended.  353  ; Act  of 

1883,  353  :  controversy  over.  354  :  Repub 
lican  party  advocates  raising,  504  ;  grow 
ing  feeling  in  favor  of  reduction  of,  506, 
507  :  the  issue  in  1888,  555  et  se</. ;  Repub 
licans,  advocate  a  prohibitive,  566  :  un 
changed  in  1890,  577  ;  the  issue  in  the 
campaign  of  1892,  632  ;  Democratic  revi 
sion  of,  in  1894,  694  ; law  passed  by  that 

party,  696,  773  ;  Dingley  bill,  797  ;  protec 
tion  and  reciprocity,  798  ;  for  Porto  Rico, 
824 :  U.  S.  and  Cuba,  831  :  in  campaign 
of  1900.  869  :  Porto  Rico  bill,  870. 

Tartar,  The.  622. 

TATNALL,  Josiah.  609. 

TAYLOR,  Abner,  227. 

TAYLOR,  Bayard,  recites  an  ode  at  Philadelphia 
Centennial,  198. 

TELEGRAPH,  The,  669  et  set/. 

TELEPHONE,  The,  672. 

TELLER,  Henry  M.,  appointed  Secretary  of  the 
Interior,  351,  448  ;  withdraws  from  Repub 
lican  convention,  777. 

TEMPERANCE,  woman's  crusade  for,  683  et  seq.; 
steps  towards,  in  the  south,  765. 

TENNESSEE,  State  of,  loyal  government  in.  rec 
ognized  by  Lincoln,  18  ;  free  negroes  per 
mitted  to  vote  in,  up  to  1834,  119  :  increase 
in  debt  of,  during  reconstruction.  125  ; 
violence  against  negroes  in,  129  ;  Consti 
tutional  Convention  in,  537  ;  political  sup 
pression  of  negroes  in,  540  et  seq. ;  convict 
labor  troubles  in,  629  et  seq.j  location  of 
'•black  belt"  in,  756;  live  stock  in.  761  ; 
marble  and  building  stones  in,  764  ;  de 
crease  of  negroes  in  country  portions  of, 
770. 

Tennessee,  The.  439. 

TENURE  OF  OFFICE  ACT,  The,  repeal  of,  496. 

TERRY,  General  Alfred,  in  Sioux  War  of  1876, 
186  et  seq.;  claims  that  Custer  disobeyed 
orders,  190  et  scq. 

TKST  OATH,  The.  20. 

TEXAS,  State  of,  slowness  of  reconstruction  in, 
>i  ;  effect  of  reconstruction  acts  on  fi 
nances  of,  125;  location  of  "black  belt" 
in,  756  ;  bad  condition  of  negroes  in,  759; 
large  grain  crops  in.  760  ;  live  stock  in, 
761  ;  marble  and  building  stones  in,  764. 

TEXAS  SEED  BILL,  The,  503. 

Thetis,  The,  426,  430,  434,  439. 

THOMAS,  Leroy  D.,  appointed  to  Civil  Service 
Commission.  342. 

THOMAS.  Peace  Commissioner,  murdered  by 
Indians,  177  et  seq. 

THOMPSON,  Mrs.  Joseph.  751. 


THORNTON,  Sir  E.,  one  of  the  Commissioners 
in  Treaty  of  Washington,  46. 

Thornton,  The,  515. 

u  THREE  CENT  WAR,"  The,  283. 

THURMAN,  Allen  G.,  protests  against  forcing 
the  Fifteenth  Amendment  upon  recon 
structed  States,  22,  167  ;  moves  to  impeach 
Belknap,  202  :  on  Electoral  Commission. 
218.  471 ;  nominated  for  Vice-President. 
547i  582. 

Ticonderoga,  The,  487. 

TILDEN,  Samuel  J.,  active  in  prosecuting 
Tweed,  15,  207;  nominated  for  President. 
211  ;  doubt  as  to  his  election,  214  et  seq.: 
his  opponent  declared  elected,  220;  his 
ideas  on  resumption,  263  ;  declines  nomi 
nation  in  1880,  312. 

TILLMAN,  Benjamin  R.,  543  et  seq.,  633. 

Times,  The,  New  York,  Tweed  attempts  to 
buy  the  stock  of,  14  ;  publishes  evidence 
against  the  ring.  14  ;  in  Tilden-Hayes 
election,  214. 

TIME  STRIPS,  671. 

TIN,  prominence  of  the industry  in  1892 

campaign,  632. 

TISDHLL,  N.  P.,  398. 

TlTUSVILLE  FIRE  AND    FLOOD,  The,  628,  629. 

TOLSTOI,  Leo,  612. 

TOOMBS,  Robert,  581. 

TORAL,  General,  commander  Spanish  forces  in 
Cuba,  810  ;  capitulates,  811. 

Tornado,  The  Spanish  man-of-war,  captures  the 
Virginins,  47. 

TOWNSEND,  Adjutant-General  E.  D.,his  mes 
sage  to  General  Emory  to  enforce  peace 
in  Louisiana,  85. 

TRACY,  Secretary  Benjamin  F.,  burning  of  his 
house,  597.  598. 

TRAIN,  George  Francis.  68. 

TRANSPORTATION   LAWS.     See  INTERSTATE  C«M- 

MERCE. 

TREATY  OK  WASHINGTON,  The,  46,  87  ;  drawn 
up  by  a  Joint  High  Commission  and  pro 
claimed,  90 ;  lays  down  rules  for  the 
guidance  of  the  Geneva  tribunal,  90  ; 
refers  Northwestern  boundary  dispute  to 
the  Emperor  of  Germany,  95. 

TREATIES,  Anglo-American  arbitration  on  seal 
ing,  796  ;  annexing  of  Hawaii,  796  ;  treaty 
of  peace  with  Spain,  820. 

Trenton,  The.  in  the  Samoan  hurricane.  606  et 
seq. 

TRESCOT.  William  H.,  in  Pan-American  Con 
ference,  415. 

Tribune,  The  New  York,  founded  by  Horace 
Greeley,  57 ;  influence  of,  58 ;  opposes 
Grant,  58,  59;  publishes  "cipher  de 
spatches,"  216. 

TROBRIAND.  Colonel  de,  removes  Conservative 
members  from  Louisiana  State  House,  162. 


958 


INDEX 


TRUMBULL,  Lyman.  denounces  abuses  in  the  ' 
Civil  Service.  59 ;  espouses  Greeley's  j 
cause,  70,  227. 

TRUSTS,  rise  of,  292,  329.  505  ;  legislation 
against,  698  ;  strange  application  of  laws 
against,  631,  632  ;  sugar  trust.  832  ;  in  cam 
paign  1900,  873  ;  anti-trust  law,  914 ;  rail 
way  combinations,  916  ;  Northern  Securi 
ties  merger,  917;  U.  S.  injunction,  918; 
National  Steel  Company,  919  :  steamship 
combination,  921  ;  industrial  combina 
tions,  822 ;  beef  combine.  923  :  Elkins 
anti-trust  act,  927. 

TUPPER,  Sir  Charles,  on  Fisheries  Commission, 
of  1887,  513. 

TuRKEY,Cleveland  refuses  to  interfere  with,  700. 

TURNER,  Congressman,  750. 

TURNEY,  Governor  (Tennessee)  749. 

TUSKEGEE  NORMAL  AND  INDUSTRIAL  INSTITUTE, 
The,  751,  912. 

TUTTLE,  J.  M.,  227. 

•'  TWAIN,  Mark,"  655. 

TWEED,  William  M.,  beginning  of  his  infamous 
career,  n  ;  the  Court  House  job,  12  ;  his 
insatiable  greed.  13:  general  rising  against, 
14  ;  arrested  twice  and  released  on  bail  ; 
15;  his  escape  to  Cuba  and  Spain,  16  ;  final 
death  in  jail,  16. 

"  TWEED  RING,"  The,  vast  frauds  of,  n  :  con 
tractors  obliged  to  pay  large  bonuses  to. 


pines,  862  ;  Porto  Rico  tariff,  870  ;  census,. 
879  ;  army  in  China,  905  ;  and  Russia,  913  ; 
department  of  commerce,  927. 

UNITED  STATES  STEEL  CORPORATION,  920. 

UTAH,  State  of.  population  of,  in  1870,  2  ;  female 
suffrage  in,  2  ;  rush  of  settlers  to,  97  ;  fe 
male  suffrage  established  in,  540;  Mor 
mons  emigrate  to,  6or  :  stamping  out  of 
polygamy  in.  603  ;  admitted  to  statehood. 
604. 

VALLANDIGHAM,  Clement  L..  urges  the  South 

to  accept  the  results  of  the  war,  35  ;  praise 

of  his  action.  36. 
VALPARAISO,  City  of,  American  sailors  attacked 

in,  575- 

VAN  ALEN,  J.  H..  227. 
VANCE,   Zebulon   B.,  his  summing  up  of   the 

political  situation  in  1872,  70. 
Vandalia,  The.  387  ;  in  Samoan  hurricane,  606 

et  seg. 
VANDERBILT,   Cornelius,   in    Nicaragua    Canal 

Co.,  404. 

VENEZUELA  MESSAGE.  The.  707. 
VERAGUA,  Duchess  of,  636. 
VERAGUA,  Duke  of,  633. 
VERHOEFF,  John  T.,  on  Peary  Expedition,  442  ; 

death  of,  442. 
VERMONT,  State  of.  excellent  showing  of  militia 

in,  731- 


12  ;  its  operations  cheat  the  city  tax-payers    VICKSBURG,  City  of.  attack  on.  by  negroes,  142 
out  of   $160,000.000,    13;    attitude    of    the  etseq. 


newspapers  towards,  13  ;  downfall  of,  \^et 
seq;  revelations  concerning,  tell  against 
Greeley's  cause.  75. 

TYLER,  John,  widow  of,  at  Yorktown  Centen 
nial,  387. 

Tynehead,  The,  614. 

UNDERWOOD,  J.  W.  H.,  352. 
UNION  PACIFIC  RAILROAD,  The,  junction  of. with 
Central    Pacific,   2  ;    trouble    over    Credit 


VIGERS,  Mr.,  161. 

VIRGINIA,  State  of,  loyal  government  in,  recog 
nized  by  Lincoln,  18  ;  difficulties  of  recon 
struction  in,  21  ;  its  representatives  at  last 
admitted  to  Congress,  22  ;  "  Readjuster  " 
controversy  in,  354  ;  constitutional  changes 
in,  537  ;  political  suppression  of  negroes 
in,  540.  541  ;  at  World's  Fair.  641  ;  gypsum 
beds  in.  764  ;  decrease  of  negroes  in  west 
ern  part  of,  from  1880  to  1890,  770. 


Mobilier  operations  in  its  construction,  95,  [  i;r^rg^ni^^s,  The,  capture  of,  by  Spaniards  off 


104  ;  its  advantages,  103  ;  Elaine  accused 
of  fraudulent  transactions  with,  454. 

UNITED  AMERICAN  MECHANICS,  The,  714. 

UNITED  STATES,  war  with  Spain,  801,  804  ;  mili 
tary  equipment,  805  ;  naval  battle  in 
Manila  Bay,  806  ;  campaign  in  Cuba,  807. 


Jamaica,  47  ;  crew  ofj  put  to  death,  48  ;  in 
tense  excitement  over  the  affair,  48. 
VISAYAN,  tribe.  837. 

WAGNER,  Richard,  composes  march  for  Phila 
delphia  Centennial,  197. 


8n  ;  occupation  of  Porto  Rico,  8r2  ;  peace  i  WAITE,  Morrison  R.,  dissents  from  decision  of 


protocol,  812  ;    distress  of  army  in  Cuba, 
812  ;    total  casualties,  813  ;   army  reform,  i 
816  ;  treaty  of  peace,  820  ;  Samoan  Islands  i 
agreement,  821  ;  and   Porto  Rico.  822,  827  : 
and  Cuba.  827,  832  :  and  Philippines.  833  ; 
Commission  of  Conciliation,    844  ;  Schur- 
man     Commission,    852 ;    Supreme  Court 
Philippine    decision,   855  ;    Taft  Commis- 


Supreme  Court  on  ';  Slaughter  House 
Cases,"  112  ;  administers  inaugural  oath 
to  Arthur.  346. 

WALKER,  Francis  A.,  205  ;  on  the  demoneti 
zation  of  silver,  277,  278  (.see  note). 

WALKER.  William,  effect  of  his  filibustering  ex 
pedition  on  the  Latin- American  Republics, 
410. 


sion.  858;  Congress  and  Philippines,  859;    WALLACE,  General  Lew,  750. 
Pacific   cable,   861  ;    education   in    Phil;p-    WALLER,  Major,  849. 

959 


INDEX 


WARD,  Captain,  531. 

WARD,  Jasper  D.,  signs  a  minority  report  in 
the  Arkansas  investigation  by  the  Poland 
Committee,  142. 

WARMOTH,  H.  C.,  opposed  by  leading  Federal 
officers  in  Louisiana,  80 ;  his  board  en 
joined  from  acting,  83  ;  impeached  by  the 
Legislature,  84. 

WASHBURNE,  E.  B.,  Grant's  Secretary  of  State 
and  afterward  Minister  to  France,  29. 

WASHINGTON.  Booker  T.,  his  speech  at  opening 
of  Atlanta  Exposition,  751,  752  ;  on  the 
negro  problem,  767,  911. 

WASHINGTON,  State  of,  increase  in  population 
of,  between  1860  and  1870,  2  ;  at  World's 
Fair,  641  ;  rapid  settlement  of,  664 ; 
"  Common  wealers"  in,  721;  Pullman  strike 
extends  to,  729. 

WASHINGTON  INAUGURAL  CENTENNIAL,  The,  494 
et  seq. 

WATSON,  P.  H.,  228. 

WATSON,  Thomas,  nominated  for  Vice-Presi 
dent  by  Populists,  781. 

WATTERSON,  Henry,  227. 

WEATHER  BUREAU,  The  United  States,  its  ori 
gin,  18  ;  work  of,  671. 

WEAVER,  General  J.  B.,  nominated  for  Presi 
dent  by  Greenbackers,  291.  633. 

WEED,  Smith  M.,  215. 

WEED,  Thurlow,  340. 

WELLOCK,  "Parson."  373. 

WELLS,  Mr.,  on  Louisiana  Returning  Board, 
160. 

WERTS,  Governor  (New  Jersey),  749. 

WEST,  The,  unsettled  state  of,  in  1870,  i ;  re 
cruiting  itself  from  the  East.  2;  enthusiasm 
for,  after  the  war,  95  ;  physical  divisions  of, 
96  ;  its  wonderful  natural  advantages,  96  ; 
the  rush  to,  97  ;  gambling  and  newspaper 
"  booming  "  in,  98  ;  tricks  of  speculators  to 
secure  large  tracts  of  land  in,  101  ;  "bo 
nanza  farming  "  in,  102  ;  railroads  planned 
in,  ic2,  103. 

WEST  VIRGINIA,  State  of,  cause  of  Democratic 
success  in,  in  1870,  31  ;  constitutional 
changes  in,  537 ;  timber  wealth  of,  763  ; 
limestones  in,  764. 

WEYLER,  General,  Captain-General  of  Cuba, 
801. 

WEYPRECHT,  Lieutenant,  proposes  system  of 
Circumpolar  Stations,  423. 

WHEATON,  Colonel  Frank,  driven  back  by 
Modocs,  176. 

WHEELER,  General  Joseph,  in  U.  S.  war  with 
Spain,  810. 

WHEELER,  Joseph,  750. 

WHEELER,  William  A.,  on  "Wheeler  Adjust 
ment  "  Committee.  166  (cut) ;  elected  Vice- 
President,  220. 

•"WHEELER  ADJUSTMENT,"  The,  167. 


WHIPPER,  Judge,  Governor  Chamberlain  re 
fuses  to  commission,  136. 

WHISKEY  RING.  The,  237  et  seq.;  downfall  of. 
240 ;  its  California  branch  too  strong  for 
Bristow,  241  ;  good  work  of  the  press  in 
defeating,  242. 

WHISLER,  Private,  death  of,  on  Greely  Expedi 
tion,  433. 

WHITE,  Andrew  D.,  on  Santo  Domingo  Com 
mission,  56,  462. 

WHITE,  Horace,  prominent  in  anti-Grant  move 
ment  in  1876,  205. 

WHITE  vs.  HART,  case  of,  112. 

"  WHITE  CITY,"  The.  See  WORLD'S  COLUMBIAN 
EXPOSITION,  The. 

WHITE  LEAGUES,  The.  142  ;  action  of,  in  New 
Orleans,  155  ;  defence  of,  159. 

WHITNEY,  W.  C.,  at  reception  of  Bartholdi 
Statue,  523. 

WHITTIER,  John  Greenleaf,  bestows  upon 
Greeley  the  title  of  "  the  modern  Frank 
lin,"  78  ;  his  "Centennial  Hymn  "  sung  at 
the  Exposition  opening  in  1876,  198  ;  sup 
ports  Blaine,  472 ;  at  Inauguration  Cen 
tennial,  561. 

WICKES,  Mr.,  724,  725. 

WILDES,  Commander  Frank,  attempts  to  rescue 
Greely,  425. 

WILDMAN,  Consul  R.,  843. 

WILLARD,  Frances  E.,  685. 

WILLIAM  I.,  Emperor  of  Germany,  appointed 
arbitrator  in  the  Northwestern  boundary 
dispute,  95. 

WILLIAMS,  George  H.,  one  of  the  High  Com 
missioners  at  Washington  in  1871,  46  ;  tele 
graphs  Pinchback  that  he  is  recognized  by 
the  President  as  lawful  Governor  ot 
Louisiana,  84,  85  ;  on  the  Louisiana  situ 
ation,  157. 

WILLIAMSBURG,  Town  of,  frightful  flood  at,  in 
1874,  183. 

WILLIS,  Albert  S.,  705,  706. 

WILMER,  Bishop  Joseph  P.  B.,  on  Louisiana 
matters,  165. 

WlLMERDING,   MrS.,  598. 

WILSON,  Bluford,  239  ;  retirement  of,  241. 

WILSON,  Henry,  his  views  regarding  the  Dem 
ocratic  party,  31  ;  nominated  for  Vice- 
President,  69. 

WILSON,  James.  Secretary  of  Agriculture,  787. 

WILSON,  Mr.,  his  opinion  of  the  Northern  Pa 
cific  land  grant,  103. 

WILSON,  William  L.,  694,  695,  749. 

WILTZ,  L.  A.,  takes  forcible  possession  of 
Speaker's  chair  in  Louisiana  State  House. 
162  ;  withdraws  from  candidacy  for 
Speaker,  167. 

WINDOM,  William,  appointed  Secretary  of  the 
Treasury,  329,  355. 

WINES,  F.  H..  226. 


960 


INDEX 


WINTER,  William,  his  story  of  Curtis  and  Conk- 
ling,  319,  320. 

WINTHROP,  Robert  C.,  delivers  oration  at  York- 
town,  386. 

WISCONSIN,  State  of,  few  constitutional  changes 
in,  536. 

WITTENMEYER,  Mrs.  Anna,  685. 

WOLCOTT,  Edward  O.,  789. 

WOMAN'S  SUFFRAGE,  gains  a  foothold  in  Wyo 
ming  and  Utah,  2  ;  question  of,  bothers 
Greeley  in  campaign  of  1872,  75  ;  estab 
lished  in  Wyoming  and  Utah,  540. 

WOMEN,  development  of  American,  682,  683. 

WOMEN'S  CHRISTIAN  TEMPERANCE  UNION,  The, 
rise  of,  683  et  seq.',  organization  of,  685. 

WOOD,  Genera]  Leonard.  Military  Governor 
Cuba,  828. 

WOOD,  Richard  G.,  554  ;  held  guilty  of  forgery, 

555- 

WOODBRIDC;E,  Professor  S.  H.,  699. 

WOODBURY,  Governor  (Vermont),  750. 

WOODS,  Judge,  criticism  of  his  sentence  of 
Debs,  733. 

WOOLSEY,  Theodore  D..  prominent  in  anti- 
Grant  movement  in  1876,  205. 

WORCESTER,  Dean  C.,  844,  858. 

WORKWOMEN'S  PARTY,  The,  369  et  seq.;  reac 
tion  against,  on  account  of  its  rapid 
growth,  374. 

WORLD'S  COLUMBIAN  EXPOSITION,  The  (see  also 
under  States  and  special  titles),  inception 
and  preparation  of,  618,  619  :  opening  of, 
633  ;  State  days  at,  636  ;  the  various  build 
ings,  of,  641  et  seq.,'  the  "  Court  of  Honor," 


647;  burning  of  the  cold -storage  build  ing. 
648  ;  its  exhibits,  650  et  seq.;  the  Midway, 
654 ;  the  Ferris  Wheel,  656 ;  transporta 
tion  to,  659  ;  attendance  at,  660  ;  destruc 
tion  of.  by  fire.  661,  662  ;  its  hints  on  na 
tional  progress,  667. 

WORLD'S  CONGRESSES,  The  Chicago,  682. 

WORTHINGTON,  Nicholas  E.,  on  commission  to 
investigate  the  Pullman  strike,  734. 

WRIGHT,  Carroll  D.,  on  Commission  to  inves 
tigate  the  Pullman  strike,  734. 

WRIGHT,  Luke  E.,  858. 

WYANDOTTES,  The,  741. 

WYETH,  Mr.,  murdered  by  Spaniards  in  Cuba. 
47- 

WYOMING,  State  of  female  suffrage  in.  2  ;  rail 
roads  in,  in  1870,  2  ;  organized  as  a  Ter 
ritory,  between  1860  and  1870,  97  ;  female 
suffrage  established  in,  540 :  Populists 
triumph  in,  633  ;  Pullman  strike  extends 
to,  729. 

Yantic,  The,  425.  426. 

YARYAN,  Revenue  Agent.  241. 

YORKTOWN,  Centennial  of  Cornwallis's  surren 
der  at,  382  et  seq.;  historic  buildings  at. 
383- 

YOST,  killed  by  ''  Mollie  Maguires,"  295. 

YOUNG,  Brigham,  leads  Mormons  to  Utah.  601  ; 
arrested,  602. 

YOUNG,  Chief  John,  639. 

"YOUNG  DEMOCRACY,M  The,  plans  a  revolt 
against  Tweed,  14. 

YUKON  AND  WHITE  PASS  RAILWAY.  790. 


961 


9     73  3  7 


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